What’s in the Box?
If you’re only starting to turn out your pizzas at home, you’ll need more than the pizza oven. In most cases, this means spending more on extras. But that’s not the case if you choose Stoke Stove.
When you buy any Stoke pizza oven, you get it in a perfect bundle of almost everything you need to start making restaurant-quality pizza at home. This is one of Stoke Stove’s biggest appeals in the residential pizza oven market and we think it offers a really great value for beginners.
Besides the pizza oven, the package also includes;
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Cordierite pizza stone- for the uninitiated, Cordierite pizza stone is known for its ultra-durability and ability to withstand extremely high temperatures.
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A pizza peel
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A pizza cutter
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Hopper scoop, which you can use to add fuel to the fire
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A carrying case
To make your pizza experience even better, Stoke Stove also includes some free pizza ingredients from Delallo and mouth-watering pizza recipes. That said, you may want to add a pair of heat-resistant gloves to stay as safe as possible from the high heat.
Assembling and Setting Up the Stoke Pizza Oven
The Stoke wood-powered pizza oven ships pretty much ready to use and you’ll only be a few steps away from an incredible pizza. Once you have removed the oven body from the packaging box, you’ll only need to:
Step 1: Unfold the legs
Step 2: Attach the heat-resistant handles on the detachable door, the fuel basket and the hopper scoop
Step 3: Next, screw on the hopper at the back of the oven using the included screws and then slide the fuel basket in.
Step 4: Lastly, attach the chimney by lining up its screws with the slots at the top of the oven and that’s it.
The pizza stone ships inside the oven body. It’s important to remove it for a quick inspection to ensure it’s not cracked. It’s fragile, so you need to handle it with care.
Assembly for the gas-fired Stoke pizza oven is just as easy:
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Unfold the legs.
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Attach the temperature gauge.
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Attach the heating element and.
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Lastly, connect the gas line to the propane tank.
Dimensions and Portability
When making this Stoke pizza oven review, the wood-fired model is available in only one size- 13”. The gas-powered version has 13” and 16” pizza-size options.
For comparison, a pizza from the wood-fired Stoke oven is just 0.5 inches shy of a large Domino’s pizza, which is typically 13.5”. Coupled with the fast cooking speed of around two minutes per pizza, the 13” Stoke pizza oven is perfect for the average family of pizza lovers.
The wood-fired Stoke pizza oven is 13” long, 11.15” wide and 18.22” tall. The four legs are 4.1” long and foldable. The smokestack is 17.8” in height and around 3.5” in diameter. The wood-fired Stoke pizza oven weighs 40.7 lbs (approx. 18.45 kgs) when fully assembled.
Overall, the wood-fueled Stoke pizza oven is designed with portability in mind. Speaking of which, Stoke Stove actually offers you a strong carrying bag, so you can pack up everything and take the pizza experience wherever you go.
Build, Design and Features
Stoke pizza ovens are designed in the USA. The body is made of cold-rolled steel, which is known to be up to 20 percent stronger than hot-rolled strong. The major advantage of cold-rolled steel is its overall durability. Cold-rolled steel products also boast a smoother surface with clean lines and fewer imperfections, as it’s the case with Stoke pizza ovens.
The wood-fired Stoke pizza oven uses a cordierite pizza stone. Cordierite is a magnesium aluminum silicate ceramic popularly used in pizza ovens due to its ability to withstand extreme temperatures. On top of that, cordierite has an incredibly low thermal expansion, which makes it more durable than other ceramic pizza stones.
Its features include foldable legs, a detachable door with a built-in thermometer and a smokestack that can be removed for pizza on the go.
Overall, the Stoke wood-fired pizza oven has just what it takes to make delicious restaurant-quality pizzas without a lot of bells and whistles.
Functionality- Cooking With the Wood-fired Stoke Pizza Oven
The process starts with creating the flame and building up enough cooking temperature. Start by filling the fuel basket about half full with wood pellets, charcoal briquettes or even thinly sliced pieces of wood and start the fire. Slide the fuel basket back in place and wait for the pellets to catch.
When the fire starts and flames are visible from the front of the oven, place the front door back on and open the chimney smoke control vent. Now wait for the temperature in the oven to build up for 25-30 minutes. You could utilize this time to roll out your pizza dough and top it up with your favorite toppings.
Remember to add about a half scoop of wood pellets every 5-10 minutes to keep the flame and the temperature stable. The Stoke pizza ovens max at 900 degrees F. The built-in thermometer will come in handy in determining the temperature.
However, note that this thermometer measures the temperature inside the oven and not on the cooking stone. That said, it’s recommended to let the oven heat up for the full 30 minutes so that the stone warms up nicely. This is important to ensure that your pizza cooks evenly from top to bottom.
Once the ideal cooking temperature has been achieved, stick the pizza in and close the front door. Because the temperature tends to be higher at the back of the oven, it’s advisable to keep rotating the pizza every 25-30 seconds to ensure that it cooks uniformly. The front window has a peeping hole through which you can monitor the cooking process.
How Well Does the Stoke Pizza Oven Cook?
In our experience with wood-fired ovens, every model has a learning curve regardless of your experience level. But once you’ve mastered how to control the temperature, where to position the pizza on the stone and when to rotate the pizza, the Stoke wood-fired oven is just as good as they come.
A crucial tip when using the Stoke wood-fired pizza oven is to let the oven heat up for at least 30 minutes, with the front door closed, before placing the pizza. Also, putting the pizza around the center of the stone- not so far at the back- is essential to ensure that it cooks evenly and doesn’t burn. Remember to keep the front door closed and the flame burning for that crispy crust.
Stoke Stove Pricing and Policies
When making this Stoke pizza oven review, the wood-fired version sells at around $445. Stoke Stove also throws sizable discounts of up to $100 during holiday sales.
With the discount or not, there’s no arguing that Stoke Stove pizza ovens are among the most affordable in the market. Stoke Stove offers you an even better deal with the $165 worth of freebies that come with your purchase.
And it’s not like you’re stuck with the pizza oven forever in the unlikely event that it doesn’t meet your expectations. When you buy the Stoke wood-fired pizza oven online, Stoke Stove lets you try it for 365 days. We bet this is enough time even for beginners to perfect their skills and start enjoying their homemade pizzas. However, if you change your mind within this trial period, Stoke Stove allows you to return the oven for a full refund.
What Current Users Say
We went through several Stoke pizza oven reviews and feedback from other users to get their view of how it works. Most people, including beginners, rave about the wood-fired model noting that it was reasonably easy to set up and use. While the oven has a learning curve, most current users agree that the results are worth it. On this note, one buyer notes that each pizza improved on the last as their experience grew.
As far as performance goes, several users report that the Stoke wood-fired pizza oven takes 25-30 minutes to heat up to the max temperature. They also add that the temperature holds up throughout the cooking period.
The 13-inch Stoke pizza oven also gets a lot of praise for its compact design. Most users appreciate that they can take it out and store it away after use on a whim.
While most Stoke pizza oven reviews are positive, there are a few negative ones. Most of these complaints stem from uneven temperature inside the oven, leading to unevenly cooked pizzas. In our opinion, this can be remedied by allowing the oven to heat up for at least 25 minutes while adding wood pellets regularly.