The Brand Behind Our Favorite Outdoor Pizza Oven Just Launched Their First Indoor Version
As a New Jersey native, I take a few things pretty seriously: Taylor Ham (not pork roll), being from the state with the (universally agreed upon) best drivers in the country, and — of course — good pizza. When I’m not snagging a NY-style slice from my favorite spots in Brooklyn, you can probably find me in the back of a brick oven pizza restaurant, trying to convince my girlfriend that yes, we can eat two whole pies, plus apps, plus a bottle or two of Italian red. So, when I first heard about Ooni, the brand behind one of our favorite at-home pizza ovens, I was psyched. I had the chance to test out the Ooni Karu 16 last year, and I’ve gotta say, it bummed me out. Not because it was a bad product — it was super easy to use and awesome in every sense of the word — but because I didn’t have an outdoor space to put it. After cranking out my first few pies with custom toppings, a beautifully bubbly crust, and my preferred sauce-to-cheese ratio, I was hooked. Thankfully, though, Ooni recently saved me from a life of coveting my friends’ outdoor spaces with their newest release: the Ooni Volt 12, an electric pizza oven perfect for indoor use.
As the first electric oven the brand has launched, the Ooni Volt opens the door for at-home chefs who might not have an outdoor space suitable for a wood- or gas-powered pizza oven. Now, even apartment-dwellers like me can rip out authentic, restaurant-quality pies at home with this lightweight model. (However, it’s also great for outdoor use, if you’ve got the space!) This is also a great item for experienced and novice pizzaiolos, because you can adjust heat settings manually, or you can use the automatic settings to dial in your preferred cooking temperatures. And, once it’s up to temp, this oven cooks Neapolitan-style pizza in just 90 seconds, and the innovative “Boost” function helps the stone reheat to cooking temperatures quickly between bakes, so you can continuously make pizzas for guests. Which, to us, means only one thing: pizza parties!
Look, we know it’s a bit pricey — but a) if you eat a lot of pizza, you might actually save money in the long run, because you’ll be ordering out way less once you taste how good these pies can be, and b) you’re paying for quality, durability, and all of the attention to detail that Ooni put into this thing. And, it’s that careful attention to detail that really pushes Ooni into the “worth it” category: From the internal oven light that makes it easy to watch your pizza as it rises, to the built-in timer, to the fact that it fits snugly on a standard countertop, you can tell the put some some serious thought into the Volt 12.
However, the Volt 12 isn’t the only new item the brand dropped. There’s the freshly redesigned Karu 12G, a pizza prep dough board, proofing boxes, and, yes, some sweet, pizza-themed merch. So, whether you’re looking to splurge on a gift for the pizza-lover in your life, bring the pizzeria into your small apartment kitchen, or make good on your 2023 resolution to eat more pizza this spring, you can’t go wrong with the Ooni Volt 12.
Buy: Ooni Volt 12, $999