Your Next Dinner Party Needs This 🔥 Indoor/Outdoor Pizza Oven From Ooni

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If you don’t like pizza, we simply can’t be friends. Sorry, not sorry. Remember that little kid that went viral for saying “Chipotle is my liiiiife”? Well, pizza is my life, and I’m not even mad about it. Yes, I know, I know, I’m so quirky and unique and original and not like other girls. Shut up! It’s fine! I can make it my personality if I want to!

As a New York City resident engaged to an Italian boy from New Jersey, I think it’s safe to say I’ve tried my fair share of pizza in this life. And I think it’s also safe to say that I am a good judge of what makes a good pizza. That’s why I feel confident when I tell you that the Ooni Volt 12—the newest oven from the brand famous for bringing professional-yet-portable pizza makers to the masses—spits out really f*cking amazing ‘za. And I’m extra confident because I tried it myself, in my own kitchen.

I made several homemade pies in the Ooni Volt 12 before writing this story so I could give you the true low-down on this popular new product, which is making waves because it’s the company’s first-ever electric oven, so you can use it both indoors and outdoors. (FYI, all other Oonis are outdoor-only, fueled by wood, wood pellets, propane, charcoal, or natural gas, depending on the model.)

Now, I’m not really a girl who gets excited about techy toys and gizmos and gadgets galore, but let me tell you, this baby is a glorious piece of machinery…yet so easy to use. No matter your pizza-making skill level or ability to operate electronics, I promise you’ll be able to crank out a restaurant-quality pie in less than 90 seconds if you have one of these in your possession. And who wouldn’t want that?! (Dare I say dinner party at your place???)

Wanna learn more to decide if you need one in your life too? (Spoiler alert: you do.) Keep reading for my full review.

Pros

It makes mind-blowingly good pizza

No, like, I'm talking "I went to Rome and hit up the best pizzeria in Trastevere" good. I don't need to get into the engineering of it all (I was a journalism major, lol), but this machine uses two elements—one on the top and one on the bottom—to make sure the heat is *precisely* distributed, ensuring the perfect pie every time. The crust comes out deliciously charred, like you pulled it from a coal-fired oven, and the cheese is consistently gooey and audibly bubbling. And don't even get me started about the crispy curled edges on the pepperoni. You simply can't make pizza like this in a regular oven, or even on a barbeque. It's just built different.

It bakes super fast

Ninety seconds really is all it takes to cook your 'za in the Ooni Volt 12, because it can get as hot as 850 degrees (so basically the same temperature as the NYC subway stations in August 🫠). You have to wait around 15 minutes (or more or less, depending on the temperature you choose) to preheat the oven to make sure the stone inside is fired up and ready to go. But once it's hot, you can crank out pies on pies on pies until, well, everyone is full.

It’s really easy to set up and use

I'll admit it: installing new gadgets stresses me out, especially in my tiny lil home. But we barely even needed to read the instructions on this bad boy when we got it home—it's that intuitive. (But, like...always read the instructions.) It comes fully assembled, so all we did was pull it out of the box and place it on the counter before starting the setup. Then, we just had to pop in the cordierite baking stone, plug it in, and heat it up for 20 minutes to "season it," cooking off any yucky stuff along the way. Then it was ready to go!

There are three nobs on the front of the machine that make the magic happen: one for timing, one for temperature, and one that switches it to "Boost" mode, which rotates which heating element is used so you can decide where you want the heat to be concentrated. And those are really all you need to use to bake your little heart out! Just build your pizza on a separate surface (I did it right on the pizza peel) using homemade or storebought dough, transfer it to the hot stone using the peel, and boom!

Before...

...During...

...After.

There's a manual in the box that tells you which temp and timing you need for different pizza styles (Chicago vs. New York, for example), but otherwise, you can play around with it and see what you like best. It does take a little bit of trial and error at first—especially because you need to stick your pizza peel in the oven and turn the pizza to ensure even cooking, which is a skill you might need to learn—but once you get it down, you'll feel like a straight up pizzaiolo.

It can be used indoors or outdoors

Hosting an al fresco dinner party? Great, you can make the pizza in front of your guests! Negative 50 degrees outside but still want a Neopolitan-style slice? Totally fine, you got it! The beauty of the Ooni Volt 12 is that you can use it anywhere you have an outlet—and it will thrive no matter the conditions. It's completely weather-resistant, thanks in part to a cool-to-the-touch protective shell that keeps heat in and everything else out, and a triple-paned borosilicate glass door that insulates like nothing I've ever seen before. So you really, truly have no excuse not to make pizza. Ever.

Cons

It’s expensive

Listen, I know as well as anyone that $1K isn't pocket change. It's an expensive product. That's why you're reading about it here, in Cosmo Luxe. But this pizza oven really is one-of-a-kind—and the first of its kind. If pizza is a passion of yours, or for whoever you might be thinking of gifting this to, this is the best on the market.

It’s not tiny-kitchen-friendly

I mean, it's not anyone's fault. This guy needs to fit a whole pizza inside it, and a whole pizza takes up a whole bunch of space. I had no problem fitting this on my countertop while I was making the pizza, but it was storing it that caused me a bit of trouble...because I have literally zero room for anything else in my NYC apartment. If that's not you and you have plenty of storage space, this shouldn't be an issue and you can ignore this con! Just make sure you look at the dimensions before you hit "buy" (but I hope you're already doing that).

It doesn’t come with accessories

Unless you already have some, you're going to need a couple different accessories to use the Ooni Volt 12—specifically, the aforementioned pizza peel, as well as a serving/cutting board. (Oh, and probably a pizza cutter, unless you wanna cut it with a knife.) These are all sold separately on the Ooni website, meaning you'll likely be paying for more than the already $$$ machine. Expect to shell out $50-60 for a peel, and $35 for a board. But, of course, you can try to find a cheaper dupe elsewhere!

Perforated Pizza Peel

Bamboo Pizza Peel & Serving Board

Pizza Turning Peel

16″ Serving Bundle

The bottom line

If you can get over the sticker shock, buy it. This is a product that's gonna be with you for the long haul, and it will make your life infinitely better—especially if you're a pizza aficionado like me. This baby cranks out pies that are so much better than delivery, and it's a ton of fun to experiment and choose your own toppings.

I'm not going to say your friends will be inviting themselves over a lot more after you get one of these...but I'm also not not saying that. I can, however, promise that your dinner parties will get a hell of a lot better (mine sure have). And who doesn't want that?

BUY THE OONI PIZZA OVEN

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