Gozney Dome Hands-On Review: Is It or Is It Not Worth Your Money?

A LOT MORE TO COME

By Removing the smart air-flow regulator, the dock of Gozney Dome doubles up to be used as an accessory port.

Gozney plans to release some cool accessories and features by making use of this accessory port in near future. This will make the oven even more versatile. What will you call it then? KING OF VERSATILE OVENS? Yes, what you just though is also cool!

No more wait. Let us just have a quick glance over the specs of this cutie pie!

I don’t think that there will be much people on this planet that would not like this superb outdoor pizza oven. It’s just the product that every pizzeria or a pizza lover must have if they tend to make pizzas more often.

Cooking around with this beauty is sheer fun. More importantly, it attracts people like a magnet when you are hosting pizza parties and the Dome is all set to show its magic.

Anyhow, here’s our take on the Gozney Dome!

Build Quality

The build quality of this thing is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. If you’re a car lover, you would know how sturdy and strong Audis feel. That’s exactly how this thing feels.

Compared to the likes of Ooni ovens (and even the Bertello to some extent), Gozney Dome is a lot more compact and dense.

Getting into the technical aspect, the Gozney Dome is made up of stainless steel coated by ceramic that provides PERFECT insulation. Moreover, this makes the oven water resistant and ensures UV stability. This is what makes the oven perfect for outdoors, promising to maintain the looks and condition of the oven all year round. 

Perfect insulation by Gozney ensures the maximum heat retention in the Dome. Inside the oven, ceramic fiber is used as an insulation material for the upper portion. Gozney claims this oven to be the best in insulation compared to any outdoor pizza oven. Having said so, the portion below the stone floor has been insulated by calcium silicate. We must say, Each and every aspect has been catered fully by Gozney.

This is what I call a premium product! I would say the build quality of this thing is a solid 10/10.

What Comes with the Box?

The Gozney Dome comes only with the ABSOLUTE necessaries. In fact, I would say some essentials are missing. For the price that the oven comes at, the not putting of extremely basic accessories is a shame.

There are two models of the oven (as I’ll cover later). The first model’s box contains the following things:

• The oven
• 2x temperature probes
• Air regulation vent and ashtray module
• Dock and accessory port
• Detachable flue and cap

In addition to all these, the second model’s box also contains the following items:

• Ignition and flame regulation dial
• gas burner and regulator
• 1 x floor puck to change fuel types

The Oven does not come with the Dome stand or some other helpful accessories such as pizza peel or a turning peel. One has to buy them separately to get the maximum cooking experience with the Gozney Dome.

I must say that I was impressed by the quality of the accessories which Gozney provides. The pizza peel felt pretty solid in my hand and was one of the best quality peels which I have ever used. But, not to forget, they are pricey as compared to others. Anyhow, quality comes with the price.

Gozney also does not give the Dome cover with the product. So, for better protection, you would have to buy it separately. 

Anyhow, all the pizza oven companies which I have come across till date, no one provides such additional accessories with the product. 

Assembling the Gozney Dome

To start with, let me tell you that it is not a one person job. Gozney strictly recommends that there should be at least two people to take the oven out carefully and then assemble it. Once it is out and placed on a stable surface, one person can assemble it. However, it is always recommended that whenever you are moving the oven from one place to one another, there should be at least two people doing this job.

Use the lifting straps to take the oven out of the box and put it on a stable surface. Place it such that it has ample free space at the back and of course, the fornt.

Now just assemble the flue and put the steam plug in place. Put two AAA batteries into the digital temperature display unit and put the ashtray in its place. Now connect the temperature sensor lead to the unit and put it in its respective slot. Bingo! For wood fired only, this is all you have to do!

In case of the dual fuel models, you will have to insert a AAA battery to the ignition module as well. You won’t feel assembling this oven even a little hectic because its easy and each and everything has been explained well in the Gozney Dome’s manual.

Fuel Setup of Gozney Dome

Dual fuel version of the Gozney dome gives two options to cook with. One with gas and the other with wood. It depends upon your choice and mood what you prefer cooking with at a certain time. 

The oven has two holes on each side of the cordierite cooking stone. The hole on the left is for the gas flame and the other on the right for air flow when cooking with wood. 

The rule is simple. Just cover that hole which you are not using with the stone puck provided.

