Stoke Wood-Powered Pizza Oven Review: The Best Outdoor Pizza Oven?

But first, let us have a look at our burning hot baby!

One of the main reasons why people love to opt wood fired pizza ovens is that they don’t want to get into the hassle of handling the logistics of gas. Secondly, the woody flavor that you get from a wood fired pizza oven is second to none.

This all though requires something extra. Not anything physical but the skill. The skill to manage the temperature and cook the pizza without burning. But if you do master it, wood fired pizza ovens will be your first and last love.

Anyhow, let us have a quick glance over the specs of stoke wood fired pizza oven.

For the complete analysis and our experience, we took this baby out for the test. After stoking the Stoke wood fired pizza oven and cooking a pie in it, here’s our take on this pizza oven.

What Comes with the Box?

Out of the box, you’ll get the following things:

• User manual
• Oven body
• Chimney
• Tools to assemble the oven
• Cordierite stone
• Carry cover
• Pizza peel
• Pizza cutter wheel
• Delallo pizza kit

Stoke Wood Pizza Oven: Dimensions

The dimensions of stoke wood pizza oven are 23.5 x 19.5 x 13.5 inches inches as claimed by the stoke on their official website. This means that the stoke wood pizza oven is 23.5 inches in length,  19.5 inches in width and 13.5 inches in height.

Stoke Wood Pizza Oven: Weight

Stoke wood powered pizza oven weighs 36.9 lbs or 16.73 Kgs.

The Bertello is 10.4% lighter than the Stoke Stove. The table below compares the weight of the Stoke Stove with Ooni and Gozney ovens:

Oven	Weight	Weight Compared to Stoke Stove
Stoke Stove	16.74 kg (36.9 lbs)	–
Ooni Karu 12	10 kg (22 lbs)	40.26% lighter
Ooni Frya 12	10 kg (22 lbs)	40.26% lighter
Ooni Pro 16	22 kg (48.5 lbs)	31.42% heavier
Ooni Karu 16	28.4 kg (62.6 lbs)	69.65% heavier
Ooni Koda 12	9.25 kg (20.4 lbs)	44.74% lighter
Gozney Roccbox	20 kg (44 lbs)	19.47% heavier
Gozney Dome	55 kg (128 lbs)	228.55% heavier
Bertello One	15 kg (33 lbs)	10.4% lighter
Bertello Grande	29.93 kg (66 lbs)	78.7% heavier

Build Quality: Cap or No Cap?

The oven is made of heat-resistant cold rolled steel. I won’t get into the nitty gritty of what grade steel is used because let’s face it: who cares about that stuff? The only that matters is whether the oven feels sturdy or not.

And let me tell you. The oven does not disappoint. The build quality of the oven is comparable to some of the premium pizza ovens out there and feels extremely sturdy and solid.

However, I did notice a little area where the paint peeled off from the chimney of the oven. Paint quality is therefore poor and I also came across some other users complaining regarding this.

Stoke Wood Pizza Oven: Portability

What use is an outdoor pizza oven if it isn’t portable? Stoke claims their oven is portable but is it any true? Let’s find out.

The weight of this 13-inch oven is an unbelievable 36.9 lbs or 16.73 Kgs which makes it extremely lightweight and easy to carry. Even your teen can transport this to and from the car.

With the carry cover on, it is more easier to transport the oven. Just hold the straps well and you are good to go.

However, the oven is a wood-powered one. Like most other wood-powered ovens, the Stoke Stove comes with a chimney which is fortunately detachable. Though it may seem like the chimney will hamper the portability, it really does not. It just feels like another component of the oven that’s present.

The legs are not detachable which I personally like. They simply fold and become a part of the oven. On top of that, there’s no need to carry a huge propane tank. A few hardwood pellets or charcoal, and you’re good to go. This makes the Stoke Stove an extremely portable outdoor pizza oven.

Setting up the Oven

Stoke claims that you can assemble the stoke wood pizza oven within 5 minutes , and that really is almost true. It took me 5 minutes and some seconds to assemble the oven.  Setting up the wood version is even more convenient and quicker than setting up the gas variant is.

Assembling the Stoke wood pizza oven takes less than 6 minutes, and the process is easy to understand for almost everyone. The user manual that comes with the oven has precise step-by-step instructions on setting up the oven.

I wouldn’t worry about the assembling if it was my first time. The oven is really easy to assemble, and first-timers won’t face any issues.

How to Cook with Stoke Wood Powered Oven?

First things first, you need wood pellets to run this oven. In order to get the maximum out of your pizza oven, you need to make sure that you use best wood pellets.

