Bertello Pizza Oven Review: Superb Gas and Wood Hybrid Oven

Let’s just have a quick glance over the specs of Bertello outdoor pizza oven.

Now, here’s OUR TAKE on Napoli Bertello outdoor pizza oven. We have written what we honestly felt about the product.

Build Quality

The oven has been made of steel and has been insulated by ceramic-fiber. This mixture of two materials makes it the best of both worlds.

Steel is strong and sturdy but not the best insulator. Ceramic-fiber is a great insulator but doesn’t give the best build quality. By combining both of these, Bertello was able to get a sturdy oven that had proper insulation.

Portability

This is what the money is for. If it weren’t for the gas option, this would be one of  the most portable outdoor pizza oven. I’ll get back to that in a bit.

The oven has a compact body. The legs, which are usually long, are pretty short, too. This is both a good and a bad thing. The good thing is that it makes the oven much more portable, and the bad thing is that you have to keep it on a high surface.

In order to use it with a gas, you have to use the gas burner with a propane tank. You’ll find yourself carrying a propane gas tank around which sucks. However, considering the price point, I wouldn’t complain about it, but it still needs to be pointed out.

Dimensions and Weight

The Bertello pizza oven has dimensions of 22 x 14 x 10.5 “, and it weighs 15.6 kg. This is also one of the factors that make it a great portable pizza oven.

Different Combinations

You might’ve noticed I didn’t get into what comes with the oven in the beginning. That’s because Bertello offers different combinations to choose from. That’s something I love as it adds that level of customization that’s needed.

Here are different combinations from which you can choose one (or more):

1. Bertello Pizza Oven + Pizza Peel Combo
2. Bertello Pizza Oven + Pizza Peel + Weather Proof Cover + Infrared Thermometer
3. Bertello Pizza Oven + Gas/ Wood Tray Burner + Pizza Peel (My recommendation)
4. Bertello Everything Bundle

Bertello Pizza Oven + Pizza Peel Combo

This is the most basic combo. You get the oven and a pizza peel to manipulate the pizza with. However, as of my writing this, this has been sold out. If you just want to get started and are tight on budget, consider this.

Bertello Pizza Oven + Pizza Peel + Weather Proof Cover + Infrared Thermometer

For an extra $40, you get a weather proof cover and an infrared thermometer. I don’t think that’s a good deal, though. You can get both of these items separately for less than that. You can get the Bertello Weather Proof Cover from here and any infrared thermometer from your local shops.

Bertello Pizza Oven + Gas and Wood Tray Burner + Pizza Peel

This deal provides the best bang for buck. Different trays are included in this specific combination using which you can use both wood and gas to cook at the same time. You read that right. More on that later.

Bertello Everything Bundle

For just $20, you get the infrared thermometer and the weather proof cover. However, this is a limited-time deal. You can grab your Bertello Everything Bundle by clicking here.

If this combination is still available, I would suggest you ditch the other combinations and go for this one.

Fuel Source

This is the interest part of this oven. The oven can use gas or wood/charcoal to cook your pizzas.

Gas

Like with other pizza ovens in this range, there is no option to connect to a gas pipeline directly. The connection has to be from a propane tank. I don’t understand why companies still do this.

Two options should be given regarding this: one that allows a direct pipeline connection while the other one (the propane gas tank) does not. That way, those who prefer portability can opt for the latter option while others for the former one.

Anyhow, cooking with gas gets the temperatures quite high. The high temperatures that Bertello boasts of (500 degrees Celsius/ 930 degrees Fahrenheit) are achievable only with gas.

Wood and Charcoal

The Bertello pizza oven is a multi-fuel oven. It can also use wood/ charcoal to fire up and cook the pizzas. However, preheating using wood/ charcoal takes up more time than using gas does.

Unlike Ooni’s outdoor pizza ovens, you can easily use normal wood chunks. In fact, I would recommend you to use those instead of wood pellets.  The wood pieces go well with this oven.

Wood and charcoal won’t allow the oven to reach extremely high temperatures, but they will induce a smoky and rich taste in the pizza. The cooking time is also a bit longer with this one.

Instead of the usual 1 minute, cooking with wood/ charcoal can take up to 2 minutes (usually around a minute and a half).

Gas and Wood/ Charcoal

This is the specialty of this oven. If you want to use gas, you’ll have to use a designated tray for that. For wood/ charcoal, another one. However, a special tray is also provided using which you can use both gas and wood.

I know what you’re thinking: why in the world would someone have to mix these two? It’s simple. Wood/ charcoal induces flavor but takes relatively longer took to cook while gas keeps the temperature high at the cost of the richness in the taste.

Here’s how you can effectively use both of these together: attach the wood burning tray and the gas burner. Turn the gas burner on and put in the charcoal or pieces of wood. Not only will your oven preheat quicker, it will also give your pizza that rich taste.

