Best Pizza Ovens Australia 2026:
Gas, Wood or Electric, and What It Costs per Pizza

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to amazon.com.au. If you buy through one of these links iFix may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It doesn't change which products we recommend. We focus on what actually lasts based on 16 years of repair-shop experience.

Gas, wood or electric: the real difference

A pizza oven is a small box built to get a stone floor and a low roof much hotter than a kitchen oven ever will. The fuel decides how you live with it. Gas is the easy one: turn a knob, wait for the stone, cook. Wood and charcoal take more practice and more tending, but they give you the flame and smell people are usually chasing. Electric gives up some of the theatre and gives back convenience, because you can use it on the kitchen bench in July.

Most people I talk to end up happiest with gas for regular use. It heats in a predictable time, it doesn't need feeding every couple of minutes, and you can cook ten pizzas in a row without the fire dying down. Wood is the one for people who enjoy the fire as much as the food. Electric suits apartments, rental properties with strict balcony rules and anyone who wants pizza on a Tuesday without dragging a gas bottle out of the shed.

There's also a middle ground now. The Ooni Karu 12 burns wood or charcoal out of the box and takes an optional gas burner, sold separately. The Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven is electric but burns a small handful of wood pellets for smoke flavour. Neither is quite as good at its second trick as a dedicated oven, in my view, but both make sense if you can't decide yet or you're buying for a household that disagrees about it.

Why 500°C matters, and when it doesn't

Neapolitan-style pizza cooks in about a minute and a half on a stone around 400 to 450°C with flame rolling across the roof. That's where the leopard spots on the crust and the soft, puffy rim come from. Ooni lists both the Koda 2 Pro and the Karu 12 as reaching 500°C, which gives plenty of headroom. The Ninja Woodfire lists 370°C, which is enough for a good pizza in about three minutes, but you'll get a crisper, more even bake than a true Neapolitan char.

The Breville Pizzaiolo and the Ooni Volt 2 don't state a top temperature on their listings, so I won't quote one. What the Breville listing does explain is how it gets there: a cordierite stone sitting directly over incoloy elements, a deflector shield to protect the toppings and separate control of deck and top heat. That's the right design for an indoor electric oven, because it can't rely on a big open flame to cook the top of the pizza the way a gas oven does.

Higher heat isn't always better. A thick New York or pan pizza burns on the bottom before the middle cooks if the stone is at 500°C. The Koda 2 Pro lists a range down to 160°C for roasts and steaks, and the Breville and Ninja both carry presets for pan and New York styles. If your family eats more thick-crust pizza than Neapolitan, controllable heat matters more than a big maximum figure on the box, and it's worth thinking about before you buy.

Running cost per pizza

None of the electric listings state a wattage, so I'll work from the limit instead. A standard Australian 10A power point tops out at 2,400W. At the average tariff of about 33c per kWh, an oven drawing that much flat out costs about 79c an hour. Allow half an hour to heat the stone and half an hour to cook eight pizzas, and even a worst case lands under 10c a pizza in electricity. Most of the time the element cycles off once it's at temperature, so the real figure is lower.

Gas is harder to pin down because the Ooni listings don't state the burner rating either. The method is simple, though. Check the burner rating on the oven's data plate, divide your LPG bottle's energy content by it, and you'll know how many hours a bottle lasts. For a home cook doing pizza night once a week, a bottle usually lasts a long time, and the gas cost per pizza is small next to the cheese and the flour you put on it.

Wood and charcoal cost the most per pizza in my experience, mainly because you burn fuel heating the oven before you cook and keep feeding it between pizzas. Kiln-dried hardwood also isn't something most people have lying around. If you want to measure an electric oven's real cost, a metering smart plug rated for the load will tell you exactly what a pizza night uses. It's an interesting number to know, and it usually settles the argument at home.

Indoor electric ovens and your power point

An electric pizza oven is one of the heaviest loads you'll plug into a kitchen socket, right up there with a kettle or a fan heater. Plug it straight into a wall socket, not a powerboard or a double adaptor, and don't share that socket with the kettle while it's heating. A powerboard running near its limit for an hour heats up at the plug and the switch. If you've ever seen a melted or browned plug top, that's usually how it happened, a loose contact under a heavy load.

If you do need a powerboard elsewhere in the kitchen, the boards in our surge powerboard guide show the overload and rating details to look for, but the oven itself should still have its own wall socket. Check for the RCM mark on the plug and the rating plate when it arrives. Both electric picks here, the Breville and the Ooni Volt 2, are sold by Australian sellers, and the Ninja's model code ends in ANZ, which is the regional version.

