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Brick Vs Stainless Steel Pizza Oven: What’s The Difference
Introduction about Pizza Ovens
Having a pizza oven is a great addition to your backyard. While deciding to have an oven is simple, the task of choosing the right pizza oven that best fits your demands is more difficult. There are a number of questions you have to deal with as follows.
- How does an oven work to create a delicious pizza?
- What are the criteria for choosing the best unit that suits our needs?
- What should you choose between the brick and stainless steel oven for cooking pizza?
- What is the difference between the two mentioned materials?
If you do not have a know-how guide, you may feel be scared of the thought of choosing the wrong one among the wide range of outdoor pizza ovens.
Do not worry about that. We are hereby to provide a neutral judgment to help you make the right decision. Let us dive into our review to know the basic difference between brick and stainless steel pizza ovens.
Now, get started on the main part of this article. We will give you the first look at both types of pizza ovens and then analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each one.
What is a brick pizza oven?
Pros:
The brick pizza oven can be used as a traditional method of making pizza. This type of oven works under basic thermodynamic principles. In detail, when you start to cook pizza in the brick oven, heat will be absorbed and then retained in the oven. With the special design, thermal mass heat will be stored and reflected during this time.
Most people know that brick is a good material for heat retaining. Due to the thermal mass feature, bricks are used in any type of cooking. In most cases, you need a lot of time to heat all bricks at the beginning. When the heat comes to the proper temperature, your pizza will be cooked from the retained heat inside the oven.
To put it simply, you can imagine that your pizza will be divided into two parts and all of them must be cooked simultaneously. The pizza base will be cooked in thermal conduction from the bottom, and the toppings will be processed by the thermal radiation from hot bricks. This principle ensures a consistent and even cooking experience. The professional pizza cooker must monitor and balance the two parts of pizza so that they are cooked at the same time. Therefore, as we noted above, the proper temperature plays an important role.
Regarding the temperature, all The Roman pizzaiolos know that the perfect heat level is 330℃ (625℉). This level is always hotter than what a conventional oven achieves. This is the reason why those users who want to have the perfect pizza will choose this type.
Cons:
Even though there are many advantages to using a brick oven for cooking pizza, certain drawbacks cannot be avoided. Firstly, you have to wait for a long time to access the proper temperature for cooking pizza: 330℃ (625℉). It could take you approximately 30 – 60 minutes to heat. Therefore, you should allocate your time carefully.
Secondly, a brick pizza oven is not the perfect choice for moving. With the heavy weight, this kind of oven just works well in a stable place. In most cases, you should consider the right place for setting up beforehand.
One more point you should remember when processing a brick pizza oven is that this pattern requires a few days of progressive fires to get rid of the moisture inside. It means that all the bricks will be heated thoroughly to prevent cracking in advance.
The last downside of using a brick pizza oven is the maintenance requirement. The outdoor oven is normally placed in the backyard. Hence, you should take care of it to ensure the best condition during the time of use. Shielding your oven from moisture, weather, wind, or cold temperature, as these elements can erode your oven quickly. Moreover, these factors also cause some thermal stress, resulting in cracking your brick later.
Overall:
We will give you some main points of the pros and cons of a brick pizza oven:
– This type of oven retains heat longer, but it consumes more time to get hot. Therefore, it is perfect if you have enough time for preparing. What you should do is to stoke a fire, wait until your oven gets the proper temperature, and then monitor your pizzas inside until they are cooked. If you prefer the slow cooking style, this traditional oven is the best choice. In some cases, this oven allows you to create many fantastic wood-fired foods. On the other hand, if you just need an oven for quick cooking, you should choose other types of ovens.
– This type of oven has an aesthetical design, but it is not portable. For some users, a rustic and classic look is an architectural addition to sophisticated home décor. However, in most cases, you cannot move your oven around the backyard.
– The oven comes at an affordable price but needs much effort for maintenance.
What is a stainless steel pizza oven?
Pros:
Compared to the brick pizza oven, the stainless steel oven works on the heat reflection principle. While brick is the great material for thermal mass, steel records itself as a heat reflector and conductor. Steel can access the point of heat faster.
