Summary: I’d Trade My Ooni Pro 16 for an Ooni Karu 16 Pizza Oven. Keep reading to find out how the Ooni Karu 16 improved on what the Ooni Pro started.
The Ooni Pro was the original multi-fuel portable pizza oven. While the Ooni Pro was amazing, the Karu 16 makes some significant improvements.
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Make no mistake, I love my Ooni Pro 16 pizza oven, but Ooni’s getting smarter and sexier with their pizza oven designs. Offering different fuel options of wood, gas, charcoal, and pellets will make the days of the cooking pizza in your kitchen oven seem very old fashioned!
I’ve gone on the record sharing my love for the Ooni Pro. Over the years I have cooked hundreds of pizzas on my Ooni Pro oven. I’ve cooked pizzas with all four fuel options – wood, charcoal, propane, and even with wood pellets (personally, I’m not a fan of wood pellets).
Every pizza I cook in my pizza ovens is a memory with friends and family. My Ooni Pro pizza oven was the hero of backyard cookouts, birthday parties, family reunions, church youth groups or even just for fun!
So when you just want the most delicious pizza dough to make the most delicious pizzas in your pizza oven, it will make you want to come up with any excuse to have a a gathering to cook pizza! What’s not to love about this multi-fuel pizza oven?!
And if you’re looking for a favorite pizza recipe, I posted an article just on dough. The comments from my friends and family say it’s the best dough recipe and the reviews just go on and on! So if you want information on how you can save this dough recipe, be my guest!
Buy one of these ovens now at one of these retailers and make your next 12 inch to 16 inch pizza at home! And at a great price, considering the money you will be saving over time on the price of pizzas at a restaurant. And, custom pizza cooked at home taste way more delicious than pizza at a restaurant!
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While Ooni Pro’s one of the best ovens of its time, Ooni has found ways to improve both style and function in their ovens as they’ve added to their arsenal over the years. Just look what they have done with the pizza oven Ooni Karu!
For all of their differences, there are a lot of similarities between the Ooni Pro 16 and Ooni Karu 16. I want to share with you some of my favorite improvements with the Karu.
Wood, Charcoal, and Gas Cooking: Which Ooni is the multi-fuel pizza oven of choice?
What’s the same in the Ooni Pro 16 and the Ooni Karu 16?
At first, I was a bit surprised that Ooni came out with another multi-fuel 16 inch pizza oven with the same basic shape and features as the Ooni Pro. Then I realized that the Karu 16 would be the eventual replacement for the Ooni Pro – turns out that I was right.
Let’s review Ooni Karu and Ooni Pro ovens to see what they have to offer in their pizza ovens. With every new model the eggheads at Ooni have learned lessons and keep making improvements.
I have never been disappointed with the structure of the Ooni Pro 16 pizza oven.
Out of the box, both Karu 16 and Ooni Pro pizza ovens give you the best authentic pizza cooking experience with the ability to cook with wood and charcoal.
Both the Karu and Pro offer an optional gas burner upgrade for those that love the convenience of gas. Don’t judge me for wanting gas over wood or charcoal!
When I have people over, I’m more worried about giving my friends and family a fun cooking experience. That means I don’t have time to worry about having to check my oven often to keep the temperature above 900 degrees or keep adding wood to my pizza oven.
That’s just one thing I love about the Karu and the Ooni Pro pizza ovens.
While I was hoping Ooni would finally come out with a multi-fuel pizza oven that would allow you to cook pizzas with both wood and gas at the same time, I will settle for the gas version that allows you to switch between the gas or wood pizza oven cooking.
Ooni didn’t create a two burner model in the Karu like they did with the Pro after launching the Koda 12 and Koda 16 ovens with their wall of flame burners. But Ooni did upgrade the dual burner system in the Karu 16.
Now it’s like a little jet pack inside of your pizza oven with tapered flame burner vents to build up pressure so that when the flames come out, the flames shoot out further than they did with the Ooni Pro oven. It’s what they call ‘advanced flame projection’. Now that is some multi-fuel pizza oven!
What’s different in these Ooni Pizza Ovens?
The Ooni Karu 16 oven may have solved the heat retention issue that I’ve had with other portable pizza ovens.
Ooni made the Karu 16 oven with a thick layer of ceramic fiber insulation. This provides superior heat retention to the pizza oven and it also gets the oven to 950 degrees faster than any other portable pizza oven before – and in just 15 minutes!
But wait! There’s more!
There is more to heat management than insulation. You also need fuel and air control when cooking pizzas.
The Ooni engineers designed a larger fuel tray so both hold more wood and charcoal as well as provide better air flow. Not only will it burn longer, it’s more efficient and consistent in maintaining cooking temperatures.
With this large fuel tray, they also gave us redesigned vents to improve air flow with both a sliding ceiling vent and chimney baffle.
This makes it easy to speed up the initial heating process, as well as the reheating times that are periodically needed when you’re cooking several pizzas at a time (personally, I never make less than 5 and usually more than 10).
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More Than Just Pizza: Ooni Karu acts like a pro pizza oven!