For example, if you are cooking with the gas, just cover the hole on right side by placing the stone puck in the slot. Now put the gas flame guard on the left slot and you are good to go.

Similarly, if you are cooking with wood, just cover the left hole by putting the stone puck in the slot. Now, put the wood fire grate on the right slot and you are all done. This is done to ensure that no debris fall in the chute.

Seasoning the Gozney Dome Stone

It is always recommended to season the cooking stone before using the oven. Seasoning is just firing the oven at a low-medium temperature for thirty minutes to an hour and then letting it to cool naturally. You may add a thin layer of olive oil with a clean cloth on the stone prior to heating.

Seasoning enhances the life of the stone and prevents it from cracking too early. Gozney also recommends to season the stone before using.

Cooking Efficiency

The cooking time depends on the type of fuel being used. Using wood will give you longer cooking times than using gas would (at the cost of flavour, of course). However, the difference isn’t that much unless you plan on using this as a pizza-popping machine.

It takes around a minute and 40 seconds to cook a pizza using gas and around 2 minutes if wood is used.

Overall, the Gozney Dome is a very efficient oven. Considering the price, however, I wished the cooking time to be lower. After all, the build quality, brand image and longevity shouldn’t be the only things our money is going.

Fuel Options

There are two variants of the Gozney Dome: one is a dual-fuel one while the other only uses wood. The latter option is a bit cheaper than the first one is. I would suggest you do not cheap out on this.

You might feel like an extra fuel option won’t do you any good, but you’ll find yourself cursing over why you didn’t get the dual-fuel option.

The heating time is a lot lesser if you use gas to warm up the oven.

Portability

The oven is, by no means, a light one. That makes the Gozney Dome immobile. However, Gozney does offer a Dome stand to the customers that is very simple to assemble and assists in maneuvering the oven, which otherwise isn’t possible.

If you have an outdoor kitchen countertop, I would not recommend you to buy the stand. However, if you don’t have one, then Dome stand is a must buy for you.

It adds a little portability to a product which was not portable before and more importantly, it gives the perfect height for the dome to be placed at. This is extremely helpful when cooking as you don’t have to bend a lot as compared to other portable ovens when placed on different tables.

For moving the oven with the stand on straight surfaces, you won’t face any problems. On steps, however, no matter how small, moving this is going to be a problem.

If you plan on using this as a portable outdoor pizza oven, do yourself a favor and get either the Ooni Koda 16 or the Ooni Pro 16. This isn’t the one for you.

Maximum Temperatures

The Gozney Dome can achieve a maximum temperature of 950 degrees Fahrenheit (510 degrees Celsius) – or at least that’s what the company claims. In real life scenarios, the oven maxes out at around 850 degrees Fahrenheit (and even lower in colder areas).

Again, it’s not the temperature you’re paying for – it’s much more than that.

More importantly, the heat distribution of this oven is also outstanding.

Insulation

Despite the oven reaching such a high temperature, the exterior of the oven remains cool. The oven does get hot from the sides. However, the top side remains only fairly warm and can easily be touched.

Because of such an effective insulation, the heat retention rate of the oven is also quite high. Insulation is one of the strong points of the Gozney Dome.

Weight

The Gozney Dome is an extremely heavy pizza oven. Compared to its competitors i.e. the Bertello and Ooni ovens, the Gozney Dome is an extremely heavy oven.

The Gozney Dome weighs 58 kilograms (128 lbs) which makes carrying this around a not-so pleasant experience.

What are the dimensions of the Gozney Dome?

The external dimensions of the Gozney Dome are 26” H x 28.8” W  x 24.8” D while the internal dimensions are 7.5” H x 21.6” W x 18.5” D. The opening size of the oven is 16 inches (41 cm) wide and is 12 cm high.

Accessories

For the price, a decent number of accessories should have been included. However, they are not. You’ll have to get the accessories separately. Here is a list of accessories you can get separately.

Dome Steam Injector

To fully utilize your Gozney Dome, you’re going to have to need this. If you want to cook more than just pizza, the Dome Steam Injector is a must. Using this €29.00 accessory, you can bake breads properly. It ensures the proper moisture content in the oven when baking bread.

You can sign up prior to get the Dome Steam Injector at Gozney’s official site.

