BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven Review: Your Grill’s Secret Weapon for Pizzeria-Perfect Pies

For years, my weekend pizza nights followed a familiar, slightly disappointing script. We’d gather the finest ingredients—San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, gourmet pepperoni—and painstakingly assemble our creations. Yet, when they emerged from our standard kitchen oven, something was always missing. The crust, while cooked, was uniformly pale and lacked that essential, soul-satisfying crunch. It was pizza, yes, but it was a shadow of the blistered, charred, and gloriously chewy crusts we craved from our favorite wood-fired pizzerias. This is the great dilemma for the home pizza chef: the pursuit of extreme heat. A standard home oven tops out around 550°F, a far cry from the 750°F+ temperatures needed to achieve that magical transformation in minutes. We tried every trick: pizza stones, pizza steels, broiler methods. The results improved, but never truly scratched the itch. The alternative, a dedicated backyard pizza oven, felt like an expensive, space-consuming leap we weren’t ready to make. We needed a bridge—a way to harness the power we already had in our backyard into a true pizza-making machine.

What to Consider Before Buying an Outdoor Pizza Oven

An outdoor pizza oven is more than just an appliance; it’s a key solution for transforming your backyard into a culinary destination. It unlocks the ability to cook with intense, radiant heat that’s impossible to replicate indoors. This high heat cooks pizzas in minutes, resulting in a perfectly crisp crust with a tender, airy interior—the coveted “leopard spotting” and char that define artisan pizza. Beyond pizza, these ovens are versatile workhorses for searing steaks, roasting vegetables, and baking bread, all while keeping the heat out of your kitchen during warmer months. The main benefit is achieving professional-grade results and creating a fun, interactive cooking experience for family and friends.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone who already enjoys outdoor cooking, owns a capable gas grill, and is passionate about improving their homemade pizza game without investing in a large, standalone unit. It’s perfect for the enthusiast who loves tinkering and perfecting a process. However, it might not be suitable for those who prioritize push-button simplicity, lack a powerful 3-burner (or larger) gas grill, or have very limited outdoor space. If you don’t own a grill, a standalone alternative like the BIG HORN OUTDOORS Portable Propane Pizza Oven would be a better starting point. For those seeking an all-in-one electric solution with multiple cooking functions, the Ninja Woodfire oven presents a compelling option.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: The first step is to measure your grill’s cooking surface. The BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven requires a footprint of 21.4″ wide by 16.3″ deep. You need to ensure it fits comfortably on your grates, leaving some room around the sides. Also, consider the vertical clearance; you’ll need to be able to close your grill lid at least partially, a trick many users employ to accelerate preheating.
• Capacity/Performance: This oven is designed for 12-inch pizzas. Its performance is directly tied to the power of your gas grill. A 3-burner grill will work, but may require a longer preheat time (up to 45 minutes as some users note), whereas a 4 or 5-burner grill can get the oven roaring hot (over 750°F) in 20-30 minutes. The key performance metric is the ability to store and radiate intense heat from all five internal stones.
• Materials & Durability: The BakerStone features a powder-coated enamel shell, which provides good resistance to the elements, rust, and stains. The core of the unit is its five cordierite pizza stones. Cordierite is excellent for thermal shock resistance, but it can crack if dropped or handled carelessly. At 35 pounds, the unit is substantial and feels well-built, a fact we noted immediately upon unboxing.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: There is a definite learning curve. Mastering the preheat, launching the pizza smoothly, and rotating it for an even cook takes practice. Maintenance involves brushing out burnt flour and food debris from the stones once they’ve completely cooled. The stones will stain over time, which is normal and doesn’t affect performance; never use soap or water to clean them.

This grill-top conversion kit offers a unique entry point into the world of high-temperature cooking. It leverages an appliance many of us already own, making it a clever and cost-effective solution.

While the BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

First Impressions: Heavy, Purpose-Built, and Ready for Action

Unboxing the BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven, the first thing we noticed was its heft. At 35 pounds, it feels more like a serious piece of cooking equipment than a simple accessory. This weight comes from its core components: the five thick cordierite stones that form the baking chamber. Assembly was straightforward, taking us about 45 minutes while referencing the instructions. One user noted they had to reverse a part and start over, so we paid close attention to the orientation of each panel, and everything came together securely. The black powder-coated enamel finish gives it a sleek, durable look that sits handsomely on our Weber Genesis grill.

