This is the most underrated pizza on the market - trust me, I've made over 500,000 pizzas

When I tell people that my family runs a pizza business, they immediately assume that we’re going to be snobby about the kind of pizza you order over the phone or heat up in the oven. And they are correct. We’re normally unashamedly snobby, which is why the Ooni Volt caught us off guard.

You might not think that Ooni would surprise us, because they’re famous for making some of the best pizza ovens for your home. However, their electric, indoor-outdoor pizza oven undersells itself as one of the most modest in their offering when, actually, I’m pretty sure it’s their best.

I cooked impressively consistent pizzas without needing to keep a beady eye on the oven and also made, what we all agreed to be, some of the best roasted vegetables and cookies of all the tests in the Ooni Volt. That says a lot.

Ooni Volt 2 Pizza Oven review

Unlike most of my favourite pizza ovens, the Ooni Volt 2 is a fully electric model. It heats up to 450°C in just 20 minutes and bakes a pizza in as little as 90 seconds, which is normally tricky to achieve in these ovens.

There are clever controls that let you tweak the top and bottom heating depending on what creation you're cooking in here. So, without further ado, let's get into the details of the Ooni Volt 2.

Ooni Volt 2 Specifications

• Dimensions: 61.5 x 53 x 28 cm
• Weight: 18 kgs
• Power: 1600 volts
• Outer case: powder-coated carbon steel
• Temperature range: up to  400ºc
• Warranty: 1 year

Who would the Ooni Volt 2 suit?

As an indoor-outdoor oven, this is a brilliant option if you want to take your pizza-making indoors when the weather gets worse. You’ll need a lot of space in your home, because this is as big as many other pizza ovens (I’d say it’s about two dual-drawer air fryers, in terms of how much room you need on your counter. However, when you’re passionate about your pizza, you’ll see this as a reasonable offer.

One of the features that I love about the Ooni is that it’s electric, which means that you don’t need to spin the pizza in the oven or carry out any fancy manoeuvres; you can just pop it in and let the oven do the work.

For a beginner, this is exceptionally useful, especially when you account for all the dials that help you time how long you’re cooking for, what temperature it is, and how much heat is coming from the base or the top of the oven.

It’s also worth adding that electric ovens don’t deliver the flavours of a wood-fired model, but neither do gas ovens. If you can skip the smokiness, you’ll get a beautifully cooked pizza in this.

For context on exactly what I mean by beautifully cooked, I mean a crispy base, soft crusts, and perfectly melted cheese. Cumulatively, we had 60 years of pizza expertise marvelling at the creations that the Ooni doled out. That’s impressive, especially for an electric oven.

Unboxing the Ooni Volt 2

Pizza ovens are big parcels to have arriving, but Ooni does a brilliant job of keeping you in the loop with delivery. The boxes have handles on either side and they’re actually pretty easy to shuffle into place.

Once you lift the lid, you haven’t got long to wait until you can get cooking on the Ooni Volt 2. As an electric oven, it’s almost all pre-assembled and fitted. Thanks to the heat-safe bottom, I placed it on an IKEA bistro table and it was completely stable and secure.

The plug lead is long enough for it to reach our outdoor plug and then sit in a nice position (no over-stretching here) and so all there was for me to do was place the pizza stone in the oven. It’s all very simple.

What is the Ooni Volt 2 like to use?

The first time that you use the oven, Ooni recommends running it for 20 minutes at 300°C. This is really standard practice for pizza ovens, because it burns off any chemicals or dust that might have settled in place throughout the manufacturing and transportation process.

There are three dials on the front that you’ll look at. These light up when the oven is on and they show you the temperature, which you can have from 50 to 450°C; an integrated timer; and a dial that balances the heat at the top and bottom of the oven. It’s great to have these controls clearly set out in front of you. They’re clearly marked and easy to read, even without reading glasses.

I got the oven up to temperature really quickly and then waited for the established 20 minutes. If you’ve used this before, I think you could have yours ready to go in under five minutes, which rivals some air fryers

Test 1: pizza

I get all our pizza ovens up to 350°C for cooking pizza, so that’s exactly where I started with the Ooni Volt 2. You’ll hear the oven chime when it’s up to temperature, but I have a special temperature gun that I use to check temperature consistency across the base of the oven. On all four corners, as well as in the middle, this was a near-perfect range of everything from 339 to 350°C, which is a great way to start.

I made ten different types of pizzas with various toppings, but I’ll start with the most telling test: a margherita. I used an 8-oz dough ball, rolled into a 12-inch pizza base, topped with tomato sauce and a blend of mozzarella and cheddar. The oven mouth was wide enough to slide the pizza easily into place and there was plenty of room for the paddle and for the pizza to bubble up.

I shut the door and set the timer for three minutes, but watched the pizza through Ooni’s neat viewing window. It bubbled up on the crusts really quickly and I could see the cheese turning a beautiful golden brown. Whilst two minutes is longer than some smaller ovens, it’s still well within a range that I would deem to be reasonable for a pizza oven.

