Ooni Koda 16 review: The best outdoor pizza oven

Our Verdict

Powerful and elementary to use, the Ooni Koda xvi is the all-time outdoor pizza oven.

For

• Minimal setup
• Like shooting fish in a barrel to use
• Heats up quickly
• Big cooking surface area
• Simple temperature controls
• L-shaped rut source cooks pizza in minutes

Against

• One of the more than expensive pizza ovens
• Accessories (similar a skin) sold separately
• No built-in thermometer

Tom's Guide Verdict

Powerful and unproblematic to use, the Ooni Koda 16 is the best outdoor pizza oven.

Pros

• +

  Minimal setup

• +

  Easy to use

• +

  Heats up quickly

• +

  Large cooking area

• +

  Uncomplicated temperature controls

• +

  50-shaped heat source cooks pizza in minutes

Cons

• -

  1 of the more expensive pizza ovens

• -

  Accessories (like a peel) sold separately

• -

  No born thermometer

Ooni Koda xvi: Specs

Type: Propane
Size: 25 x 23.2 10 14.7 inches
Weight: xl pounds
Cooking Surface: 16 inches
Heating Capability: Upward to 950 degrees F
Recipes: Booklet included
In the Box: Oven, pizza stone, gas regulator
Tools Needed: None

Ooni has seen booming business for its line of outdoor pizza ovens, some of which operate on gas, and others a combination of gas and wood. The Ooni Koda xvi is the larger of its ii propane-powered Koda models — with a 16-inch cooking area vs. the Koda 12's 12-inch cooking area — and for its ease of setup, relatively lightweight construction, no-fuss functionality, large cooking space, and powerful L-shaped flame, nosotros felt it's the most versatile, family-friendly model for cooks who might want to experiment with different pie sizes, equally well as cooking other non-pizza items in the oven.

Because of the L-shaped heat source, we found during testing for this Ooni Koda 16 review that pizzas cooked near the dorsum left corner of the oven took just a couple of minutes to come up out perfectly charred and bubbly. And dissimilar other ovens with a atypical flame or radiant heat, y'all really only demand a turn or two of a pie to get an evenly cooked crust. It's why it'southward at the peak of the list for the all-time pizza ovens.

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Ooni Koda 16 review: Cost and availability

The Ooni Koda 16 costs $599, and is available at Ooni.com. Information technology beginning went on sale in March 2020. A smaller model, the Ooni Koda 12, costs $399. The main difference between the two is that the Koda 16 has a larger cooking surface.

When purchasing a pizza oven, we too recommend you buy a pizza peel then that you tin can slide the pizzas in and out of the oven. Ooni sells a sixteen-inch Peel for $40.

Ooni Koda 16 review: Ease of Setup

The Koda requires very little setup. Its three legs (two in the front, i in the back) fold out smoothly from under the oven and take slip-resistant fabric on the bottom to hold the oven deeply in identify. The only action required is to slide the pizza stone into the interior of the oven, which proved to be pretty effortless.

(Paradigm credit: Tom'due south Guide)

Once gear up up and on a tabletop, all we had to practice to get the oven running was to hook the gas regulator — already attached to the unit with a hose — up to a propane tank. Once it's secured and tightened, the manual recommends that the gas connection should be tested with a soapy water solution to ensure there are no leaks. Upon testing, nosotros found no leaks.

The Koda'due south manual recommends lighting the oven and running it on its highest temperature for 30 minutes. Igniting the oven is very easy: But push in and plow the ignition button to the left and concord information technology in for a few seconds to become the oven running. It continued immediately with the gas and lit, igniting the 50-shaped burners inside the oven.

(Paradigm credit: Ooni)

Ooni promises that the Koda 16 will take about 20 minutes to heat upward to between 700 and 800 degrees Fahrenheit — the platonic temperature for cooking a pizza. In our testing, nosotros found that to be accurate. The Koda 16 reached 700 degrees in just under 20 minutes.

Ooni Koda 16 review: Design and functionality

Overall, the Ooni Koda sixteen'due south design is minimalist simply pleasing to the center. The crush of the Ooni Koda 16 is fabricated from durable, insulated, powder-coated carbon steel, and only comes in blackness. Its roomy oral cavity made sliding a pizza skin in and out of the oven a breeze. Every bit its name implies, the Koda 16 is designed to be large enough to cook a 16-inch pie, and we constitute it more than than roomy plenty to melt and turn the 12-inch pies we were testing. And while there aren't many bells and whistles to the design, nosotros did appreciate 2 mirrors placed just inside the opening of the oven, then that y'all tin see your pizza from dissimilar angles as it cooks.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The only missing characteristic on the Ooni Koda 16 is a built-in thermometer, which would brand tracking and maintaining the oven'southward temperature easier. While Ooni does sell an infrared thermometer gun ($39.99) that's both easy and fun to use (it can tell yous the exact temp of the middle of the pizza stone, for instance), it would be platonic to not have to purchase the additional item to keep an middle on the temperature.

Ooni Koda xvi review: Cooking Operation

The Koda 16's L-shaped flame makes the back left corner of the oven its hottest part and being close to information technology is the ideal place to cook a pizza quickly. In our tests, fresh dough made by hand and past a local pizzeria cooked in 2 to three minutes, leaving the dough nicely puffed and with the speckles of char known equally "leoparding" with a couple of turns. The mozzarella cheese on superlative also bubbled and became speckled with brown spots from the high temperature.

(Image credit: Tom'southward Guide)

As with other ovens, store-bought dough (both refrigerated and frozen/thawed) proved to exist a challenge, as the exterior of the chaff charred easily only didn't cook all the manner through, leaving a cracker-y exterior and doughy interior.

We besides plant that with smaller pies, if y'all're close enough to the heat, y'all can probably go away with one turn of the pizza, simply you may need 2 turns to go an even cook. Just continue an eye on your pies, because they exercise cook quickly and might burn if they're too close to the (powerful!) heat.

(Epitome credit: Ooni)

Overall, because the oven is so roomy, information technology's particularly nice for beginners who oasis't gotten their pizza-making footing yet and need some room to maneuver the skin (sold separately). Because the skin is lightweight, large, and specially designed for the oven, it was easy to both build pizzas on and slide them off into the oven.

Ooni Koda xvi review: Verdict

The Ooni Koda 16 lives up to its promise of cooking pizzas in a thing of minutes. Information technology'southward a neat choice for beginners and anyone looking to make eating place-quality thin-chaff pizza at home. If yous're looking for something smaller or less expensive, cheque out the Ooni Koda 12, which is $200 less. Only proceed in mind that whatever pizza oven yous buy, yous may accept to spring from some extra add together-ons to complete your pizza-making arsenal.

Karen Palmer has been writing about food and dining for more than 15 years, covering everything from restaurants and chefs to recipes and, now, outdoor pizza ovens. Her obsession with all things pizza started when the New Jersey native lived in Milan, Italy for a few years as a child, and information technology connected well into machismo. A self-described pizza connoisseur, Karen started a French bread pizza popular-up in Los Angeles called Pain Pizza. When the Boston College and culinary schoolhouse grad isn't writing about food, you lot'll find her hopping a flight at LAX, taking a dance HIIT class, or enjoying a pie at one of her favorite local pizzerias.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/ooni-koda-16

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