Pizza ovens have taken off in recent years. A trend that began during lockdown, when we couldn’t frequent our favourite local Italian, the popularity of these outdoor gizmos has endured. Whether you’re a budding chef or a keen host, the best pizza ovens bring a slice of the Mediterranean straight into your garden.
Whether you top your pizza with pepperoni and hot honey or firmly believe pineapple deserves a place on a slice, a pizza oven makes it easy to recreate your favourites at home. And once you’ve mastered the technique, you might even just prefer it to your local takeaway.
Designed to reach temperatures of up to 400C, these outdoor ovens cook pizzas the way they’re meant to be cooked: delivering crisp bases, perfectly cooked dough and a glorious cheese pull. While some of the most sought-after models can easily set you back a few hundred pounds (I’m looking at you, Ooni), I’ve spotted a bargain buy at a high street retailer just in time for summer.
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Dunelm pizza oven with pizza peel
While most pizza ovens cost anywhere between £200 and £1,000, this Dunelm buy comes in at just £89. Barbecues may be the staple of a British summer, but any pizza lover knows there is always room for a wood-fired feast when the sun comes out.
Compact and easy to move around the garden, this pizza oven is designed to sit neatly on a tabletop and features foldable legs for easy storage once summer is over. Measuring 83.2cm long, 36cm wide and 66.5cm high, it's smaller than many rival models, making it ideal for those who don't need to cater for a big group, while still offering enough space to cook pizzas up to 14in.
It comes complete with a ceramic pizza stone for crisp, evenly cooked bases and a pizza peel for easy handling, which is an accessory that can cost around £40 on its own from some leading brands. The result? Bubbling cheese, lightly charred crusts and an authentic wood-fired flavour in a matter of minutes.
The folding legs are great for winter storage, and a built-in thermometer allows you to monitor temperatures up to 400C, which match the heat levels of many of the market's best-known pizza ovens.
Buy now £89.00, Dunelm.com
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