Camp Chef Italia Artisan Outdoor Pizza Oven Review

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Outdoor pizza ovens are great if you’ve built one in your backyard to get that authentic pizza oven crunch. But what do you do when you don’t have a custom-built pizza oven and want something that’s easy to use and isn’t going to cost an arm or a leg to get. There are a lot of portable pizza ovens on the market that everyone likes to use, yet is there a solution that provides continuous results with little to no headaches? Let’s find out…

Table of Contents

Why Listen to Me?

My name is Joanne Drake, my dad used to own a pizza shop when I was a young girl, so pizza is in my blood. I know what it takes to make great pizza since I’ve been around it more then the average pizza lover.

For this review, we’ll take an in-depth look at the Camp Chef Italia Artisan and weigh in on its features.

Camp Chef Italia Artisan: Pizza Oven Review

If there’s one thing about pizza ovens that really makes a big difference, it’s having a hot enough baking stone to ensure that your crust is baked to perfection. This not only speeds up the pizza cooking by mere minutes, but that authentic pizza crust crunch is the whole reason you love going to your favorite pizzeria in the first place. So when we heard there was a lot of buzz about the Camp Chef Italia Artisan pizza oven, we had to check it out ourselves.

As usual, it’s my job to check out the latest pizza oven products, and as you can expect there are a tons of them flooding the market. It’s not easy to find the best solution for getting great results, and too many times, these pizza ovens fall flat for being impressive.

Now for our take on the Camp Chef Italia Artisan pizza oven review, we’re going to share a few details that you won’t get anywhere else.

Rating Summary

Easy To Use: As simple as turning the gas burner on and waiting just 15 minutes to get true pizza oven cooking temperatures from start to finish. 5-Stars

Build Quality: It’s built like an outdoor pizza oven should be except it’s 100% portable! It’s the perfect solution for taking your pizza oven anywhere and holds up to plenty of abuse. 5-Stars

Price: This pizza oven is nowhere near what the competition is charging for a professional-grade portable pizza oven. Completely worth the price if you enjoy Artisan-level pizza. 5-Stars

Easy to use

The beauty of using propane gas is that you’ll get immediate results without having to start burning wood or charcoal. You won’t miss the traditional BBQ much since you’re not typically cooking a pizza on the BBQ anyway. Yet for folks who have a standard wood-fired pizza oven, this ritual is just as involved and requires continual tweaking, stoking, and adjusting to the heat fluctuations.

Simply connect your propane tank to the pizza oven and start warming up the oven, that’s it! There is no ash cleanup, no excess smoke, and the best part is you control the temperature.

Build quality

This model is made from stainless steel that is built like the little engine that could’. It’s no bigger than your standard large microwave and weighs a mere 47 pounds by itself. Well yes, it’s built like a little tank to last you many years of pizza oven service. If you like, this pizza oven is small enough to mount easily onto a rolling cater service cart for better backyard mobility and will stow away in your car’s trunk when you take it on the go.

Even with the pizza stone that’s installed, it will last for the long haul since it’s made to resist thermal shock after the heat is turned off.

Price

When it comes to name-brand pizza ovens, this little miracle is priced to be very appealing to modest pizza enthusiasts. You don’t need a pricy alternative that will cost over a couple thousand dollars to get excellent results. This eco-friendly portable pizza oven is also budget-friendly for anyone that wants to combine sensible pricing with seasoned pro-level pizza oven equipment.

If you’re looking to spend more money, put some more effort into quick disconnect attachments for your propane tanks to connect this little dream pizza oven even faster!

Features

When it comes to the Camp Chef Italia Artisan pizza oven review features, we want you to know that you’re covered for what this pizza oven can do. Here are the most important features:

· Built-in temperature gauge

The top of the roof features a temperature gauge to give you a good idea of the internal temperature. Be sure to use a digital thermometer to check the pizza stone temperature easier.

· Ventilated oven door with handle

This unit comes with a separate ventilated door with a handle to keep heat inside the oven. The plastic handle used here can handle the heat with no worry of using an oven mitt to remove it.

· Can reach 750-800 degrees Fahrenheit

This has adjustable temperature control all the way up to genuine pizza levels. The instant ignition makes for an easy start-up without any hassle.

· Cordierite pizza stone -20″x13″ stone

No more need to worry about thermal shock and a cracked pizza stone. Cordierite pizza stones are tough as nails and easy to clean if they get covered with burnt cheese.

· Double insulated walls

No more worry about getting scorched from the sides of this pizza oven, the double-wall insulation helps cool off the stainless steel on the outside so you don’t get burned.

· Double layered ceiling

The ceiling is designed to enhance the heating dynamics and radiates heat back down onto your pizza. The temperature differential also helps to flash bake pizza cheese using a peel.

· Dual pizza oven design

You can cook two 10″ pizzas side by side in a couple of minutes. Rectangle-shaped pizzas can also be cooked using this innovative extra-wide pizza oven.

· Built-in ignition valve and temperature control

This unit comes with a built-in ignition valve to start the propane gas flame faster and without any need to use a standard wand lighter.

· Bakes more than just pizza

If you like variety, this pizza oven is perfect for baking bread, calzones, meat, chicken, or virtually any other kind of baked goods.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Can cook a pizza in less than 2-3 minutes when the temperature is optimal

2. Can be taken anywhere and works using propane gas tanks

3. Easy to clean surfaces made from well-built stainless steel

4. Can achieve 17,000 BTUs/hr with upwards of 800 degrees Fahrenheit

Cons:

1. Because it can achieve such high temperatures quickly, you can easily burn your pizza

2. You will need a digital thermometer and some previous pizza making experience

3. It will be better to upgrade your gas regulator and gas hose connection for long-term use

4. Might be considered too heavy to move around, which is why it’s better on a service cart

Our Final Verdict

According to some critical folks, this is nothing more than a glorified toaster oven. But that’s where most novice pizza makers get it completely wrong. Artisan pizza starts with an oven that delivers the amount of heat that needs control. It’s a great pizza oven if you have previous experience making pizza, no exceptions. With just the right amount of experience, this pizza oven will be an amazing addition to your outdoor cooking equipment.

As for our Camp Chef Italia Artisan pizza oven review, we want to give you as much reason to check out the reviews for yourself. As you’ll find with much other overpriced cooking equipment, some things will naturally break down eventually. We’ve listed all of the potential things that can go wrong while giving as much insight as to why this pizza oven is certainly a miracle worker for backyard pizza!