Home pizza ovens come in many shapes and sizes. You can cook with wood, gas, coal or electric, and you can spend a few hundred bucks on a portable one or thousands on an actual backyard brick masonry structure. It can be intimidating. That's exactly why simple, portable ovens are all the rage. And one of the most minimalist and affordable options is the Pi Prime, Solo Stove's new entry-level, gas-powered oven.
Solo Stove is best known for its round, steel fire pits. As if extensions of those products in their social and fiery nature as well as sleek aesthetics (and literally a physical extension, in the case of its Pi Fire), the brand followed up by getting into the pizza oven game. Its flagship stove until now has been the Pi, which offers the choice of cooking with gas or wood pellets.
The Pi Prime is simpler, however, offering only propane cooking. This not only makes it more affordable but greatly simplified and easy to use. Without the need to worry about stoking a fire or dodging smoke, the Pi Prime places emphasis on a noob-friendly user experience so you can get your pizza party started.
How good of a pizza can you get from a propane-fired oven at home? I gathered some friends and family, including some with real cooking and pizza-making expertise, to toss some dough, melt some cheese and find out.
Solo Stove Pi Prime: What We Think
If you've decided you want the most hassle-free method of obtaining high-quality, fresh homemade pizza, there's a good chance you'll land on a gas-powered pizza oven. With gas, you don't get the smokiness that comes from charcoal or wood, and some people might miss that. Me, though? Not at all. The ease of control and even cooking offered by the Solo Stove Pi Prime came with little tradeoff of flavor.
All in all, the Solo Stove Pi Prime was as easy to use as a gas range and made some fantastic pizza. The lack of fuss from the stove itself was appreciated because, as it turns out, making pizza involves a number of other elements you might want to focus on, especially as a beginner. I'll be honest that I wasn't as gung-ho at first about having a home pizza setup as some people, but I've since changed my tune and am now looking for excuses for the next session.
- Fuel: Gas
- Dimensions: 20.5 x 15.5 inches
- Weight: 29.69lbs
- Preheat Time: 15 minutes
It's super easy to use
I'm a noob when it comes to slinging pies. Thankfully, though, I enlisted some expert assistance and guidance with my first home pizza-making experience and was able to concentrate on the fun, the cooking and evaluating Solo Stove's product.
Setup was merely a matter of hooking up the propane tank and sliding in the stone slabs on which your pie will cook. Operation simply meant turning it on, allowing it to preheat and then adjusting the temperature via the oven's single knob. You need to use the included temperature gun by pointing it at the stone. From there, the oven does its job while you do yours: continually monitoring and turning the pie as the edge closest to the fire cooks first.
It's got a pleasing size, shape and design
The Pi Prime's stout figure and shiny steel finish offer simplicity and will easily complement an outdoor space, but you will need to find some sort of surface on which to place it. Everyone at my pizza gathering commented on the Pi Prime's pleasing looks, as well as the delicious slices.
Weighing only 30 pounds, it's easy to move (easier when not connected to the propane tank), so it can be considered reasonably portable but I'd probably tend to leave it set up in one place. It shouldn't take up too much room either, but I did need to borrow a location for testing as it would've slightly crowded our own limited outdoor space which already accommodates a grill.
It makes great personal-sized pizzas
You can only make pizzas with the Pi Prime that fit through the 13-inch-wide by 3.5-inch-tall opening, and that means circa 12-inch diameters (don't expect them to be perfectly round). That's basically the size of a personal pizza. Some might consider this a drawback but, for me, the activity of making the pizza is the whole point: Each person got to customize their own creation and then share. It was as much a part of the fun as the eating.
It should also be noted that the opening's dimensions might sound small, but I found it perfectly sufficient for inserting, turning and extracting my pizza. As the opening curves with the stove body, this further helps create space for your peel when turning the pie. Anecdotally, our friends noted that this aspect was easier with the Pi Prime than with the Ooni pizza oven they have at home.
You need some accessories
In addition to the Solo Stove Pi Prime, I tested the brand's high-quality accessories, which it sells in bundles. Like many other products, a pizza oven is only the beginning of what you need if you're starting from scratch. At the very least, you need the stone, the temperature gun, a peel (the spatula-like thingamajig) or two, and you'll probably want some sort of pizza cutter. Other items are useful and fun though perhaps not strictly necessary.
A built-in thermometer, as some ovens feature, would have been appreciated, as the Pi Prime relies on a handheld thermometer gun. It seems to slightly complicate the process as you might find your hands full or searching for it among the spread of the pizza accessories and ingredients that are waiting to be cleaned up afterward.
There's not much smoke
A gas stove produces essentially no smoke, save for that from perhaps the occasional crumbs, flour or other ingredients that might get left behind and incinerated. No smoke in your face or strong smell left on your clothes is a good thing in my book, but those who prefer the earthy, carbon-y taste wood and coal achieve might want to take this into consideration.
Solo Stove Pi Prime: Alternatives
Compared to Solo Stove's Pi oven (reviewed here) at $520, which offers both gas and wood fuel options, the Pi Prime's retail price is significantly cheaper. That's certainly a reasonable option if you prefer the smoky taste that wood can achieve — and you can sometimes get it on sale for only slightly more than the Pi Prime. Personally, I prefer the simplicity of propane only, anyway.
Solo Stove's other main competitors for entry-level gas ovens come from industry leaders Ooni and Gozney. The gas-powered Ooni Koda 12 will make pies of a similar size as the Pi Prime and costs about $50 more (read our full review of the Ooni Koda 12 here). The Gozney Roccbox (yup, we've reviewed that too) offers the same fuel type and similar sizing but is positioned as an upgrade with the likes of a silicone-coated exterior and a price tag of $500.
