Carbon Pizza Oven – Is It New Beast in the Outdoor Portable Oven Category?

Tons of pizza ovens in the market, But “Carbon is Carbon.” While this isn’t a veteran, aging legend, or infamous oven in the market, have you heard about a “hidden gem” that could knock your socks off? This Carbon Pizza Oven Review covers one of such gems.

There you guessed it right!

Truthfully, the Carbon pizza oven is truly a devil behind a pretty face. With the disarmingly simple design, yet the most clever heat setup in competitive pricing ( it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket), brings it under the spotlight.

That said, we want to warn Ooni, Roccbox, Bertello, BurnHard, and other outdoor pizza ovens, “You have got a new challenger.” So, what characteristics does this challenger pose? We are going to unearth these in a detailed Carbon pizza oven review.

But before delving into those details, figure out who might be the ideal match for this heavyweight contender;

Carbon Pizza Oven Review – Is This a New Boss in the Town?

Is the Carbon Pizza Oven the new Don Corleone of the backyard pizza oven market? Well, it might be too soon to roll out the red carpet. I mean, compared to the heavy hitters like Bertello Grande or Ooni Koda 16, it’s still a bit of a greenhorn. 

In easy words, while it might not be ready to snatch the crown just yet, it’s definitely warming up in the wings.

That said, seeing the price point, niche, capabilities and performance, it’s shaping up to be the scrappy underdog that could go toe-to-toe with the reigning champs of the pizza oven league.

And to be very specific, the Carbon pizza oven resembles a lot to Napoli Bertello Grande, but seeing the price, Ooni Koda 16 becomes its rival. 

Don’t worry! We’ll make a thorough competition later in the review.

Who’s it For: Performance Lovers, Small to midsize families, Beginners, Mid-range users, Outdoor picnic lovers, and Users looking for a precious wedding, Christmas, and birthday gift for their loved ones.

Who Should Avoid It: Budget Users, Fancy Gadget lovers, Full-time travelers, mobile kitchens, high volume scenarios.

Design and Usability:

A Clever Execution, but listen to our suggestions

The Carbon Pizza Oven sports a cubic body; all dressed up in a sleek black powder coat and silver stainless steel. If you think it’s got a Bertello vibe, you’re not alone. This 60-pound heavyweight brings its own unique flair to the pizza oven game. With a 15×15” firebrick replacing the typical cordierite stone, it’s not just another face in the crowd – it’s a game-changer.

Well, the dual-burner might not sound like it’s from another galaxy, as you may have seen an L-shaped burner in Koda 16, which is also a single burner, technically. However, the Dual Burner setup here is totally a unique thing in the outdoor pizza oven sphere.

While most of the pizza oven brands play the marketing games, placing the single (regardless of the burner size) burner either at the top or beneath the pizza stone, the Carbon Pizza Oven throws a curveball. Technically, This design layout works well in some particular scenarios.

With a dual-burner layout – one up top and another below the firebrick – Carbon’s not just playing the game; it’s changing it. We found this a core reason that puts Carbon in antagonism with Ooni, Gozney, and Bertello; resulting in higher temperature reach in quick times.

But anyway, the design is very much straightforward and minimalist. Instead of buttons or built-in thermometers at the front, you get a Laser-cut seen-through CARBON logo. 

But you might be wondering, “Where did all the other gizmos go?”

Unfortunately, there is no built-in thermometer which might be a bit of a party pooper. On the other hand, Leonard found two dialers at the back side of the Carbon pizza oven. Each knob controls a specific burner flame and responds quicker than a cat on a hot tin roof.

Design-wise, Carbon Pizza Oven isn’t dropping the ball, surely. But we observed the placement could have been better instead of back. We needed to reach the oven’s backside for flame control, which blocked our live view of flame height. It was like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. Rear side or front side placement would have been a slick move better for excellent usability.

But hey, nobody’s perfect, right? Even the Mona Lisa doesn’t have eyebrows!

Performance and Temperatures:

Since Dual-burner is the talk of the town, it efficiently plays the role of dual-fuel. Removing the headache of juggling multiple fuel costs and performances, the temperatures with dual burner sores to 950F in 10 minutes, as per the manufacturer’s claims. The manufacturer also recommends 670F as a preheating zone before you start making pizza. However, Brain, always the curious cat, wanted to dig deeper.

