Solo Stove Pi portable pizza oven had an official launch on “Pi Day” in 2022. That should give you just a little insight on their focus on fun and the joy of gathering with family and friends around pizza and fire.
Should you buy a Solo Stove Pi or one of the many other pizza ovens from more established pizza oven brands like Ooni, Gozney, or Bertello?
Solo Stove dominates the smokeless fire pit market, and now they are working their way into the fast-growing outdoor pizza oven market.
It makes sense really. Solo Stove has mastered fire, insulation, and marketing cool products. Can their engineers turn the corner into making a quality pizza oven? Let’s take a closer look at this portable outdoor pizza oven and see what it has to offer!
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Solo Stove Pi Design
Design Overview
Design is an important thing to consider when selecting a pizza oven. Not only do you want an oven that looks good, but you also want one that is the right size and weight for your needs. Additionally, features like fuel source, pizza stone, and accessories can all be important factors in your decision. And of course, safety is always a top concern. With so many factors to consider, it’s important to do your research before choosing an outdoor pizza oven. But once you find the perfect one, you’ll be able to enjoy delicious pizza all summer long!
The Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven has the look of a Solo Stove Bonfire, but instead of functioning as a fire pit, it cooks pizza. This makes the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven a perfect companion to the Solo Stove fire pits for parties, tailgating, camping, or anytime you want to enjoy a delicious pizza.
Top Features
Some of these features are expected for a new pizza oven, especially easy to use, dual fuel and stainless steel. We will still go through these features, but I think you’ll be especially interested in the other features – Panoramic Opening, Demi-Dome Heating & Airflow, and Lifetime Warranty.
Comparing the Solo Stove Pizza Oven to their Fire Pits
Below, you can see how the Solo Stove Signature Airflow has been engineered into the Pi portable pizza oven. This promises to be more efficient than other wood-fired pizza ovens – many of which are more frustrating than effective.
Solo Stove Fire Pit Airflow
Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven Airflow
Outside air is brought in from the bottom and heated as it passes through the flames.
In the case of the the fire pit, some air is channeled up to the main chamber where the fire is. Air is also pulled out into the outer wall where it is heated and pushed out through holes in the top. This heated air then pushes out over the fire and burns the carbon out of the smoke – creating the smokeless burn and very cool flame pattern.
The Solo Stove Pi pulls the air in from the bottom to pass through the flame and up to the top of the dome where the heat is pushed back down onto the pizza to cook it.
Demi-Dome Heating & Airflow
What is a Demi-Dome? Let’s let Solo Stove explain it:
“Designed with a Demi-Dome Construction, convection is enhanced to distribute heat to everywhere that matters. The circular flow of air is self-sustaining, meaning every time you launch your pizza, it’s entering an ultra-hot air pocket, helping to evenly cook your pie in a couple minutes or less.”
https://blog.solostove.com/hi-im-pi/
In other words, the heat comes in from the back, rises up into the dome, which pushes the heat down onto the stone. Solo Stove says that the hot air is then pushed from the front to the back of the oven and again rises up into the heat cycle.
They claim that the Demi-Dome gives the Pi a 360 degree cooking surface that evenly heats the cordierite stone cooking surface.
Pi’s Panoramic Opening
What is the Pi Panoramic Opening?
Every pizza oven has an opening where you put the pizza. The Solo Stove Pi has a 13 inch wide Panoramic Opening with a very thoughtful feature that makes it easier to turn pizzas without taking them out of the oven.
You don’t have to be a scientist to understand that the larger the opening to put in the pizza, the more heat gets lost. Since the Solo Stove Pi portable pizza oven is designed for 12-inch pizzas, they made the inner area of the Panoramic Opening to be 13 inches – ON THE INSIDE OF THE INSULATION.
The intelligent part of this feature is that if they went straight out with the opening to make it 13 inches ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE INSULATION, then it would severely limit the range of motion of a turning peel – that is, a peel that you use to turn the pizza without removing it from the oven.
By tapering the Panoramic Opening out, it actually gives you a wider range of motion to work with. This makes it easier for beginners and veterans to maneuver and turn pizzas from within the oven.
Dual Fuel Cooking
Cooking with Gas
I have gone on the record many times to say that I am a fan of cooking pizza with gas – especially when cooking more than 5 pizzas in a row. That’s because if I am cooking more than 5 pizzas, it means that friends or family are joining us for a pizza dinner.
When I have friends over, I want to focus on them – not oven temperature. I’d rather they have a great time creating, sharing, and eating pizza masterpieces – even if it means that they miss out on a little wood-fired flavor.
That’s why I’m glad that the Pi by Solo Stove has a propane burner option that can be added or removed according to my mood.
There are bundles that include a gas burner, or you can buy a gas burner as an add-on module. If you don’t buy the propane gas burner now – I’ll bet you’ll buy it down the road.
Cooking with Wood
If I was going to trust any company with the ability to make cooking pizzas with wood easy and effective, it would be Solo Stove.
It’s like Pi’s Ty once told me, “We know our wood burning here at Solo Stove”. Yes, they do!
(Pi’s Ty is the face of the Solo Stove Pi in the Pi by Solo Stove – Official Community Facebook group)
The standard Solo Stove Pi is a wood-fired pizza oven out of the box. In the box comes a wood tray, ash tray, and a handle for the fire door cover.
Managing the fire is surprisingly easy.
- Put a natural fire starter (food safe) in the ash tray
- Put the hardwood in the wood tray
- Light the fire starter
- Put the wood tray inside the ash tray
- Replace the fire door
Beginners will overlook the fire starter suggestion – don’t make that rookie mistake. Trust me, cooking pizza with wood is much easier with fire starters.
