Solo Stove Pi Prime Review: Our Expert Gives This Budget-Friendly Pizza Oven Her Stamp of Approval
Updated: Jun. 06, 2024
Make restaurant-quality pies in your backyard any day! Read our tested review of the Solo Stove Pi Prime pizza oven.
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Homemade pizza is the ideal dinner. Whether you have friends over or you need an easy weeknight meal, pizza is a universal crowd-pleaser. And thanks to the number of pizza ovens on the market, it’s become even easier to fire a pie with your favorite pizza sauce and go-to toppings and have it on the table in less than two minutes.
I’ve tested multiple outdoor pizza ovens, including the Ooni Koda 16, Ooni Volt, Blackstone pizza oven and the original Solo Stove Pi pizza oven. However, none of them are as budget-friendly as the Solo Stove Pi Prime, which retails for just $349. To see how it stacks up to other options, I put this pizza oven to the test.
What is the Solo Stove Pi Prime pizza oven?
The Solo Stove Pi Prime is an outdoor pizza oven powered by gas. It hooks up to a propane tank, just as you would hook up a barbecue grill. The front dial lets you easily turn the oven on and adjust to the ideal temperature, whether cooking pizzas or making roasted vegetables or burgers.
The oven is sleek with its stainless steel exterior and partial black coating at the bottom. It weighs about 30 pounds and measures 15.5 inches tall by 20.5 inches wide. The opening is 13 inches—making it ideal for pizzas that are 12 inches or smaller. In the box, you’ll find the pizza oven, gas hose and pizza stone to get started. Essential pizza-making tools, such as a pizza peel and turner, are sold separately.
VIA MERCHANT
We Tried It
Solo Stove Pi Prime Pizza Oven
Solo Stove Pi Prime Product Features
Solo Stove is known for its clever smokeless backyard fire pits, which utilize a signature design to promote airflow. (One of our editors is smitten with the Solo Stove Bonfire.) The same technology is apparent in their pizza ovens; the circular dome design of this pizza oven allows the heat produced by the gas flame to radiate within the oven, creating an ambient temperature of 800 to 900 degrees.
The stainless steel construction provides great heat retention, while still being durable and long-lasting under Solo Stove’s lifetime warranty. The front dial is easy to turn and control, and its placement makes it much more convenient to turn the pizza oven on and adjust temperatures as necessary.
How We Tested the Solo Stove Pi Prime Pizza Oven
I set the Solo Stove Pi Prime up straight out of the box and tested it by making multiple pizzas. It’s been a staple in my backyard for over six months.
Set-Up
The pizza oven comes in a large box with the oven intact all in one piece. Pulling the oven out of the box and placing it on a heat-safe surface is simple. The pizza stone was wrapped separately, so I placed it in the oven. Once set up, I connected the hose to a propane tank.
Lighting the Pizza Oven
The front dial on the pizza oven serves as the lighting and temperature control. To turn on the pizza oven, I opened the gas tank and then turned the dial to the ignition symbol for it to light. It’s quick and easy to light the pizza oven, and once it’s lit, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to heat up to the proper cooking temperature on high.
The insulation of this oven is incredible, and even with it at 900 degrees, you can’t feel the heat on the exterior. This design helps to alleviate heat transfer on the bottom of the oven, which makes it much easier to put on just about any surface, including wood, marble and stainless steel tabletops.
Cooking
While Solo Stove’s original pizza oven had the option for cooking with wood, the Pi Prime is gas-only. This update provides much more control over temperature and the live flame. After the oven preheats, I like to turn the dial down to medium, which reduces the height of the flame for more control.
The pizza oven has a wide enough opening to fit a 12-inch pizza easily. Once I slid my prepped pizza off the pizza peel, I allowed the base of the crust to set for about 30 seconds before turning. The stone’s heat cooks the pie’s base quickly, while the flame’s ambient heat helps the crust rise and the toppings cook. Keeping a consistent eye on the pizza while it’s in the oven and turning frequently is crucial to cooking a crust with even browning. Once the pizza is cooked, all that’s left to do is retrieve it with the pizza peel, allow it to rest for a few minutes, slice it up with a pizza cutter and dig in!