The steel pizza oven does not require prep time for cooking. This a strong point if you want to cook quickly. You can purchase one oven and then use it to make the pizza right away. So,what should you do to cook many batches of pizza? Just reheat the ovens slightly. It does not take you much time.
The next key feature of the stainless steel pizza oven is its portability. Many ovens are equipped with wheels. You can roll it around your backyard without any effort. By moving it around, you do not care about the weather. Just move it from a sunny place to a shady one for convenience. That is all.
In some cases, this type of oven is also suitable for users who have a plan to relocate to a new house. It saves your budget, as you do not need to build a permanent oven.
Another strong point is an easy-maintenance. Without a doubt, this type of oven is the perfect choice, as you will not spend much time taking care of all parts inside and outside.
Cons:
As we noted above, the stainless steel works on heat reflection principles. Hence, it needs to be reheated many times if you intend to process many batches of pizza dough. You should remember quickly heating up means quickly cooling down. Due to the low thermal mass, this material cannot retain high temperatures for a long time.
If your need a rustic and classic piece in your home décor, a stainless steel oven is not the perfect choice. It is modern and portable, which fits a contemporary atmosphere.
Sometimes, while cooking pizza, you should monitor to ensure these main parts of your pizza are cooked thoroughly.
Overall:
– The stainless steel oven allows pizza dough to be quickly heated up and quickly cooled down.
– A stainless steel oven is a nice addition to a kitchen of those who love a modern lifestyle.
– Portability is the strong point of the oven.
– Maintenance should be superb easy.
Which is the best oven for cooking pizza?
Let us move on to the most difficult part of this article: Which oven should we opt for after the thorough analysis above?
First of all, you should know the principle of cooking pizza. We must say that using wood as the main fuel is not easy no matter what type of oven you apply. Many factors you should take into consideration include different types of woods and pizza flours. Therefore, in some cases, we cannot give you the exact answer to which type of oven is the ideal one.
That being said, in this article, we just give you the comparison between the brick and the stainless steel pizza ovens based on some main points.
Convenience
Brick:
– This material needs more time to be heated at the required level. Moreover, before using it for the first time, you should check your oven carefully to ensure all bricks are heated thoroughly, preventing cracks in the future. During its life cycle, you should spend more effort on maintenance.
Stainless steel:
– This material heats up quickly. As a result, you can use it right away. Many ovens have wheels for easy portability.
=> At the first point, you can find that the stainless steel pizza oven is more convenient for moving around and saving your time for getting started.
Consistency:
– Brick:
Without a doubt, brick ovens hold heat longer. That is the perfect choice if you want to cook a mass of pizza. It saves your time reheating.
Furthermore, the brick pizza oven also retains a consistent environment for your pizza, especially on colder days.
– Stainless steel:
Stainless steel ovens always lose their heat quickly. This is the reason why you need to reheat your pizza many times during your enjoyable party.
Overall, a brick pizza oven creates an excellent flavor of pizza for those who have enough time for preheating and cooking. It is also the optimal choice for people who want to have an aesthetic view rather than a modern style of steel ovens.
On the other hand, the steel ovens are suitable for moving around the backyard no matter what the weather is like. They can be heated in minutes. However, if you want to cook a lot of pizzas at the same time, you have to spend more time reheating the ovens.
What should you do for choosing the right pizza oven?
More and more people like eating pizzas. That is why cooking and enjoying pizzas is a popular outdoor activity for many families. You can find many people set up an oven in their backyard for the enjoyment of real cooking. In the previous part, we provided two main types of ovens and compared them. Now, in this part, we will give you some information on how to choose the right ovens. Those who are first-time pizza oven purchasers should not overlook this section.
1. Purpose.
Based on your purpose, you can seek the right information to decide on what suits you most. A pizza oven is not just only the unit for cooking pizza. It is also used for grilling and roasting bread and other kinds of food. Thanks to the functions of retaining heat of brick material, you will have a wide range of recipes for cooking with ovens. Therefore, you should think about what type of foods you frequently enjoy in the backyard, and then choosing the right type of oven will be much easier.
2. Decide what type of ovens.
As we noted above, the main difference between the two materials is the principle of heat retaining. The brick pizza oven has a higher thermal mass; hence, it maintains the heat for a long period once the oven starts to be heated. However, in most cases, you should spend at least 2 hours on preparation. When everything is done, you can enjoy warm dishes.
