Solo Stove Pi Review: This Dual-Fuel Pizza Oven Yields Perfectly Cooked Pies
Updated: Aug. 05, 2024
Pizza lovers, you can now have freshly baked pies anytime with this backyard addition. Read our honest review of the Solo Stove Pi pizza oven.
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Nothing beats a warm, flavorful slice of pizza when a craving strikes. But once you pick up a pizza or have it delivered, it’s not quite as fresh as it could be straight out of the oven. Baking a pizza in your own kitchen is an option, but your oven’s temperature won’t get hot enough to mimic the pies from your favorite local pizza joint. The solution? The Solo Stove Pi pizza oven.
As a professional baker and pizza enthusiast, I adore having a backyard pizza oven. I’ve tested over 10 models, including the popular Ooni Koda 16 pizza oven and its handy accessories. Armed with that knowledge, I put this oven through a series of tests to make multiple pizzas, with both gas and wood as my fuel sources.
What is the Solo Stove Pi pizza oven?
Solo Stove is best known for its convenient smokeless fire pits (like the Bonfire 2.0) that put off very little to no smoke. But the brand also offers pizza ovens in its line of backyard products.
The circular oven is made of stainless steel, and it includes a cordierite pizza stone. The pizza oven uses wood as a fuel source, or you can order the gas burner add-on to cook with propane as well. The pizza oven can be set up on surfaces such as brick, tile or metal, with space around it. This oven gets hot, so you don’t want to accidentally melt your patio furniture!
VIA MERCHANT
We Tried It
Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven
Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven Product Features
The Pi pizza oven has a beautiful, modern design. It’s close to 21 inches in diameter and just over 15 inches high. The opening of the pizza oven is 13 inches, providing room to fire, turn and pull out pizzas without too much heat escaping. The design promotes airflow to evenly circulate heat. However, when using wood fuel, there is a lot of smoke that pushes out the front of the oven, causing soot to gather on top. Any residue easily wipes off once the oven is cool, though.
The oven weighs just over 30 pounds, so in addition to using it at home, you can take it with you camping or over to a friend’s house. I use the shelter cover, sold separately, to keep the oven ready in my backyard whenever a craving strikes. However, it can also live inside a garage or shed when not in use.
How We Tested the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven
I’ve used the Solo Stove Pi pizza oven both with wood and the gas burner to make several pizzas. After setting it up and making multiple pies, here’s what I learned.
Set Up
Setting up the pizza oven requires just a few steps. The pizza oven comes in one large styrofoam-padded box. The entire oven can be lifted out of the box in one piece and placed directly on the surface of your choice. It’s important to make sure there’s plenty of space around the oven for proper ventilation and so you can add more wood.
Lighting the Wood-Fired Oven
The backside of the pizza oven has a small ashtray and another tray for wood. I used food-safe fire starters to get the fire started in the ashtray. Then, I placed the wood tray with small pieces of wood on top. It’s recommended to use small pieces of wood, about two inches wide and five inches long.
It requires a bit of attention to keep an eye on the fire and keep it going to get the pizza stone up to the proper cooking temperature. It takes 15 to 20 minutes for the stone to heat up to 700 degrees.
Cooking in the Wood-Fired Oven
Because the pizza oven is fueled by small pieces of wood, there is quite a learning curve. Between prepping and cooking a pizza and making sure the fire stayed hot, it was a lot to manage all at once. It did, however, produce a wonderfully crispy pizza! It’s possible to end up with a few small pieces of ash on your pizzas, but avoiding that comes with practice. The cook on the pizza was beautiful, and I was excited to grab my pizza cutter and dig in.
Lighting the Gas-Fired Oven
The gas burner comes as a separate attachment for this pizza oven, but I think it’s absolutely essential. It attaches to the back of the pizza oven and connects to a propane tank, much like a barbecue. Lighting the oven is quick and easy, and it takes 10 to 15 minutes for the pizza oven to heat up.
Cooking in the Gas-Fired Oven
Cooking with the gas burner attachment provides much more control. You don’t need to worry about feeding the fire and keeping it going. It produces consistent heat, making for a better bake on the pizza. This cooking method also eliminated any ash. The crust had a beautiful texture, with perfectly melty cheese and crisp edges on my pepperoni.
