Gozney Roccbox Pizza Oven Review: This Dual-Fuel Option Provides the Best of Both Worlds
Updated: May 07, 2024
Make piping hot pizzas at home or on the go with the versatile Gozney Roccbox pizza oven. Here's our fully tested review.
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Owning an outdoor pizza oven means that every night can be pizza night. And that is precisely what almost all pizza ovens are designed for—home use. But what about a pizza oven that’s even more versatile? One that’s relatively portable to take camping, tailgating or simply over to a friend’s house? The Gozney Roccbox fits the bill.
I’ve tested a variety of pizza oven models and styles, including the all-electric Ooni Volt and the circular, stainless steel Solo Stove Pi. And then along came the Gozney Roccbox, promising portability and functionality. I knew I had to also put it to the test.
What is the Gozney Roccbox pizza oven?
The Gozney Roccbox is a pizza oven that can be fueled by either gas or wood. To cook with gas, you simply hook the attachment up to the back of the oven and use the hose to connect to a propane tank—the same kind you would use for a barbecue. The wood burner is sold separately, and as the name implies, it allows you to feed a small fire in the back of the oven to cook with real wood.
The oven has a dome-shaped top with three folding legs and a silicone exterior cover that comes in multiple colors. An added perk? The Gozney pizza oven comes with a pizza peel for launching pizzas, so there’s no need to purchase one. But other handy pizza tools, such as a pizza turner, are sold separately.
VIA MERCHANT
We Tried It
Gozney Roccbox
Powered by gas or wood, this is the ultimate versatile oven for restaurant-quality pizzas at home.
Gozney Roccbox Features
The Roccbox is one of the few pizza oven options out there that comes in multiple colors, which I love. The wrapping around the Gozney pizza oven isn’t just for looks, though. It’s a silicone coating that traps heat, so touching the exterior of the pizza oven won’t burn your hands.
The three legs lift it up from the base of a heat-safe table but can fold down for easy portability. On the side, there’s a built-in thermometer, which definitely comes in handy (however, I still always check with an infrared thermometer before launching a pizza). The oven weighs 44 pounds, so it’s not light, but it is definitely compact enough to pack with you or to leave out on your patio or deck. The cooking area is 12.4 inches by 13.4 inches, providing enough room to cook 12-inch pizzas.
How We Tested It
Set-Up
The setup of this Gozney pizza oven was incredibly simple. For starters, the oven had a strap wrapped around it with a handle at the top—making it easy to pull out of the box, pull down the folding legs and set the oven on the table. The stone is built into the floor of the pizza oven, so there was no need to unwrap and insert that separately. Once it was set on a heat-safe surface, I attached the gas burner by simply lining up and inserting three metal pegs into the back base of the pizza oven and twisting to lock it in place.
Cooking With Gas
The pizza oven has a dial on the gas burner to ignite and turn it on. Once I turned on the gas burner, I allowed the pizza oven to preheat for roughly 20 minutes until it reached 800 degrees. Now it was time to get cooking!
With the flame turned down to medium, I cooked multiple pizzas in just 60 to 90 seconds. The flame is designed to radiate heat to both the pizza stone and the top of the oven. This helped to cook pizzas even faster, especially those with plenty of toppings. Because of the smaller opening of the oven, there’s a bit of a learning curve with turning pizzas, but that simply just means more attention is needed while cooking to avoid too much char.
I also tested the oven with the Gozney Roccbox Mantel (sold separately). While I preferred cooking and turning pizzas without it, it would come in handy for cooking other items in the pizza oven.
Cooking With Wood
The wood burner attachment is sold separately, but it allows for great versatility. This is especially helpful if you want to take your pizza oven with you, but don’t want to lug a gas tank along. The attachment hooks into the back base of the Gozney pizza oven—just like the gas attachment—and is almost identical in shape. I used a fire starter and a few thin, 5-inch pieces of wood to build a small fire in the basket. Once lit, I kept feeding the flame small pieces of wood for 15 minutes to allow it to preheat the oven. I was shocked by how well the oven was insulated to radiate heat. It was much more efficient at utilizing a wood flame than other wood pizza ovens I’ve tested.
Cooking pizzas with wood was not only just as fast as cooking with gas, but the flame stayed lit and kept rolling consistently. It was also nice to have the great flavor and texture that wood provides, without too much hassle.
Cleaning
It’s important to note that Gozney pizza oven users may see some soot that gathers at the top opening of the oven. This is due to the design of the high-rolling flame as well as the type of fuel you’re using. Once the oven has cooled down after use, it’s easy to wipe off with a damp cloth.