I found that my pizzas cooked within 90 seconds to two minutes each, depending on the toppings and cheese choice. The crust around each pizza was fluffy with just a touch of char. And while I always choose to use homemade dough and my favorite pizza toppings, you can also choose to order pizzas online to cook in this oven. Just be sure to defrost your pies before placing them on the hot pizza stone!
6-Month Update
If you’re new to cooking pizza in an outdoor oven, time and time again, I’ll recommend the Solo Stove Pi Prime. Based on my comparisons of testing multiple pizza ovens, it’s still the best value thanks to its great performance, lower price point and included lifetime warranty. After more than six months of use, I’ve found I can get creative in the Pi Prime, using it to make excellent pizzas and much more.
Because of its domed design and great heat retention, I can use the flame and residual heat to bake scones, biscuits for strawberry shortcakes, stuffed bell peppers, and more. The front dial is still one of my favorite features, with convenient placement and the ability to have extra control over the flame height. That definitely comes in handy to avoid charring a pizza or baking in the oven. I haven’t noticed much of a patina developing on this oven, and the wear and tear on the pizza stone has been minimal. Like the original Pi pizza oven, you can easily remove the split stone and flip it over, which helps to cook off any burnt-on flour, even while you’re busy making pizza on the upright, clean side. It makes cleaning a breeze!
While it is best to put it inside a garage or shed over winter, I left this pizza oven outside on my deck over a snowy winter, with the cover on. I’ve fired it up multiple times without any problems since then.
Pros
- Budget-friendly price point
- Simple to set up
- Front temperature dial for easy adjustments
- Cooks pizza in 90 seconds to two minutes
- Sleek stainless steel design
Cons
- Can only accommodate 12-inch pizzas
- Accessories sold separately
Product Comparison
The Solo Stove Pi Prime is the second gas pizza oven in the Solo Stove line-up. I have thoroughly tested the Solo Stove Pi pizza oven for over a year and a half and love using it. However, the Pi Prime offers some significant improvements.
While the original Solo Stove pizza oven had a detachable gas burner, the Pi Prime has a built-in single gas burner in the bottom of the oven, making the setup much simpler. The location of the front dial is easier to turn on and control, rather than reaching toward the back of the original oven. The two pizza ovens are very similar in size, but the new Pi Prime is slightly more compact, making it more portable and offering a much more stylish, modern look. The base construction also helps prevent heat transfer, making it easier to set on various surfaces.
Another major difference is the price point. The new Pi Prime retails for $349, whereas the original Solo Stove Pi pizza oven retails for $399 for wood only or $499 for the option to use wood and gas. While you can score great deals through pizza oven sales, the Pi Prime’s price point makes it possible to order a well-constructed oven anytime without waiting for a discount.
Why You Should Trust Us
Here at Taste of Home, we’re no strangers to pizza ovens—and what tools yield wow-worthy pies. I’ve personally tested 10 ovens, from the trendy Gozney Roccbox to indoor pizza ovens like the Breville Pizzaiolo. I have a decade of recipe development and product testing experience. And I’m an outdoor cooking enthusiast, to boot! On the Test Kitchen side, Executive Culinary Producer Sarah Farmer lent her expertise to the Cuisinart 3-in-1 pizza oven review, while Culinary Producer Josh Rink tested the Ninja Woodfire pizza oven. All in, we bring several years of culinary experience and pizza prowess to reviews for our readers.Â
Final Verdict
Solo Stove’s new Pi Prime pizza oven makes it much more approachable for people to enjoy cooking homemade pizzas. With a price point of $349, it’s one of the most affordable pizza ovens on the market. And it comes from a line of high-quality products from Solo Stove, along with the brand’s lifetime warranty. The pizza oven is easy to set up and fun to use, and it has an improved design from the original Solo Stove pizza oven. This is definitely worth the investment for those looking to make pizza night a regular occurrence at home.
Where to Buy the Solo Stove Pi Prime Pizza Oven
VIA MERCHANT
We Tried It
Solo Stove Pi Prime Pizza Oven
Ready to whip up pizzas at home? Purchase the Solo Stove Pi Prime on Solo Stove’s website, Amazon, Walmart and The Home Depot for $349. Enjoy restaurant-quality pies without breaking your budget!
Originally Published: August 18, 2023