When it comes to pizza ovens, Ooni has been masterful at diversifying their image as a ‘pizza only’ company. Whether you’re cooking a variety of meats, breads, appetizers, cookies, or desserts, they have some amazing cast iron skillets and other cooking accessories that can cook just about anything on the menu.
And where do you get enough inches to cook those fine foods and pizza? Ooni put it right into their 16 inch Ooni Karu pizza ovens!
The Ooni Karu 16 air flow management lets you turn down the heat for slow and low cooking of breads and meats. And the Ooni engineers literally raised the roof – or internal oven ceiling – higher than any previous Ooni pizza ovens in inches to further enhance the non-pizza cooking experience.
So whether you’re cooking a 12 inch pizza or a 16 inch pizza, entre, dessert, or anything between, those extra inches make all the difference!
Glass Door: Karu 16 Meets the Mark Again!
When cooking pizza with wood or charcoal in your pizza oven, you need a door to keep the heat in, but you also need to be able to see your pizza inside the pizza oven.
The Ooni Pro 16 has a removeable door with a small glass window that turned black way too quickly for me. It also always bothered me that I had to constantly remove the door, put it on top of the oven, move the pizza, and put the door back on my pizza oven.
It seems that Ooni listened and addressed these issues with the Ooni Karu 16 pizza oven.
The Karu 16 boasts a full glass door with aluminum hinges. This means you can just lower the door and not have to remove it every time on the 16.
Ooni patented their ViewFlame technology that they claim keeps the door cleaner for longer while retaining heat within the oven. That is awesome! I’m lovin’ this 16 more and more! Bring on more pizzas!
Oven Temperature: Ooni Pro vs Karu?
The Ooni Pro has a small round thermostat in the door that I thought was kind of cheap. That may be because it eventually fell off….but I would use the infrared thermometer anyway, so it was no big deal.
The Ooni Karu 16 lets you cook with greater accuracy with a digital thermometer that measures the air temperature within the oven. You will also know when it is time to ‘recharge’ or reheat the oven when cooking your pizzas. I don’t know why this particular feature took so long, but I am very grateful!
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Outside Storage: How’s the weather out there, Pro?
For a portable pizza oven, this unit is pretty large. I very much appreciate that Ooni let us keep it outside.
The Ooni Pro 16 could handle being stored outside, but many of the newer models needed to be stored inside – which can be a bit of a pain and take up space in your home or garage.
It looks like they’ve introduced a better cover for the Ooni Karu 16 that is a 100% rainproof cover that tightens down snugly to keep out the elements.
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Price of the Ooni Pizza Ovens Challenge: Does the Karu or the Pro match your budget?
At the time of this article, the Ooni Pro 16 lists at $599 and the Ooni Karu 16 at $799. The Ooni Karu 12 seemed to be the replacement for the old Ooni 3. I can’t help but think that the life of the Ooni Pro could be limited as I speculate that the Karu 16 was designed to be its direct replacement.
So is it the Karu vs the Ooni Pro? We will see what the pros come up with and may the best pizza oven be what you find in your back yard.
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There is a propane gas option for both the Ooni Pro 16 and Ooni Karu 16. The Ooni Karu 16 has a second natural gas option, and offering a natural gas option is another way Ooni’s been getting smarter and smarter -starting with the Koda 16.
Which Ooni Pizza Oven is Right for You? Karu or Pro?
I always answer this question by deferring to personal preference. If style is important, the smooth and stylish Karu 16 is way cooler looking than the blocky Ooni Pro 16.
If you’re still on the fence about which pizza oven is best, this video may just put you over the edge.
If money wasn’t a factor, even though the price is competitive, I would definitely choose the Ooni Karu 16. And like I said, I’d happily trade-in my Pro for the Ooni Karu – if Ooni is willing to make the trade! and I hope you like our Ooni Karu 16 review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Ooni Pro discontinued?
The Ooni Pro is no longer manufactured or sold by Ooni but you may be able to find it through another seller. But once those sellers are out, you won’t be able to find it anymore since Ooni replaced it with the Ooni Karu.
Can you leave Ooni Karu outside?
Although the Ooni Karu 16 pizza oven is designed to withstand the elements, it’s still recommended to store it in a cover or inside. Most other Ooni pizza ovens are not designed to last staying outdoors.
Can I use pellets in Ooni Pro?
You can use pellets if you purchase the pellet burner for the Ooni Pro.
Can I use pellets in Ooni Karu?
The Ooni Karu wasn’t designed to work with pellets and unfortunately Ooni hasn’t come out with a pellet burner attachment for it yet.
Is the Ooni Karu 16 worth it?
The Ooni Karu 16 is arguably the best of what are considered to be portable pizza ovens. It’s packed with features and cooks an fantastic pizza. It’s a worth addition to your outdoor kitchen.
As someone from Long Island, New York, Thomas knows what it takes to make a good pizza. He understands that it’s a combination of high-quality ingredients, well-rounded pizza ovens, and a little bit of love. From the dough of a Neapolitan-style pizza to the wood that powers a wood-fired pizza oven, he has you covered. Thomas’ love of pizza is what got him here and he hopes that you’ll enjoy pizza as much as he does soon.