6-Month Update
After six months of cooking in the Gozney Roccbox, I’ve concluded that cooking in this pizza oven is just plain fun. In my original assessment, I noted that this is easily one of the most versatile pizza oven options on the market, which still rings true. It is compact and travel-ready, making it portable to take on camping trips or to use for tailgating, yet the design is beautiful enough to make you want to keep it on display all year long. That, of course, is due in part to the handy silicone heat-safe coating.
I’ve continued to cook pizzas with both wood and gas on this dual-fuel pizza oven and have found its performance for wood-fired pizza to be top-notch. It’s easy enough to set it up for gas cooking, but using wood is almost as easy in this oven, and makes for an improved experience. Overall, it requires a bit more of a careful watch, not only to maintain the fire for optimum heat, but also to keep watch on your pizza due to its smaller interior space.
I stored my Roccbox under a covered outside area, with a cover on through winter and fall. Next winter, I will certainly be better about storing it inside. Some moisture that may have gotten trapped in the cover affected the appearance of the stone and the accessories such as the pizza peel and turner, but the performance has not been affected.
Pros
- Can operate on gas or wood fuel
- Folding legs and carrying strap for portability
- Rolling flame helps cook pizzas in 90 seconds or less
- Includes a pizza peel
Cons
- Learning curve with smaller front opening
- Not suitable for pizzas larger than 12-inches
FAQs
What is the difference between Ooni and Roccbox?
While an Ooni pizza oven is a great choice, the Roccbox offers a different design. The Ooni Koda 12, which is designed for gas-only, has a built-in burner and an L-shaped flame. The Ooni Karu 12G can be fueled with either gas or wood with detachable burners and a top rolling flame, making it similar to the Roccbox. Both utilize a cordierite pizza stone and have foldable legs. The Ooni ovens I have tested perform similarly to the Roccbox. Overall, the main difference is size preference, along with the design and aesthetics.
Does Roccbox use a lot of gas?
The Roccbox is fuel-efficient, but overall consumption depends on the temperature and flame height you prefer to cook at, along with how long you let it preheat and leave on between cooking pizzas. It will go through 300 to 400 grams of gas per hour, depending on how it’s used.
How big of a pizza can you put in a Roccbox?
The Roccbox is designed for portability and versatility, so it’s a smaller pizza oven. You can cook 12-inch pizzas in this pizza oven.
What Other Reviewers Had to Say
I found cooking with the Gozney Roccbox to be simple and delicious, but don’t just take it from me.
Verified Amazon reviewer Kristie C. gave it a five-star rating, saying, “I never write reviews, but I felt compelled to tell everyone how much I love this oven. It is convenient, super easy to use and set up, and it cooks pizza to PERFECTION. I am in love and will be using this all the time.”
Another five-star review from verified buyer Mark says this pizza oven is an amazing product. “We started making pizzas at home because we wanted to control the ingredients. We’ve been cooking in the oven, but the crust was not like a restaurant pizza. Just one pizza in and I can say this oven has transformed our pizza game. I only wish I found this years ago! Perfect pizza in minutes.”
Product Comparison
The Gozney Roccbox performs very similarly to Ooni’s Karu 12g model and has the ability to utilize either wood or gas fuel. It is very different from than Ooni Koda 16 or 12 model because of its shape. Those pizza ovens also have an L-shaped flame. However, even with structural and design differences, it performs just as well as other pizza ovens I’ve tested, providing great heat retention to warm up the oven to 950 degrees and cooking pizzas in under 90 seconds.
Why You Should Trust Us
As Taste of Home’s pizza oven expert, I’ve tested 10 models (so far!) at a range of price points. I’ve tested plenty of gas models (like the Solo Stove Pi Prime), rotating options (like the Blackstone pizza oven), new releases (hello, Gozney Arc) and even a few indoor pizza ovens. An avid outdoor cooking enthusiast, I have over 10 years of experience in product testing and recipe development. Plus, I’m joined by the expertise of the Taste of Home Test Kitchen team. Culinary pros Sarah Farmer and Josh Rink are both part of our pizza oven review crew, having tested the Cuisinart 3-in-1 and Ninja Woodfire oven, respectively.
Final Verdict
The Gozney Roccbox pizza oven is so simple to set up right out of the box. It has an attractive design while being functional for backyard use or even for travel. While there’s a slight learning curve adjusting to the smaller opening of the oven, with some practice, you’ll cook restaurant-quality pizzas at high temperatures in less than 90 seconds! It comes with a gas burner attachment but also allows for the versatility of purchasing a separate attachment for cooking with wood.
Where to Buy the Gozney Roccbox Pizza Oven
VIA MERCHANT
We Tried It
Gozney Roccbox
Fire up this portable pizza oven with the convenience of gas or the flavor of wood.
The Gozney Roccbox pizza oven retails for $499 and can be purchased on Gozney’s website, Amazon, Ace Hardware or The Home Depot. It’s time to fire it up for great pizza nights!
Originally Published: October 10, 2023