2-Year Update
The Pi pizza oven debuted in 2022 from Solo Stove. I’ve cooked countless pizzas, savory meals and even desserts in this oven for almost two years, and it’s still going strong. The Pi oven was designed as a wood-fired oven at its base, with the option to add a gas attachment for more versatility. In this oven, I always prefer to cook with propane thanks to the better ability to control heat, but wood can still be used as the fuel source.
Over time, a small amount of patina has developed on the front of the oven, but that doesn’t affect performance at all. The patina is a slight discoloration from the base stainless steel and happens to that type of metal once it comes in contact with heat many times. The Pi pizza oven is still just as simple to use and clean as the first day I pulled it out of the box—I especially love the divided pizza stone which makes it easier to pull out and flip over for simple cleaning.
Since my original testing of this pizza oven, Solo Stove introduced and recently discontinued the Pi stand. The brand also debuted a more budget-friendly pizza oven, the gas-only Pi Prime, which I far prefer to this oven given its front temperature dial, extra heat control and lightweight portability.
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Straightforward for cooking
- Cooks pizzas in two minutes or less
- Ability to cook with wood and gas
- Compact
- Sleek modern design
Cons
- Learning curve to cook with wood
- Accessories sold separately
FAQs
How long does it take to cook a pizza in a Solo Stove?
The cooking time of any pizza will depend on the dough you’re using, along with the temperature of the pizza stone. I’ve found that my pizzas cook in under two minutes, with the temperature at 700 degrees.
How hot does the Solo Stove Pi pizza oven get?
The oven can heat up to 900 degrees. This will fluctuate more with wood fuel than using the gas burner.
What tools do you need to cook a pizza?
Proper accessories and pizza-making tools will help make delicious, beautiful pizzas. To use this oven, you’ll need a pizza peel for prepping and firing your pizzas, along with a turner to turn pizzas while they’re in the oven for even browning. An infrared thermometer is also helpful to ensure your pizza stone is up to the proper temperature.
What else can you make in a Solo Stove Pi pizza oven?
The space inside the Pi oven holds 12-inch pizzas, flatbreads or calzones. You can also bake your favorite frozen pizza in this oven. Just be sure to let it thaw first to avoid placing a very cold pie on the hot stone.
What Other Reviewers Had to Say
The Solo Stove Pi pizza oven is a backyard must-have. But don’t just take my word for it! Pizza lovers who purchased from Solo Stove’s website share plenty of positive reviews.
Reviewer Amber L. says, “Easy to assemble and so easy to use, fun for the kids great for a date night. Make sure to get an infrared thermometer and pizza peel to go along with it for the perfect pizza. Love it!”
Darrell leaves a five-star review, saying, “Took a few tries to get it figured out but I’ve eaten more pizza now than I have in years. By the time you get it ready, oven is warmed up and only takes a couple minutes. Fun too.”
Why You Should Trust Us
I’ve been testing pizza ovens for over two years. In that time, I’ve tested models from Ooni (including the electric Volt), Blackstone and Gozney. Combined with the Taste of Home Test Kitchen’s authority—culinary experts Sarah Farmer and Josh Rink have reviewed the Cuisinart 3-in-1 and Ninja Woodfire pizza ovens, respectively—we have decades of outdoor knowledge.
Final Verdict
For pizza lovers, nothing compares to piping hot, fresh pizza. And it’s even better if you’ve made it yourself with homemade dough, your favorite pizza sauce and the ultimate toppings. The Solo Stove Pi pizza oven makes it easy to achieve restaurant-quality pies at home. There is a bit of a learning curve to using wood, but it’s certainly achievable with practice. Overall, my recommendation is to add on the gas burner attachment for better control and consistent results.
Where to Buy the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven
VIA MERCHANT
We Tried It
Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven
Solo Stove sells the Pi pizza oven on its website, with the wood-only version listed for $389 and the wood and gas version listed for $489. You can also find the Pi at Walmart and Nordstrom. While this backyard appliance is an investment, you’ll save plenty of dough by scrapping ‘za delivery fees for good!
Originally Published: February 07, 2023