In contrast, the stainless steel pizza oven is very convenient for those who seek a quick cooking process. You do not need much time for preparation because it just takes you around 30 minutes to get the proper temperature. After that, you just reheat and reheat to keep your food warm all time.
Both brick and stainless steel have firebrick floors. Both types have all you need to cook many foods. To answer the tough questions of what the oven best suits in your backyard, you should identify what type of cook you are. Do you prefer slow cooking to fast process? Do you need to cook a high volume of food or just some pizzas for a small party?
3. Fuel consumption.
Regarding fuel consumption, there are two types used for pizza ovens: gas/ propane and wood. Propane is fast and portable but does not have a classic and nostalgic feeling of fire. Moreover, you may not use charcoal for other types of food. Therefore, if you prefer both types of fuel, you should choose a dual fuel oven, as it works well with propane and wood. The oven has a conversion function that changes the way of using fuel simply. It will be the best choice for different cooking events.
4. Decide on the full packaged oven or some piecemeal
Oven kits are normally used for a brick pizza oven or those made of other non-combustible materials. Hence, you should have a budget plan for setting up a pizza oven. The price you estimate might be a portion of the total cost. In some cases, brick pizza ovens are suitable for those who have much time of assembling the oven themselves or having an experienced contractor.
On the other hand, a full package of stainless steel pizza ovens is undoubtedly easy to use right after purchase. The total cost is the same as the price you purchase. No more expense for assembly. That is the reason why this type of oven is perfect for those who have a moving plan in near future.
5. Pizza oven size.
Even though the pizza oven’s size is not the main factor, you should not underestimate it. The small size pizza oven can work well for a nuclear family, or a small family. You should decide the space in the backyard you would like to allocate for the oven. In some cases, it is an important factor, especially when you want a permanent oven.
6. Some technical factors.
No matter what type of oven, you should ensure the insulation at all times. This factor is very important to get the right performance.
Next, your oven – especially the brick one – should have proper proportion. The loading opening must have a height of close to 63% of the top height inside. Then, the loading door is not very wide.
In addition, the efficient oven must have a chimney. It should be located above the loading door. The misplacement of the top of the dome or at the back will not ensure the greatest performance.
To sum up, you should know that the right proportion and height so that the oven you choose can bring the excellent performance and help you save energy.
7. The place you want to assemble.
It goes without saying that the outdoor oven is a great idea for having fun in the summer. However, on colder days, it is impossible to have a good meal outside. Hence, an indoor oven is for those who want to use it all days of the year, no matter how the weather is.
There is one factor you should consider when assembling an oven inside your house. That is building compliance. It is strict regulations for fire prevention you must comply with: necessary dimensions, the licensed subcontractor, the floor standard for bearing oven’s weight. As the list is long, it is crucial you take all the requirements carefully.
8. Quality and cost.
You should check the manufacturer’s information to ensure the quality of the oven can last for a long time. In some cases, you should conduct some cooking tests. You should also read our article for in-depth knowledge or talk to an experienced person.
There are tons of inexpensive ovens, but we are sure that you will not have a great experience with them. It might be a cliché, but we get what we paid for.
Conclusion
Now, I am sure that you have accumulated a lot of information on what you should prepare for assembling your oven at home. There is no right answer to the best suit oven. If one fits your demand and your particular circumstances, just choose it and enjoy your time. Good luck!
Read more:
- Bertello Pizza Oven
- Benefits Of Pizzeria Pronto Outdoor Pizza Oven
- Pizza Oven Temperatures
- Mont Alpi Pizza Oven Review
- Stainless Steel Vs Brick Pizza Oven: What’s The Difference?
References:
How to Cook Pizza in a Gas Oven: 14 Steps (with Pictures)
A Slice of History: Pizza in America
I’m Vance Douglas, and I love making pizza. In fact, I love it so much that I decided to build my own oven to make it in. It’s a brick oven that I made myself, and it’s the best pizza oven you’ll ever find.
Making pizza is a passion of mine, and I’m always looking for new ways to make it even better. I’ve been making pizza for years, and I continue to learn more about the art every day. My goal is to create the perfect pizza, and I’m getting closer and closer every time.