Pizza ovens are a bit like Marmite. You’ll either love them and bring yours out at every gathering or you’ll regret splurging on another appliance you hardly use, leaving it to gather dust in the garage.
We get it. They can be large, heavy and expensive, making them tricky to recommend unless you’re a real pizza enthusiast.
However, we recently came across a pizza oven that’s completely changed our minds. It’s compact, can be used indoors, makes delicious pizzas in just three minutes, and costs less than £100. The Kenwood My Pizzeria impressed everyone who used it and surpassed our expectations in the Good Housekeeping Institute lab, claiming the top spot in our round-up of the best pizza ovens with a score of 96/100. It’s even become our go-to for team lunches.
Here’s how this little grill completely changed our minds about pizza ovens.
The Kenwood My Pizzeria at a glance
Pros
- Affordable
- Easy to get pizzas in and out
- Heats to 380 degrees in 10 minutes
- Can be used for toasting and heating (e.g. s’mores and waffles)
Cons
- Need to place it on a heatproof surface
- Pizzas cooked better after the stone had been seasoned (done by cooking on it a few times)
Why we love the Kenwood My Pizzeria
It's lightweight, compact, and can be used indoors
One of our biggest frustrations with pizza ovens is their size. BBQs are enough of a struggle to store away for the winter, so no one really wants a second bulky cooker.
The Kenwood My Pizzeria is refreshingly compact. Measuring just 36 x 18.5cm and weighing 4.7kg, it can easily sit on your countertop or be tucked away out of sight when you’re not using it.
Plus, as an electric indoor model, it can be used all year round. This is no fair-weather appliance.
It heats up fast and cooks delicious pizzas in three minutes
In just 10 minutes, the stone surface heats to an impressive 380°C, while the air inside gets up to the 400°C mark. These high temperatures mean it delivers crisp pizza crusts, golden colouring, and bubbling pockets of cheese.
There are five heat settings to choose from, with heating elements in the top and bottom of the oven to ensure an even finish for both base and toppings. This meant its pizzas achieved a perfect score when taste tested in the lab, with soft centres, crunchy edges and well-cooked toppings. Basically, when pictures of the finished pizzas were shared on our group chat, half the GHI team were convinced to order one of these little pizza ovens.
The little viewing window also makes it easy to check on your pizza’s cooking progress – a feature that many traditional pizza ovens don’t have.
It cooks more than just pizza
This isn’t a one-trick pony (one of our other big bugbears about pizza ovens), as the adjustable heat settings mean you can cook other dishes and ingredients, too.
We tried toasting waffles and melting marshmallows for s’mores on the second setting. Both worked brilliantly but be sure to keep an eye on your sweet treats to prevent burning!
Things to note
If you're planning to host a pizza party, note that you can only cook one pizza at a time and, after 45 minutes of cooking, it needs to be turned off and left to cool before using again. With speedy preheating and quick cooking times, though, you can easily whip up eight whole pizzas in one go, which should be enough to feed a crowd.
The other thing to consider is the pizza stone. As with all ovens that use a pizza stone as the cooking surface, you’ll want to ensure it’s well-seasoned before inviting guests over. A pizza stone will naturally develop a darker colour and a better non-stick surface the more you cook on it. In other words, the more pizzas you make, the better they’ll be (it’s the perfect excuse for experimenting, if you ask us).
The final verdict
We’ll admit we were sceptical at first. We didn’t expect the Kenwood My Pizzeria to stand up against the large traditional gas models, and we also didn’t think it would transform our team of testers into pizza ovens fans overnight.
Flash forward through a few days in the test kitchen and quite a few of us have purchased one for our own kitchens. Comments from our experts included: ‘Such great value for money’, ‘The pizza was delicious’ and ‘I am in love with this pizza oven’.
With deliciously melted cheese, airy crusts, and flavourful charring, it truly recreates a great pizza experience with minimal fuss. The pizza stone easily slots into place, and it’s simple to get the pizzas in and out of the oven using the included peel.
At just £100, it’s also a fraction of the price of many of the market-leading models. It’s one of the biggest surprise hits in our testing lab this year and it’s safe to say we’re officially pizza oven converts.
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s senior homes and lifestyle writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market and has written hundreds of product reviews on everything from the best vacuum cleaners and coffee machines to the best ice cream makers and robot window cleaners.
When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her running every distance from 5km to 100km or relaxing at home with her cat – there really is no in between.
Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, Women's Health, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall.