Cooking Efficiency

With the gas burner, you can expect your pizzas to be cooked within a minute. With wood/ charcoal, your pizzas will be cooked under two minutes max.

When using gas, turn your pizza around every 15-20 seconds. With wood or charcoal, turn your pizza around every 20-30 seconds.

Long-term Usage

The Bertello Pizza Oven is affordable. No corners have been cut in the performance. No compromises have been made. So, what’s the catch?

The long-term use. As you use the oven more and more, you will use that the oven’s performance starts deteriorating. After just around 10 months of use, you’ll start seeing considerable performance dips.

If you plan on using this oven for a long time (and consistently), get its maintenance done every 2 months. That way, the oven will be in its prime health and won’t become obsolete quickly.

Price to Performance Ratio

The Bertello Pizza Oven really is a bargain. For what the oven has to offer, the price is nothing. It’s not just the oven itself that’s affordable. If you look at the accessories (like the weather proof case), those are cheaper, too.

Compared to other brands, Bertello’s prices are lower. I would say the Bertello outdoor pizza oven has a great price to performance ratio. I would rate it 9.5 on a scale of 10.

As compared to Ooni karu 12, Ooni Koda 12 and Ooni fyra 12; which all cook 12″ pizzas, the Bertello pizza oven is cheaper and does offer some extras if you purchase the bundles.

Downsides

1. Steep Learning Curve
2. Dangerous Flames
3. Hard-to-clean
4. No option for direct gas connection
5. Hard to master controlling of temperature

Steep Learning Curve

The Bertello oven has quite the steep learning curve. For beginners, things might be a bit difficult. The assembly and the technical stuff is quite easy to manage. What isn’t, however, is the cooking part.

In the starting, you’ll have some problems controlling how well done the pizza is (especially the crust), timing the sessions and the rotations and much more. All in all, it will take you some time to adjust to the oven.

Dangerous Flames

On the top of the oven, there is an opening that can be either covered or opened. This is where the flames come burning out of. When opening the opening (pun intended), make sure to do so in your direction.

Your wrist should move towards and not away from you. Be very cautious of this as it can cause serious damage.

Hard-to-Clean

Since you’re mostly going to be using normal wood chunks instead of hardwood pellets, cleaning them is going to be a pain. They leave more residue than hardwood pellets, and their ash is quite black, too.

Propane Gas Tank

As it is with almost every other gas-powered oven, you’ll need a propane gas tank to use gas to cook your pizzas. You can’t connect your pizza oven directly to a gas pipeline (though I wish I could).

Hard to master controlling of temperature

This one becomes trickier and can only be learnt via experience. New users find it hard to control the flames when cooking for first few times in this oven. It takes sheer experience in controlling the flames and maintaining the right temperature so that the pizza cooks perfectly in the oven without burning.

Tips to Get Best Out of Bertello

From my entire experience, I have decided to share some tips to the Bertello buyers so that they can use their outdoor pizza oven to the best without facing any issues and difficulties.

I hope you are here with me as these tips will be life savers if you are or going to a Bertello user.

Tip 1

In order to ensure even cook, you will have to rotate the pizza after some seconds. In order to ensure that, I recommend you that you buy a turning peel that lets you turn pizzas without any hinderance.

Tip 2

If any sauce spills on the baking stone from the pizza being cooked or at the time of the launch, clean it before launching the next pizza. You can just let it burn and then scrape if off with any metal object like peel.

Tip 3

Be very very careful at the time of refueling or removing back cover. Keep your face at distance and don’t bend and try to peek. The flames immediately shoot out as soon as you open the back cover.

Tip 4

To heat the oven in less time and still wanting wood fired flavored pizza, heat the oven using the gas at the start. When the temperature is achieved, turn the gas flame low and cook with wood. This way, you will get the best of the both worlds.

Tip 5

For an easy launch and to ensure that pizza does not stick to the peel, sprinkle a little flour on the peel before putting the pizza on the peel.

Bertello Vs Ooni

Many pizza lovers will be searching for the comparison between Bertello and Ooni. Therefore, for their convenience, we have written a complete post between the comparison of Ooni and Bertello Pizza oven. Bertello definitely beats Ooni at the price, but check other factors too and see who is the winner. Click here to see the comparison post between Ooni and Bertello.

Bottom Line

The Bertello pizza oven is a great pizza oven provided how much it costs. Being able to use both gas and wood simultaneously, is a feature unique to this one.

In my opinion, this oven does more than the expectations. At such price, you get to enjoy Neapolitan style pizzas in your backyard.

Bertello buyers have just loved this oven as it is much fun cooking pizzas in it. You get to host pizza parties with your loved ones and enjoy quality time. Less are the people unhappy with this oven.

For long-term usage, the oven isn’t exactly one of the best. However, for starters, it’s one of the best ones.

Do let us know about your experiences in the comments below.