Give an indoor oven room to breathe. It needs clearance at the back and above for the hot air to escape, and it shouldn't sit under overhead cupboards with the door edge right below them. The outside of the case gets warm, so keep it away from the kettle cord and anything plastic. Wipe spills off the stone only once it's cool, and never pour water onto a hot stone to clean it, because that's the quickest way to crack it.

Gas safety: regulators, hoses and bottles

Both Ooni gas ovens on the listings come with a 28 mbar regulator and gas hose, which is what you want, because using an odd regulator from the shed is a common mistake. Before the first cook, connect the bottle, brush soapy water over every joint and turn the gas on without lighting the oven. Bubbles mean a leak, so tighten or replace the fitting before you go any further. It's a two-minute job and worth doing every time you change the bottle as well.

Gas pizza ovens are outdoor appliances only. They burn a lot of gas at full heat and they need open air around them, so never run one in a garage, a closed-in patio or a carport with the walls up. Keep the hose away from the hot body of the oven and out from under feet, and replace it if it cracks, stiffens or kinks. Check the box and the data plate for Australian gas certification when it arrives, because that's what your insurer will look for.

Turn the bottle off at the valve when you're done, not only the knob on the oven, and store bottles upright outside. In summer, put the oven on a solid, non-flammable surface rather than a timber bench or a plastic outdoor table, because the base gets hot. A steel trolley or a stone bench is ideal. That's also a good habit if you're running a pellet grill on the same deck, which our pellet grill guide covers in more detail.

Stones, cracks and thermal shock

Pizza stones are mostly cordierite, a ceramic that copes with heat well but doesn't like sudden temperature changes. Cracks usually come from water on a hot stone, a frozen pizza dropped onto a stone at full heat, or a stone heated too fast from cold on a winter night. A hairline crack doesn't stop a stone working, and many keep going for years. A stone that's split into pieces needs replacing, and replacement stones for the popular ovens are easy to find.

The Koda 2 Pro listing says it uses pyrolytic cleaning, which means you run it hot and the residue burns off, the same as a pyrolytic kitchen oven. That's how all these ovens should be cleaned, really. Flip a stained stone over and let the heat burn the other side clean on your next cook. Don't use detergent on a stone, because it soaks into the pores and you'll taste it in the next pizza. A dry brush once it's cool is plenty.

Ovens left outside also need a cover. Rain sitting in an outdoor oven soaks into the stone and the insulation, and a wet stone heated quickly is far more likely to crack. Store the oven under cover or bring it inside in winter if it's portable. The Karu 12's listing weight is about 12 kg and the Ninja's is about 15 kg, so both can live in a cupboard. The bigger Koda 2 Pro is a lot bulkier and really needs a permanent home.

Size: 12, 14 or 18 inches

Ooni names its ovens by the pizza size they take. The Karu 12 and Volt 2 take 12-inch pizzas, the Koda 2 takes 14-inch, and the Koda 2 Pro's stone is about 53 cm (21 inches) at the front and 46 cm (18 inches) at the back. A 12-inch pizza is about 30 cm, which is one generous serve. For a couple or a small family it's plenty, because you'll be cooking one after another anyway and each one only takes a minute or two.

Bigger ovens give you room to turn the pizza, which matters more than the size of the pizza itself. In a 12-inch oven a 30 cm pizza nearly touches the walls, so you need to turn it quickly and accurately with a peel, and the side nearest the flame burns if you don't. The Koda 2 Pro's wider stone also takes cast iron pans and sheet trays, which turns it into a proper outdoor oven for steak, vegetables and roasts.

The Breville Pizzaiolo is built for a 12-inch pizza and the Ninja Woodfire has five pizza presets, including artisan, thin crust and deep pan, with no turning needed according to its listing. That no-turn design is a big part of why people who get frustrated with traditional ovens are happy with the Ninja. Practising your dough matters just as much as the oven, and a decent stand mixer takes most of the work out of a big batch.

How I picked these five

I searched Amazon AU for pizza ovens between $400 and $1,200 and kept only new stock sold by Amazon AU or Ooni's own Australian company, Ooni Pty Ltd, which sells direct on Amazon AU. That means the warranty is handled locally, which matters for gas appliances and electric ovens. All five picks come from those two sellers, so there's no overseas seller and no marketplace compromise anywhere in this list, which is unusual for a category this popular.

The lead pick is the Ooni Koda 2 Pro because it answers what most people searching for an Ooni in Australia want, a gas oven big enough to cook properly, and it was ranked #10 in Amazon AU's Gas Grills category on the day I checked. I've covered one oven for each fuel after that: the Karu 12 for wood and charcoal, the Volt 2 and the Breville Pizzaiolo for indoor electric, and the Ninja Woodfire for people who want an easy electric oven outside.

