ROCCBOX Portable Gas Or Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven Review
A lot of people clamor for an outdoor pizza oven that can produce a perfectly crisp pie with gooey melted cheese and just the right amount of crisp char. Many grill manufacturers are aware of this trend and rush to flood the market with their own take on it.
Of course, in Italy wood-fired and occasionally coal-fired pizza ovens are the norm. They produce a special smokiness that you just can’t get any other way. Yet here in the United States, propane is far more consistent and indeed convenient for controlling the temperature of an outdoor pizza oven.
Roccbox marries these two attractive features together in their portable outdoor pizza oven. It can run off propane or a wood fire, or with careful placement, you can also add some accent wood chunks to the equation. This will give you the consistency and convenience of a propane oven, with the smokey flavor of wood.
It also comes with a bevy of accessories. Including an ergonomically designed metal pizza peel, a hopper tool for safely loading wood, a hose and regulator with a quick connect gasket for the propane system. There’s also easy to read instructions as well as a recipe book with helpful tips.
There is a thermometer built into the side near the firebox area that is connected to a high-heat thermocouple. The internal dynamics of the baking chamber are also designed to create a rolling fire for more even heat distribution. The exterior also has a heat-resistant silicone shell to reduce the risk of accidental burns.
The retractable legs and detachable burner also make it very easy to transport. There is a custom cover available for this pizza oven, however, it doesn’t come with the initial purchase and is only available as an optional accessory.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
Roccbox knew that if you are going to offer a portable outdoor pizza oven that you have to come strong with a focus on quality materials and design. The stainless steel construction and the dense insulation inside the double-thick walls speaks to this. While the heat-resistant silicone exterior adds to the overall safety.
The thermocouple used for the thermometer lead is capable of handling high heat, where more traditional probe-style leads tend to give inaccurate readings at temperatures over 650 to 700 degrees. The interior has a shape that’s designed to create a visually attractive rolling flame that also helps to evenly distribute the heat.
There isn’t a lot to the initial assembly. Though you should expect this pizza oven to take around 10-minutes to set up.
Grilling Performance
There are some outdoor pizza ovens that try to be more versatile. Which is fine and good if you are looking to do a fair amount of outdoor baking. However, the effort to do more than bake pizza sometimes robs them of the ability to do the thing they are supposed to be best at.
With the Roccbox Outdoor Pizza Oven, it’s meant specifically for replicating as close to an authentic Italian pizza as possible, while still not losing sight of the convenience of a propane flame. This starts with a special baffle plate in the rear of the domed fire chamber. The rolling fire it creates helps reduce the problem of partially burning half of the pie while the other side cooks through to golden brown.
When you set up the fire to run exclusively on propane, this outdoor pizza oven is rated to get as hot as 932-degrees Fahrenheit. This will bake a fresh dough pizza in as little as 60 seconds with a turn for another 30-seconds.
If you set it up exclusively for a wood fire, the maximum temperature range tends to land around 400-degrees Celsius or about 750-degrees Fahrenheit. If you like you can set it up for a propane flame with some wood chunks carefully positioned near the burner element. This will add some smoky flavor to the pizza being baked, while also giving you the consistency and control of a propane flame.
Grilling Areas
The internal pizza stone floor of the Roccbox Outdoor Pizza Oven is just large enough to accommodate and 10 to 11-inch fresh dough pizza, with room for you to turn or remove it with the metal pizza peel.
Special Features
The ability to use this oven for propane, wood, or a combination of both is definitely something you don’t see in many of the competitor units. The high-heat capacity thermocouple is also a feather in its cap to give you a reliable reading.
The fact that it’s also designed with retractable legs and a removable burner element also speaks to its overall portability.
The exterior silicone shell is also a nice safety feature that reduces the risk of accidental burns.
Ease to Clean
When you set it up to burn propane, there isn’t a lot to clean with this pizza oven. The pizza stone floor perhaps needs a little sweep out to get rid of any lingering crumbs.
Setting it up to burn wood inevitably means you are going to have some ash and spent embers to deal with. Still, the detachable burner element makes this relatively easy. Just keep in mind that it does weigh around 62-pounds, which makes this a two-handed operation.
Warranty
The ROCCBOX Portable Gas Or Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven comes with an impressive 5-year limited warranty. This is a full step better than many of the competitors at this same price point who tend to only offer 3-years of coverage.
Conclusion
This is a well-designed portable pizza oven that gives you the convenience of propane as well as the option of adding smoky flavor. It’s also very portable, which makes it a great choice for pop-up pizza stations and catering outdoor events. Just keep in mind that it weighs over 60-pounds, so don’t expect to just tuck it under one arm.