With the burners going full tilt, we hit the recommended preheating temps in about 8 minutes – pretty speedy, right? Furthermore, this hotshot oven reached a scorching 910F in just over 12.5 minutes which is a straight-up burn against the most renowned Ooni Karu 16.

One quirky thing about this oven is its size. The 15×15” firebrick actually cooks 14” pizza, landing it smack dab in the middle of the standard 12 and 16-inch pizza ovens.

But anyway, we tried pizzas, patties, and cookies. To be honest, as it’s a game of dual heating channels, you must be on your A-game when it comes to temperature management. Pizzas came out superbly cooked within 100 seconds while with a bit of a suntan due to some temperature hiccups. That’s why A built-in thermometer could have solved this problem.

So, there is a learning curve on how to play with top and bottom burners regarding your food type. However, the opening height is only 3.4”, which is a bit narrow to cook big menus like full turkey roast, etc.

But overall, undoubtedly, the Carbon, with its dual burner, is a game-changer in the portable outdoor pizza oven niche.

Heat Retention and Safety:

Without any complex setup and fancy names, the Carbon pizza oven’s heat retention game is tremendously robust. We handed this task over to our in-house heat expert, Candie, and here’s the lowdown.

First off, that dual-burner feature isn’t just for show – it’s a dynamic duo working in tandem to keep the heat cranked up, even when Old Man Winter tries to crash the party. It’s like having your own personal furnace, ready to battle the cold!

Secondly, we found the use of firebrick instead of Cordierite stone also works better than standards. It bears the scorching temperatures and retains the heat against windy weather, multiple batches of pizzas, and other environmental factors better than the thickest Cordierite stone.

In the last part, the ceramic fiber insulation is like a cherry on top. With rock-bottom thermal conductivity, the carbon oven is the most viable option in the ring when it comes to retaining heat. With this all said, the exterior still gets hot but performs better than rivaling Bertello and Ooni.  

Best Alternatives to Carbon Pizza Oven – Gozney Roccbox, Ooni Koda 16, Bertello Grande

While the Carbon Pizza oven is muscled up enough to take its fair share in the portable pizza oven category, we find Ooni Koda 16 rivaling this big boy. Comparing both the oven head-head, both pose similar single fuel capability, temperature reach, and cost.

While Koda 16 offers a better lightweight body, bigger cooking space, and aesthetics, the carbon oven flips the script with dual fuel capability in response to a single L-shaped burner.

Technically, the single L-shaped burner is bigger than the two rolling-flame burners of the Carbon pizza oven. But with the layout and bigger area to serve, Koda lags in terms of preheating times, taking almost 20+ minutes to attain heights.

But then, Carbon Oven is known for its swift operations. For size and aesthetics, Ooni performs better. The Carbon pizza oven is a better choice for performance and challenging weather conditions.

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People Also Ask – FAQs

Is Carbon Pizza Oven a Dual-Fuel Oven?

The carbon pizza oven isn’t a dual-fuel oven. Instead is a dual burner oven in the market which is a unique thing to market in the most saturated league of outdoor and portable pizza ovens. Yet, it is rumored Carbon will launch a dual-fuel option in near future.

Which Pizza stone has been used in the Carbon Pizza oven?

The carbon pizza oven doesn’t come with a Cordierite pizza stone. Instead, it uses a 15×15 firebrick that cooks around 14” pizza and retains the heat well in harsh weather conditions. This is also the reason, carbon pizza oven faces a high weight.

How do you manage dual-burners in a Carbon Oven?

The carbon outdoor pizza oven has two dedicated dialers at the rear end to manage the flames. Each dialer is highly responsive and can manage the overall oven’s temperature.

The Bottom Line

So the Carbon Pizza Oven review has come full circle, and we can only say this gadget is an uncrowned king in the portable and outdoor pizza oven category. With a robust build, minimalist yet futuristic design, and unmatchable performance, it’s an undisputed midrange value-to-money pizza oven to have in your kitchen.