Specs on each card come only from the listing. Where a listing quotes inches or pounds I've converted to metric and rounded, and where it leaves something out, like wattage or top temperature, I've said so instead of guessing. If an electric oven stops heating, trips the power or the controls go dead after the warranty ends, our Erina workshop can test the element and control board and tell you whether it's worth repairing.

The 5 picks, $499 to $1,099

Prices are Amazon AU at time of writing (21 October 2026) and move week to week. Ranks are Amazon AU category sales ranks, checked the same day.

Side-by-side comparison

What we see fail in the workshop: pizza ovens

Pizza ovens are simple machines, but they run at temperatures most kitchen appliances never see, and heat is what wears electronics and ceramics. The faults come in three groups: electric ovens whose boards or elements give up, gas ovens that won't light or stay lit, and stones that crack. Here's what each looks like and what you can check before paying for a repair or a new oven.

Decision tree: which one should you actually buy?

• Weekly pizza nights for a family? → The Ooni Koda 2 Pro at $1,099. Gas, a wide 46 to 53 cm stone, 160 to 500°C and a Bluetooth temperature hub.
• Want a real wood or charcoal fire? → The Ooni Karu 12 at $549. Wood or charcoal out of the box, 500°C, about 12 kg, and gas if you add the optional burner.
• Apartment or no gas allowed? → The Ooni Volt 2 at $899. Electric, 12-inch pizzas and Ooni's adaptive temperature control.
• Cook every pizza style indoors? → The Breville Pizzaiolo at $797. Separate deck and top heat with presets for Wood Fired, New York, Pan, Thin and Crispy and Frozen.
• Easy outdoor pizza with no gas and no turning? → The Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven at $499. Electric with wood pellet flavour, 370°C, and smoker and roast functions too.
• Electric oven won't heat, trips the power or the controls are dead? → Unplug it, check the socket with another appliance, and let it cool. If it's still faulty, bring it to our Erina workshop and we'll test the elements and board before you replace it.

Frequently asked questions

Is gas or electric better for a pizza oven?

Gas gets hotter and suits outdoor cooking, especially Neapolitan pizza that needs a stone around 400 to 450°C and flame across the roof. Electric is the better choice for apartments, rentals with balcony rules and kitchens where you'd rather not store a gas bottle. Electric ovens like the Breville Pizzaiolo and Ooni Volt 2 control temperature more precisely, which helps with thicker pizza styles. Most families who cook outdoors regularly end up happiest with gas because it's easy to run for a long session.

How much does it cost to run an electric pizza oven?

None of the electric listings here state a wattage, so the safe worst case is the 2,400W limit of a standard Australian 10A socket. At about 33c per kWh, that's around 79c an hour flat out. With half an hour of preheating and half an hour to cook eight pizzas, that works out to under 10c a pizza, and less in practice because the elements cycle off at temperature. A metering smart plug rated for the load will tell you the real figure.

Can I use an outdoor pizza oven on a timber table?

It's better not to. The base of a gas or wood oven gets hot enough to mark or scorch timber and melt plastic, and wood ovens can drop embers. A steel trolley, a stone or concrete bench, or a dedicated pizza oven table is the safe choice. Keep the oven away from walls, eaves and anything flammable, and keep the gas hose away from the hot body of the oven. Electric outdoor ovens also need a safe outdoor power point.

Why did my pizza stone crack?

Usually thermal shock. Water on a hot stone, a frozen pizza dropped onto a stone at full heat, or a cold, damp stone heated quickly in winter are the common causes. Cordierite stones handle high heat well but not sudden changes. A hairline crack is usually fine to keep using. Keep the oven covered so the stone stays dry, preheat gradually in cold weather, and never use water or detergent to clean it. Burn residue off with heat and brush it once cool.

Do I need a special regulator for a gas pizza oven?

Use the regulator and hose supplied with the oven. Both Ooni gas ovens in this guide list a 28 mbar regulator and hose in the box. Mixing in an old regulator from another appliance is a common mistake that can give the wrong gas pressure. Leak test every joint with soapy water before the first cook and every time you change the bottle, and replace the hose if it cracks, stiffens or kinks. Gas ovens are for outdoor use only.

What size pizza oven should I buy?

For a couple or small family, a 12-inch oven like the Ooni Karu 12 or Volt 2 is enough, because you cook pizzas one after another and each takes a minute or two. A bigger stone, like the Koda 2 Pro's, mainly gives you room to turn the pizza without catching it on the flame, and fits cast iron pans and trays for steak and roasts. If you're new to pizza ovens, the extra room makes learning much easier.

Related buying guides