The wood tray is 11 inches long, but Pi’s Ty recommends kiln dried hardwood that is 1 inch by 5 inches long. The advantage to this is that you can put them in 2 by 2 wide and 2 by 2 length wise – even 2 deep. Any longer and the pieces will be too long to fit multiple pieces of wood comfortably in the wood tray.
If you do choose not to use fire starters, you will need a small propane torch to light the sticks on fire. Matches and just some ordinary lighter isn’t going to work for you.
Basically just use 4-6 of the same small chunks of wood that you would use in a smoker.
Add one piece of wood every 5-10 minutes. Adding more than one piece of wood at a time will slow down the heat.
As with any wood fired pizza oven, you don’t want to put a new piece of wood on while there is a pizza on the stone. Every time you put a new piece of wood on, you want to wait until the black smoke clears before putting the pizza on.
Ash is not one of my favorite pizza toppings.
Periodically, you will need to add wood to keep the temperature up, so you should always use hardwoods so the wood lasts longer, burns hotter, and leaves less ash.
Stainless Steel Structure
Basically, if you love the look of the Solo Stove fire pits, you’ll love Pi!
The Pi is a single-piece oven made of stainless steel that has the look and feel of the rest of the Solo Stove family.
While most ovens have fold down legs, the Pi has its signature vent holes that pull in air from the front and back to fuel the flames.
The footprint of the Pi Pizza Oven is small, but at 15.2 inches it is a little taller than comparable Ooni Pizza ovens, but shorter than the Gozney Roccbox.
It doesn’t break down when transporting like most other ovens, but it’s compact design is definitely not bulky.
If you like cooking non-pizza foods, it is actually an advantage. It’s round shape is amazing with cast iron skillets because the entire round pan can go inside the oven while the handle remains outside the oven.
The panoramic opening lets you turn the skillet more than any other pizza oven of similar size.
The top is flat which is a pleasant surprise to anyone using the Solo Stove Pi. Need to quickly put down your pizza, cast iron pan, or cooking tool – there’s a convenient spot right on top of the pizza oven.
Lifetime warranty
Lifetime warranty sounds much better than a 2 or 3 year warranty like others. It is really just for manufacture defects
Dimensions and weight
- 13 inch wide Panoramic Opening
- Exterior Diameter: 20.5in | 52.07 cm
- Exterior Height: 15.125in | 38.42 cm
- Weight:30.5lbs | 13.83 kg
- Stone Thickness: 13mm
- Interior Stone Width: ~15in (two piece stone to fit in the 13 inch door)
- Materials: Stainless Steel
Ease of Use
One of the best things about the Solo Stove Pi portable outdoor pizza oven is how easy it is to use. Simply take it out of the box, put the cordierite stones in the Pi, insert the wood assembly or gas burner, and it’s ready to go.
The back door can be removed with the included, detachable handle.
Cooking Pizza
The backyard pizza oven has become popular because it can get to a very high temperature. This allows you to cook a Neapolitan style pizza rivaling any great pizzeria. The Solo Stove Pi portable outdoor pizza oven can reach temperatures up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit, making it hot enough to cook a delicious pizza in just minutes. Plus, the insulated design helps retain heat so that your pizza stays hot and fresh.
Oven temperatures are a tricky thing. Infrared thermometers are not a super accurate tool in measuring surface temperature compared to ambient air temperature. I believe it is for that reason that Solo Stove separates these out.
Wood Burning
- Stone: 750°F
- Ambient Air: 850°F
Gas Burner
- Stone: 800°F
- Ambient Air: 900°F
Whether or not you like the way they measure temperature, it cooks a mean pizza Pi(e)!
Pros and Cons
Now that we’ve taken a closer look at the Solo Stove Pi portable outdoor pizza oven, let’s summarize the pros and cons.
Pros
Cons
FAQ
What is the maximum temperature that the Solo Stove Pi portable outdoor pizza oven can reach?
The Solo Stove Pi can reach temperatures up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
How do you clean the Pi?
The exterior can be cleaned with warm soapy water and a clean towel. The interior can be brushed out. Any lingering mess or debris can be burned off by running the stove on high heat. After a good burn, brush out any remaining debris.
Can I use the Solo Stove Pi pizza oven indoors?
No, this oven is designed for outdoor use only.
Does the Solo Stove Pi portable outdoor pizza oven come with a warranty?
Yes, the Solo Stove Pi comes with a lifetime warranty.
Summary
If you’re looking for a portable outdoor pizza oven, the Solo Stove Pi is definitely one to consider.
Solo Stove is an amazing company that specializes in bringing people together. They specialize in portable campfire pits and stoves, and I look at that as an advantage. Everything that I watch and read from Solo Stove encourages Pi users to focus on the experience – don’t worry about making a Reddit or Pinterest picture perfect pizza.
Their online and Facebook community is great also. It is full of new, first-time pizza oven owners trying to navigate the difficulties of learning the art of making pizza. I’ve been there, and I enjoy helping others begin their journey.
Maybe that’s why I relate to them so well. I’ve gotten pretty good at making pizzas, but my greatest joy of pizza making is teaching others to go from pizza zero to pizza hero in a single meal!
Check out the official Solo Stove Pi launch on Facebook
Here are some related articles you might like.
10 Best Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Ovens (2022 Review)
Pizza Oven Buying Guide: Comparing Portable, Countertop, and Built-in Pizza Ovens
21 Best Electric Pizza Ovens (Top Reviews for 2022)
Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Using a Pizza Oven
Tim is a self proclaimed social eater – so it’s not surprise that he’s obsessed making pizzas with his kids, friends, his kids friends, close family, extended family, people with the same last name but aren’t actually family, neighbors, random people in the neighborhood, and complete strangers!
There’s nothing quite like helping other people embrace their creative side as they make their own pizza masterpieces!