Dome Neapolitan Arch

Sold by Goozney to “retain more heat,” you wouldn’t miss out on anything if you don’t get this. Though it isn’t exactly expensive at €49.00 I just don’t see the need of this. The oven alone is capable of retaining quite the amount of heat.

You can sign-up prior to get the Dome Neapolitan Arch at Gozney’s official site.

Dome Stand

The Gozney stand is easy to set up and gives a solid feeling. Quality of the stand is quite good and has caster wheels at the bottom that can be locked to prevent the stand from moving when set at a certain place.

The best advantage that one gets with this stand is the perfect height to interact with the oven when cooking. You don’t have to bend and do the work. It gets the Dome at just a perfect height to make cooking a lot easier. 

Secondly, moving this beast is not an easy job without a stand. Unless you intend to keep your Gozney Dome on a place for a fair period of time, you must get the stand to help you out with the maneuverability.

You can get the Dome Stand from Gozney’s official site.

Gozney Placement Peel

Placement peels are necessary to launch the pizzas inside the oven. If you have the pizza placement peel of any other brand, it is good to go. No need to buy another one. Anyhow, if you are planning to buy the pizza peel for the first time, this is one of the best options as it is one of the sturdiest peel I have ever used. 

The peel is made from aluminum and is perfectly fit to be used as a commercial peel as it is as large as them. The perforations on the pizza peel help excess flour to fall away when loading the pizza on the peel and ready to be launched in the oven. The surface of the peel is non stick so that you can easily slide it over the stone. 

The peel has a 585 mm or 23 inches long handle and the dimensions of the head are 305 mm or 12 inches x 360 mm or 14.1 inches.

Gozney Turning Peel

In order to ensure that your food is cooked evenly, you would have to rotate the thing being cooked in the oven after regular short intervals. This turning peel by Gozney helps in repositioning the food and is equally fit for domestic as well as commercial purposes.

Again, just like the superb quality of the placement peel, this peel made up of slimline and circular stainless steel surface. It fits so easily beneath the partially cooked dough bases and the long handle and the sturdy feel of the peel just gives the ideal control over the food and the peel.

The Gozney turning peel has 880 mm or 34.6 inches long handle and a head diameter of 170 mm or 6.69 inches.

Digital Thermometer: Something Actually Useful

The Gozney Dome comes with a built-in digital thermometer which can operate in different units. The thermometer is fairly precise. It measures temperatures almost the same as an infrared gun does (with a difference of about 10 degrees max).

Overall, this is a really handy feature to have and is pretty accurate.

Heating Time: Not so Quick

Like other 16” pizza ovens, the Gozney Dome does take a considerable time to heat up. In fact, of all the pizza ovens I’ve reviewed till my writing of this, this one has the longest heating time. To get to its (almost) maximum temperature, it takes around 50-55 minutes. You can also use the oven after 40-45 minutes as it gets fairly hot by then.

Tip of the Day

Now here’s a piece of advice that I want to give it to you and you’ll definitely thank me. If you want to enjoy the smoky flavor that comes with wood but don’t want to wait longer and get in much hassle, just fire up the dome with gas and wait it to reach the desired temperature. Then burn the wood and slide the pizza inside the oven. There you go. You have the best of the both worlds.

Price to Performance Ratio

Yes, I agree the Gozney Dome is a really great pizza oven. The build quality is fantastic, temperatures are pretty high, the thermometer is accurate and all that bla bla.

The real question is not about the value it provides, rather about the value it provides for the price. Now, THAT is a game changer.

Putting the price and the value for money in the equation, I think the Gozney Dome falls in a decent place. Besides just cooking, this thing has own unique presence and attracts many people.

Should you get it? That depends on your needs. If you want to bake great breads and other stuff in addition to cooking pizzas, this is a great option.

Warranty – Don’t Even Bother

Gozney boasts a five-year warranty on its products. However, like almost all companies, getting the warranty claim accepted is just a dream. As one customer puts it, “what a joke:”

In that review left by a customer on Trustpilot, it’s pretty clear Gozney isn’t good with the warranty claims and the customer service. Despite the oven’s part being misaligned with one another, Gozney refused to either fix or replace it. You might want to keep that in mind.

FAQ’s:

How many pizzas fit in the Gozney Dome?

The Gozney Dome can easily fit one extra-large pizza and two (or more) smaller ones.