The included accessory kit is a huge plus and adds immediate value. The package comes with a wooden pizza peel for launching, a smaller metal turning peel, and a protective dust cover. Many competing products require you to buy these essentials separately, so their inclusion here makes the BakerStone feel like a complete, ready-to-go system right out of the box. Placing it on the grill, it felt stable and robust, instantly transforming the familiar barbecue into something more exciting and specialized. Our initial impression was that this was a well-conceived product designed to do one thing exceptionally well: turn a standard grill into a high-performance pizza oven.

Deep Dive: From Grill Top to Gourmet Pizzeria

After several weeks of intensive testing—and I do mean intensive, our family has had pizza at least twice a week—we’ve developed a deep understanding of the BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven’s capabilities, quirks, and incredible potential. This isn’t just a hot box; it’s a carefully engineered system that fundamentally changes how your grill cooks. Let’s break down the core aspects of its performance.

The Heart of the Oven: The 5-Sided Stone Baking Chamber

The true genius of the BakerStone lies in its patented design. Unlike a simple pizza stone that only heats from below, this oven creates a convective and radiant heat chamber. It features a stone floor, two stone side walls, a stone back wall, and a stone ceiling. When placed on a hot grill, the entire chamber absorbs and radiates intense heat, enveloping the pizza from every direction. This is what replicates the cooking environment of a traditional brick oven. The result? Phenomenal oven spring, where the dough puffs up dramatically upon hitting the heat. We achieved a crust that was simultaneously crisp on the bottom, charred with beautiful leopard spots on the top, and wonderfully light and airy inside. As one user aptly put it, “this thing elevates our pizza making game. The crust is perfect.” We couldn’t agree more. This all-around heat is what allows for the advertised 2-4 minute cook times. Once the oven is properly saturated with heat, a thin Neapolitan-style pizza is genuinely done in under three minutes, a feat simply unattainable in a home oven.

Mastering the Flames: Heating Performance & Temperature Control

This is where the learning curve really comes into play. The oven’s performance is inextricably linked to your grill. We tested it on a 4-burner natural gas grill. Following the manufacturer’s advice to remove the “flavorizer bars” directly under the oven, we cranked all burners to high. The built-in thermometer climbed steadily, hitting the “Ideal” baking zone in about 20 minutes. For our first run, we got the stone temperature (measured with an infrared thermometer) to over 750°F. The results were fast—so fast we slightly burned our first pizza. This confirmed what another user experienced on their Weber Genesis: “That was actually too high, and burnt the pizza in under 4 minutes.”

We quickly learned the secret to perfect pizza is managing this intense heat. Our best results came from a 30-minute preheat, then turning the middle burners down to medium-low just before launching the pizza. This keeps the stone floor from becoming scorching hot and burning the bottom of the crust before the toppings are cooked. We also adopted the trick mentioned by several users: closing the grill lid fully during preheating to trap heat and get the oven up to temperature faster, then propping it open with a couple of bricks to allow access to the oven mouth during cooking. This simple hack significantly cut down on our preheat time and improved heat retention between pizzas. It’s a process of trial and error, but once you find the sweet spot for your specific grill, the results are consistent and spectacular. You can check its compatibility with your grill setup here.

The Art of the Launch: Usability and Key Techniques

Cooking with the BakerStone is an active, engaging process. The most intimidating part for any beginner is the launch—sliding the raw pizza from the peel into the hot oven. Our first attempt was a minor disaster, echoing a user who admitted, “Pizza stayed on peel, toppings flew into this oven.” The key, as we and many others discovered, is a generous dusting of cornmeal or, even better, semolina flour on the wooden peel. Build your pizza quickly on the peel and use a confident, quick shuffling motion to slide it onto the stone.

Once inside, the work has just begun. The back of the oven is significantly hotter than the front. Rotation is not optional; it’s essential for an even cook. After about 45-60 seconds, we used the included metal turning peel to “break the seal” and give the pizza a 90-degree turn. We repeated this every 30-45 seconds until the crust was uniformly cooked. This hands-on technique is part of the fun and makes you feel like a true pizzaiolo. Having all your ingredients prepped and ready to go (mise en place) is crucial, as the cooking happens fast. For pizza parties, we followed one user’s advice and bought an extra wooden peel so we could be building the next pizza while one was in the oven, creating a seamless and efficient workflow.

Built to Last: Construction, Portability, and Overall Value

The build quality of the BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven is impressive for its price point. The enamel-coated steel housing feels sturdy and has held up well to the intense heat cycles. The stones themselves are the centerpiece, and while we had no issues, we did see one user report receiving a broken stone, so it’s wise to inspect everything upon arrival. The unit’s 35-pound weight makes it “portable” in the sense that you can easily move it from the garage to the grill, but it’s not something you’d take on a camping trip.