When the first pizza came out, the whole testing crew were really impressed. We didn’t have to turn the pizza or meddle with any of the cooking and the resulting pizza looked perfect. The taste tests didn’t disappoint either. There was a beautiful crunch on the base, lovely softness in the crust, and stringy cheese melted all over.

I tested other vegetable-laden pizzas as well as pepperoni pizzas and they all turned out really well. The heat inside the Ooni Volt 2 keeps a really impressive, consistent temperature, which leads, rather unsurprisingly, to impressive, consistent pizzas.

Test 2: grilled vegetables

The second test that I ran was the opposite of fast pizza cooking. For this, I spin a 12-inch skillet of grilled vegetables into the oven at 250°C. I like to chop a mix of different vegetables, so this one was a mix of peppers, courgettes, mushrooms, and onions. Even though the skillet is heavy (it’s cast iron, after all), the lip on the front of the oven made a useful place to rest the skillet before pushing it in deeper. You can’t rest heavy implements on the door, but I didn’t feel the need to with the spacious oven mouth.

I shut the door and put ten minutes on the timer for my vegetables, since this is a low and slow cook. As with the pizzas, I kept peering through the door to check on how the vegetables looked and they were fantastic. I had all the golden brown bubbles that I look for on courgettes; charred tips to the peppers and onions; and the mushrooms were beautifully tender. The team and I agreed that these are some of the best skillet vegetables we’ve cooked in a pizza oven and we suspected it was a combination of factors, including the door, which helped to keep moisture in.

The one downside to the door, which would only be a problem inside your kitchen, is that condensation collects on it and then drips. On an outdoor table, this is no different to a rain shower, but it’s worth keeping an eye on inside.

Test 3: nachos

My third test for the Ooni Volt 2, which normally results in tortilla chips catching fire, is making a skillet of nachos. Here’s where the electricity element really comes into itself, because it didn’t actually burn my nachos. In fact, these were the best results that I’ve had from a pizza oven.

A couple of minutes was enough time to toast the tortilla chips, melt the cheese, warm the salsa, and give everything the perfect bite and texture. I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising, since this is essentially an oven, but it’s great to have sensitivity and versatility baked into the pizza oven that you’re using.

Test 4: cookies

The final test is really there to satisfy my sweet tooth. The beauty of the Ooni Volt 2 is that you can treat it like a normal oven. I moved the temperature to 180°C and put my cookies in for 7 minutes. This is a little shorter than normal, because you get a lot of heat coming up from the base of the oven, which is actually great when you want a quick dessert post-pizza party.

You can see that my cookies were thick, but they were great. The Ooni Volt 2 baked them right through, melting the chocolate and giving the edges some crispiness, but they were still soft in the middle. Would I make cookies in here again? Absolutely. Am I now planning on making brownies? Absolutely. And cakes? You know the answer.

Cleaning the Ooni Volt 2

Cleaning a pizza oven can be tricky because everyone wants to keep their pizza stone in pristine condition. However, the truth is that yours will get sooty, it will mark, and that is all part of it. The best way to keep it clean is with a brass brush that you brush the base with after each pizza that you cook. This’ll lift any burnt flour and other bits from the base.

You might also want to wipe the door when the oven is cooler, because condensation and carbon will build up on it over time. Just ensure you're gentle with it, only using hot water and a soft cloth.

How does the Ooni Volt 2 compare?

The only other electric pizza oven that I really like is Ninja’s. I love them both, but for very different reasons. The Ninja Artisan Pizza oven is a really accessible option. It's simple to set up, heats quickly, and comes with useful pre-sets. I'm confident that anyone could make a good pizza in here.

The Ooni Volt 2 costs almost twice the price, but it shows. You can take it inside or outside (Ninja's is only suitable for outdoor use) and it looks really sleek and premium. You've also got more finesse in how you control the temperature and choose whether the heat is coming from the top or bottom. A pizza enthusiast will be really grateful for that.

For me, the Ninja is perfect if you want something simple, straightforward, and reliable for regular use. The Ooni Volt 2 is more of a splurge, but worth every penny.

Should you buy the Ooni Volt 2?

As self-professed pizza snobs, lots of us are tempted to buy this for our homes. It’s really easy to use, gets great results, and we can cook perfect pizza all year round without having to don our puffer jackets and hats. It's an option that I didn't expect to tempt me away from my Gozney ovens, but it makes a good case.

It's not yet available to buy, but you can join the waiting list to buy an Ooni Volt 2 Pizza Oven directly from the brand.

How we test the Ooni Volt 2

All of our pizza ovens go through the same series of standardised tests. I make notes on all the practical details, such as setting up and cleaning as well as looking at what exactly the pizza oven is like to use.

My family runs a pizza business, so they're always keen to take a look at what I'm making. We all get together and make pizzas (at least ten), grilled vegetables, nachos, and cookies. This tests the consistency, temperature control, and versatility of the oven. I'll talk about how easy it is to use, how much space you have, and anything else that I think is important.

I'll also compare the pizza oven to similar models so that you know whether you're getting good value for money. By the end of the review, you should know whether it's for you. If you still have questions, don't hesitate to email me. Or, you can take a look at our page for how we test pizza ovens.