Fill half of the fuel tray with the pellets or charcoal.

Once done, its time to start the fire now.

Here, fire starters will definitely help you. I recommend that you buy Ooni’s fire starters. I have used them quite often and my experience has been smooth.

Once the flame has started and  is rolling well, close the door of the oven and open the chimney. Let the oven heat for at least 25-30 minutes.

You must not forget to add the pellets every five to ten minutes to ensure a stable flame.

Now when the oven is preheated well, you are good to cook your delicious pizza. Once the pizza is in, always close the door and keep an eye on it through the peeping hole.

The moment you realize that the back is almost cooked, open the door and turn the pizza. You’ll have to do this every 25-30 seconds.

Last but not the least, Manage the flame and temperature by the frequency and amount of the pellets added to the fuel tray.

Temperatures and Cooking Time

This is where things get interesting. As of now, Stoke delivered everything they promised. However, this is where they fail. The temperature and cooking time just isn’t what I want it to be.

Want to know the exact numbers? Well, here you go:

Promised

Stoke claims that the gas variants can heat up to 510 degrees Celsius (950 degrees Fahrenheit) in just 15 minutes. For the wood variant, the claims are 500 degrees Celsius (900 degrees Fahrenheit) in 20-30 minutes.

Delivered

When I measured the temperature and time, the oven took around 30 minutes to preheat to a temperature of 470 degrees Celsius in the back and 330 degrees Celsius in the front. The temperature at the front is what worries me. A little inconsistency is there, but this much? Red flag!

As for the gas version, you can read about its maximum temperatures and preheat times here.

Is the Temperature Consistent?

Like most outdoor pizza ovens, the temperature inside the Stoke wood powered pizza oven isn’t consistent. However, the inconsistency is really significant with this one. A temperature difference of 140 degrees Celsius (29.79%) will have you flipping the pizza every now and then to ensure uniform cooking.

How Well Does the Pizza Get Cooked?

If you’re someone new into the game, you’ll have to spend a lot of time to learn how to make the perfect pizza. The learning curve is fairly steep.

The pizza that I cooked had its crust raw. Well, not exactly raw but then again not cooked either. It might be that I kept the fire too much and didn’t give the oven enough time to heat up. However, it could also be that the cordierite stone isn’t one of the best ones out there.

My suggestion? Take it slow, and let the oven heat gradually. This will ensure the cordierite absorbs the heat and retains it.

Accessories

This is the second best part about this oven (yes, there’s more). Stoke is handing out accessories literally like a freebie. Where Ooni and other brands charge hundreds of dollars for these accessories, Stoke is giving them away for free (of course, if you get their oven!)

Here are some accessories that you’ll get with the oven:

Pizza Peel

I don’t recommend you get a pizza turner just to rotate the pizza inside the oven. This pizza peel will get the job done just as well. Save that money!

Carry Cover

An absolutely essential thing to have if you do not own one yet. The Stoke Carry Cover helps you … well, carry the oven! No, seriously! It really does help a ton. If you own some other pizza oven and don’t have a carry cover, boy do I feel sorry for you.

Though having a carry cover really helps, but the one that comes with this oven isn’t exactly of the highest quality. There’s a lot of improvemen.t

Pizza Cutter Wheel

You’re probably going to have this lying around your house, but hey! An extra FREE pizza cutter wheel won’t hurt, will it?

How Much Do the Accessories Cost?

The Pizza Peel costs $60, the Carry Cover $50 and the Pizza Cutter Wheel $30. That translates to $140. For a few accessories, that’s a lot.

However…

The best thing about all these accessories is that they’re free!

At least for now.

And Stoke isn’t lying. If you take a look at its competitors like Ooni, the accessories really are worth that much. No bluffing.

The Best Part? Pricing

Right now, Stoke has a huge discount. At the current pricing, which I get into here, the oven is the most affordable on the market. I highly recommend you get this before the discount ends.

Coming at only $345.99, the Stoke Oven is definitely the cheapest oven on the market. However, the price is not there to stay. If you want to save a decent amount of money, and by a decent amount, I mean $100, get the Stoke Stove now by clicking on this link.

What do Other Customers Say about Stoke Wood Pizza Oven?

If you check out Stoke’s website, they only have 5-star, 4-star and 3-star reviews – not even 2-star reviews, let alone 1-stars! Is the oven really that good?

Probably not. I speculate the website is hiding the negative reviews. If you head over to Amazon, you’ll find a couple of negative reviews (though they are of gas variant).

Most of the negative reviews are about either the oven not reaching a high temperature or burning the pizza. However, most of the reviews are actually positive.