The greatest strength of this product is its value proposition. It effectively gives you the performance of a dedicated pizza oven for a fraction of the cost by utilizing the powerful burner system you already own. When you factor in the included peels and cover, the value is even more apparent. While some users noted minor issues like a flimsy screw on a spatula handle or a cover that disintegrated, our included accessories have held up perfectly. Even the much-maligned sticker on top came off for us with a bit of heat and a plastic scraper without too much fuss. For any grill owner looking to seriously up their pizza game, this oven represents an outstanding and affordable investment in deliciousness.

What Other Users Are Saying

Across the board, the sentiment for the BakerStone is overwhelmingly positive, with users frequently describing it as a “game-changer” for their home pizza making. One father, who received it as a gift, reported that his family now uses it “every week since, even multiple times in a week.” Many, like us, praise the quality of the crust, noting that it’s “perfect every time like wood fired ovens.” The interactive nature of the oven is also a huge draw, with one owner happily recounting how they now host “pizza parties where we supply the dough and sauce and everyone brings their own toppings.”

The constructive criticism consistently revolves around the learning curve and grill dependency. A common theme is the preheat time, with some users on 3-burner grills stating it took 45 minutes to get hot enough, while those with more powerful grills achieved temperature in 20 minutes. One user provided an essential piece of advice after a year of trial and error: “Join BakerStone Pizza Oven Box Users Group and share your questions, ideas and recipes,” highlighting the community that has grown around mastering this device. A few negative reviews mention quality control issues, such as a stone being broken on arrival or problems with the included accessories, but these appear to be exceptions rather than the rule.

How Does the BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven Compare?

The BakerStone occupies a unique niche as a grill-top conversion kit. While it excels in this role, it’s important to understand how it compares to popular standalone ovens that might better suit different needs or budgets.

1. Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Pizza Oven

The Ninja Woodfire is an entirely different beast. It’s an 8-in-1 electric appliance that offers incredible versatility, functioning as a high-heat roaster, BBQ smoker, and, of course, a pizza oven. Its primary advantage is convenience and multi-functionality. You don’t need a gas grill; just plug it in. It can reach 700°F and offers specific settings for different pizza styles. Someone might prefer the Ninja if they value an all-in-one outdoor appliance, want the option to add real wood-fire flavor via pellets, and prioritize ease of use and versatility over the singular focus of the BakerStone. It’s the perfect choice for the tech-savvy cook who wants to do more than just pizza.

2. Gozney Roccbox Portable Pizza Oven

The Gozney Roccbox represents a step up into the world of premium, dedicated pizza ovens. It’s a restaurant-grade, portable unit with a built-in gas burner (and an optional wood burner attachment) that can reach over 950°F in under 20 minutes. Its key advantages are its incredible heating power, faster preheat time, and superior heat retention thanks to its thick stone and layered insulation. A pizza enthusiast who wants the absolute best performance, the fastest possible cook times, and isn’t limited by the power of their grill would prefer the Roccbox. It’s for the purist seeking peak performance and willing to pay a premium for it.

3. BIG HORN OUTDOORS Portable Propane Pizza Oven

The BIG HORN OUTDOORS pizza oven is a fantastic budget-friendly, standalone alternative. Like the Roccbox, it’s a dedicated propane-fueled oven, but at a more accessible price point. It’s ideal for someone who doesn’t own a gas grill or whose grill isn’t large or powerful enough for the BakerStone. While it may not reach the scorching peak temperatures of the Gozney, it provides a consistent, high-heat environment that is a massive improvement over a standard oven. This is the go-to choice for someone wanting a dedicated pizza oven experience without breaking the bank or needing a host grill.

Final Verdict: The Best Upgrade a Pizza-Loving Grill Master Can Make

After extensive use, we can confidently say that the BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven is a phenomenal product that absolutely delivers on its promise. It successfully transforms a capable gas grill into a legitimate, high-temperature pizza-making powerhouse. While there is an undeniable learning curve associated with managing heat and perfecting your technique, the reward is well worth the effort. The pizzas that emerge from this oven—with their blistered, crispy, and chewy crusts—are on a completely different level than anything a conventional oven can produce.

We recommend the BakerStone Original Series Pizza Oven to any grilling enthusiast who is passionate about making authentic, pizzeria-quality pizza at home. If you already own a 3-burner or larger gas grill and are willing to invest a little time in practice, this oven offers unparalleled value and will fundamentally change your pizza nights forever. It’s a fun, engaging, and delicious way to expand your outdoor cooking repertoire. Ready to turn your backyard into the neighborhood’s favorite pizzeria? You can see the full kit and check the latest price today.