Over the last couple years there has been an explosion in the backyard pizza oven market. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 4 or 5 different pizza ovens that have hit the market in the past year. Ooni pizza ovens were the first home pizza ovens that introduced an affordable, portable backyard pizza option. Gozney was next with their Roccbox and then their Dome pizza ovens. I am sure there were some others but those were the two big ones and are the two that all newcomers to the market are compared against. This Solo Stove PI review should help answer some of your questions about the Solo Stove PI and hopefully you will buy one and join me in the joy of backyard pizza making.
I have had an Ooni Koda 16 for about a year and a half now and have used it at least a dozen times and love it. Whether it is for a couple pizzas for the family or cranking out 20 pizzas for a group of college students it has done a great job. So when I saw Solo Stove (known for their stainless steel smokeless firepits) came out with a pizza oven earlier this year I was excited to give it a try and see how it compared to the Ooni. This Solo Stove PI pizza oven review won’t necessarily be a head to head comparison with the Ooni but I will talk about some of the similarities and differences.
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Setting up the Solo Stove PI Pizza Oven
Setting up the Solo Stove PI will literally take 2 minutes or less once you get it out of the box. If you are using the gas burner attachment (and you should be using the gas burner) there are two thumb screws on the burner attachment. Take those out and use them to screw in the gas burner. Put the two piece pizza stone in and you are ready to fire it up. That’s it. Nothing to put together, no moving parts.
First Impressions of the Solo Stove PI
My first impression of the Solo Stove PI was that this is a pretty slick looking unit. I love the look of the stainless steel overall. None of the other backyard pizza ovens I have seen are stainless steel so that is a nice distinguishing feature.
The stove overall is fairly light weighing in at around 30 pounds. My Ooni Koda 16 is 40 pounds. Both are portable enough to take camping or to a tailgate.
One thing I noticed when I fired it up and started cooking was there was some soot and discoloration above the cooking chamber. The oven definitely got hot quickly and I could feel some good heat coming out of the opening; more than the Ooni.
If you want to watch an unboxing and first impressions video here you go:
How well does the Solo Stove PI cook a pizza?
This, of course, is the most important part of this review. Can the Solo Stove PI cook a good pizza? Well, take a look at the pic above and you will see the answer is an undeniable yes.
The pizza oven got up to well over 900 degrees which is right on bar with the Ooni Koda. I did do a side by side cook and IIRC the Solo Stove got slightly hotter than the Ooni. Over 900 degrees! The pizza cooked in literally 2 minutes. Most of the pizza ovens claim a 90 second cook time but 2 minutes is a bit more realistic.
Here is a video of my first real cook on the Solo Stove PI and you can see how quick the pizza cooked:
All in all I am a big fan of this pizza oven. It gets hot, cooks delicious pizzas, and looks good while doing it. The Solo Stove PI would definitely be a great addition to any backyard and is perfect for anyone who likes entertaining. It is also perfect for a quick weekday dinner with the kids.
If you want to cook more than pizza the Solo Stove PI also can cook a great steak with a good cast iron pan, cook chicken wings, flat breads, and even roast vegetables like brussels sprouts if you turn the heat down a bit. So it is quite versatile as well. Now, if I am wanting to cook a steak I have plenty of other grills that do a better job but if you only have room for one outdoor cooking appliance the Solo Stove PI is versatile enough.
How much does the Solo Stove PI Cost?
The Solo Stove PI starts at $439.99 for the standard wood burning version but I would definitely recommend adding the gas burner which takes the cost to $614.99. That is a bit on the expensive side for something you probably won’t use super often. But then again pizza is amazing and if you want to eat it 3 or 4 times a week I won’t judge you.
If really want to go all out they have the Ultimate Bundle that comes with a nice stand for the oven, a wood peel, a metal peel, a turning peel, a cover, a pizza cutter, and a silicon mat.
What Accessories do I Need?
Once you get your pizza oven you will then need to head down the accessory rabbit hole. Solo Stove carries a bunch of different accessories and here are the ones I would get in order of importance. The first two are pretty much a necessity and beyond that they are all helpful but not really necessary. You can find all these accessories at this link.
Wood or bamboo peel $29.99 – The wood peel is essential for launching the pizza into the oven. You can do it with a metal peel but I definitely prefer using the wooden peel for this.
Metal peel – $39.99 – I use the metal peel to turn the pizza and for retrieving the pizza out of the oven. If you really want to do this with a wood peel you can but it is much easier with the metal peel.
Solo Stove PI Stand $249.99 – If you use a standard table for your pizza oven like I do you will need to bend over to be level with the opening. It isn’t horrible but the PI Stand is higher than a standard table and brings the pizza oven closer to eye level. Definitely something nice to have.
IR Thermometer $39.99 – I like using my IR thermometer to make sure the pizza oven is hot enough. 900+ degrees is usually what I shoot for before I launch my first pizza. Anything less than that and your crust won’t cook fast enough.
What if I hate making pizza dough???
I get it. Sometimes you want pizza but don’t want to make dough. Well, Solo Stove has you covered with their Artisan Pizza Box. These pizza kits come with 12 dough balls, sauce for 12 pizzas, a huge stick of pepperoni, and some fresh mozzarella. The pizza above was made from one of these kits (ignore the Ooni oven in pic).
These ingredients aren’t just the standard stuff you can pick up at the grocery store. The pepperoni is Ezzo’s pepperoni and it is the best pepperoni I have ever tasted. Losurdo whole-milk mozzarella is some delicious cheese and the Carmelina’s San Marzano sauce is perfect on these pizzas. And of course the dough balls… this dough tastes great, has a great texture, and stretches easily.
These kits run $144.99 and you get 12 pizzas out of it. So just over $12 per pizza. Not the cheapest but it is nice to have some of these in the freezer to pull out for a quick weeknight dinner. Order your Neapolitan Artisan Pizza Box along with your Solo Stove PI.
BTW, my go to dough when I make my own is Kenji’s basic neapolitan pizza dough recipe. You will need some 00 pizza flour and the Caputo blue is my favorite.
Should I buy a Solo Stove PI?
So what’s the bottom line with this pizza oven? Well, I definitely liked it and it cooked some great pizzas. If you already have an Ooni or Gozney I don’t think you need to rush out and buy a Solo Stove PI but if you are shopping around for a pizza oven I would highly recommend this one. Pricewise it is right in line with most other high quality backyard pizza ovens. I think it looks a bit better than the Roccbox and the Ooni as well.
Judging the pizzas I got out of the Solo Stove PI and the Ooni Koda 16 I think the Solo Stove turned out a very slightly better pizza. The temperature of the oven was a bit higher and I think that made for a better crust. But the Koda can cook a 16 inch pizza vs a 12 inch on the Solo Stove. So I guess it comes down to what you need in your oven. Since you will usually be cooking multiple pizzas the 12 inch vs 16 inch pie won’t matter that much.
If you are wanting a pizza oven for your back yard (and you really should be) I would wholeheartedly recommend the Solo Stove PI. Hopefully this Solo Stove PI review answered some of your questions but if you don’t want to take my word for it check out this Solo Stove PI review from my friend Sean at Vindulge.com.
Order the Solo Stove PI direct from Solo Stove today.