Anyhow, most customers with negative reviews are complaining of un-evenly cooked pizzas and especially about raw base while the top is cooked. I think this is mainly due to their own negligence of not pre-heating the oven well before cooking.

I know, the problem of achieving good high temperature is there, but not enough that you cannot cook the pizza.

The Stoke Stove Compared to Other Ovens

Sure, the Stoke Stove is an excellent oven in itself, but how does it compare to other big ovens like those of Ooni, Bertello and Gozney? Here are short one-liner comparisons.

For, detailed Comparison of Stoke with Bertello, Ooni and Gozney, check the section next to this.

Ooni Ovens

Ooni ovens are much more expensive than the Stoke Stove. However, most of their ovens are much lighter than the Stoke Stove. The 12-inch Ooni ovens are a lot lighter than they should have been (comparing it to the weight to this oven). Ooni ovens, however, have better user reviews.

There are around 5 different Ooni ovens. I suggest you start reading with the Ooni Fyra 12 as it is Ooni’s wood fired only model. Then move to other 12-inch (or maybe even 16-inch) models.

Bertello

Bertello has two pizza ovens; Bertello one (12″) and Bertello Grande (16″). The Bertello only takes two minutes to cook pizzas. Though Bertello one is a 12-inch oven, the time difference is a lot more than it should be. It’s not that the Bertello is the quickest oven; it’s just that the Stoke Stove isn’t exactly a swift one.

Gozney

Gozney has basically two portable outdoor pizza ovens; Gozney Roccbox and Gozney Dome. Well, the term portable doesn’t fit quite well when talking about Gozney Dome.

The Gozney Dome is nothing less than a dumbbell used in competitions. The oven is really heavy. The Gozney Roccbox, though, is pretty comparable to the Stoke Stove – minus the accessories. If there’s any oven that provides a similar price-to-performance ratio to the Stoke Stove, it’s this one.

You can read more about the Gozney Dome and Gozney Roccbox by clicking on the links.

Lifetime Warranty? 365-day Refund Policy? Are They Just Rumours?

Stoke has made a pretty bold statement: a 365-day refund policy and lifetime warranty. To me, this is too good to be true, and here’s why:

All pizza ovens are bound to experience wear and tear at some point regardless of how well they are maintained. Stoke knows it. Despite that, they’re willing to give a lifetime warranty?

The catch? I think claiming your oven’s warranty definitely won’t be an easy task. Though they have offered a year-long refund and a lifetime warranty, you most probably won’t be able to use it easily.

This is just my point of view. I hope Stoke does opposite of what I just assumed.

Still don’t believe me? Let’s get in the company’s shoes for now. Would it be profitable for you to adhere to such a policy? Hell no.

I think, Stoke will have to come up with the clearly defined policies of refund of 365 day trial period.

For instance, my oven is dented from each side and is in extremely poor condition and on one fine day, I just head over to Stoke and ask for a refund claiming that I am not satisfied with the oven. I know less are people out there that think this way, but still, business is business.

What if customers use their ovens every now and then, and still ask for a refund? What if customers don’t take care of the oven, and still claim their unlimited warranty? Start entertaining them, and your business will go bankrupt!

This is indeed a super-smart marketing scheme to get potential customers to buy the oven. Do not buy the oven simply because of this.

Should You Get the Stoke Wood Pizza Oven? Is It Worth It?

Considering the value you get for your money, the Stoke Stove is definitely worth it. At such a ridiculously low price, I don’t think you’ll find a better deal. Pizza peel? Pizza cutter? Carry cover?

You name it, and the accessory is there! And they’re free for a while. Since I’m not affiliated with Stoke, I can’t tell exactly till when the discount will continue. Such discounts usually don’t last long, so I would recommend you to get yours as fast as you can.

Do keep in mind that there’s a low possibility that your oven might not be a perfect one and might have some heating issues (as reported by several users). The ratio of such users to total users is pretty low, and is nothing significant to worry about.

Even if the oven has some problems, you can always contact Stoke. Take advantage of that lifetime warranty and a 365-day return policy.

Bottom Line

The Stock Stove is an extremely affordable outdoor pizza ovens. Of the three models the company offers, one is a 13-inch wood-powered one. The oven reaches a decent temperature, but will have to be refueled consistently to keep its heat, and the front doesn’t get as hot as the back does.

The oven is portable thanks to its low weight and foldable legs. The chimney is detachable which makes transportation a breeze.

All in all, this is a great oven for both beginners and chefs. I would definitely recommend you get this – especially before the sale ends!

You can buy the Stoke Stove wood powered pizza oven by heading over to this link.