How hot does the Gozney Dome get?

The Gozney Dome can reach temperatures as high as 950 degrees Fahrenheit or 510 degrees Celsius.

What can you cook in a Gozney Dome?

You can roast, smoke, steam or bake anything with Gozney Dome.

What gas does the Gozney Dome use?

The Gozney Dome uses LPG Propane at a rate of almost 2 kg / hour.

Comparison

It will not be fair to compare the oven of such price with way cheaper ovens. However, a lot of people have asked for the comparison of Gozney Dome with Ooni karu 16, Ooni pro 16, Ooni Koda 16 and Bertello pizza oven. The comparison is not that much detailed, however you can read the full review if each of the oven. This comparison is to give you a bird’s eye view.

You can also look at some other alternatives like the Ooni Koda 16, the Ooni Karu 16 and the Ooni Pro 16. You’ll find short comparisons of these ovens to the Gozney Dome in the next section. Going through it will help you get a bird’s eye view.

Gozney Dome vs. Ooni Karu 16

Compared to the Ooni Karu 16, which weighs 28.4 kg, the Gozney Dome is 104% heavier which is a lot. The Gozney Dome takes around 30-45 minutes to heat properly whereas the Ooni Karu 16 takes only around 15-20 minutes to achieve almost the same temperature.

Both are mulit-fuel outdoor pizza ovens though the Ooni model is a lot cheaper than the Gozney Dome is. You’ll have to buy a gas burner separately for the Ooni model.

Anyhow, Gozney Dome can do a lot more than the Karu 16 and attracts a lot of people too. Taking the cost of even that into account, the Ooni Karu 16 is still the cheaper option. If you have no budget threshold, go for the Dome. 

You can read about the Ooni Karu 16 in-depth review from here.

Gozney Dome vs. Ooni Koda 16

The Gozney Dome is 218.7% heavier than the Ooni Karu 16 is (at only 18.2 kg).  The Ooni Koda 16 has a huge disadvantage of being gas-powered and not multi-fuel. The Ooni Koda 16 takes only around 15 minutes to heat up.

If you want the best bang for buck, the Ooni Koda 16 would be the better option. You can read about the Ooni Koda 16 in-depth review from here. 

Gozney Dome vs. Ooni Pro 16

The Ooni Pro 16, though a premium model, weighs only 22 kg which makes it 163.6% lighter than the Gozney Dome. The oven takes 20-25 minutes to heat on wood and 15-20 on gas.

The Ooni Pro 16 comes with a few accessories like the Ooni Pizza Oven Gloves. Both the ovens are multi-fuel in nature and are meant for use by professionals rather than newbies.

You can read about the Ooni Pro 16 in-depth review from here.

Gozney Dome vs. Gozney Roccbox

Unlike its brother, the Gozney Roccbox is fairly light – 190% lighter (38 kg) to be precise. The Gozney Roccbox is a portable oven unlike the Goney Dome.

For consistent and long-term use or commercial use, the Gozney Dome is the better option.

Gozney Dome vs. Bertello  

The Gozney Dome is 286.7% heavier than the Bertello is – at 15 kg. The Bertello is a multi-fuel oven in the true essence. You can use two different fuels together in the Bertello.

The Bertello cooks oven much faster than the Gozney dome does – in less than a minute. However, the Bertello is a 12” oven. For using gas, you’ll have to use a gas burner with the Bertello. The Bertello, however, is a lot cheaper and affordable than the Gozney Dome is.

You can read about the Bertello Oven in-depth review from here.

Bottom Line

The Gozney Dome is a premium outdoor pizza oven with the best build quality. The oven definitely isn’t for use by beginners; it’s created for professionals and experienced pizzerias as the persona (the target audience).

Warren Buffett rightly said that ” Price is what you pay. Value is what you get”. And the Gozney Dome in my opinion is a pretty fair value for money.

The oven provides a decent price to performance ratio especially when you are planning to use the Dome to the fullest. 

If you intend to make pizza every once or twice a week, I wouldn’t recommend you to spend huge money on this product. 

It does provide a lot of value – especially in the long run. The oven takes a lot of time to heat to reasonably high temperatures. However, once heated, the heat retains for quite a while thanks to the insulation.

In the end, I must say that I loved the cooking experience with Gozney Dome and it is definitely a show stopper product.