In the crowded world of outdoor cooking, few brands have managed to build the kind of loyal, vocal community that Ooni has cultivated. But for Co-Founder Kristian Tapaninaho, that community is more than a marketing asset, it’s a core part of the company’s innovation engine.
“Innovation at Ooni starts with the end user,” says Tapaninaho. “We balance listening to our community with identifying problems before customers have to name them.”
Ooni’s dual mandate of “listen closely but lead boldly”, has changed the company’s trajectory from a Kickstarter startup into a category-defining brand. It’s also at the heart of its latest product innovation: the Rotating Stone, a deceptively simple accessory that addresses one of the most persistent challenges in high-heat pizza making.
Building With, Not Just For, Customers
Ooni’s approach to customer feedback traces back to its earliest days. When the company launched its first pizza oven on Kickstarter, customers weren’t just early adopters, they were collaborators.
“Those early customers told us what worked and what didn’t,” says Tapaninaho. “That mindset has not changed.”
Today, that feedback loop is far more expansive but no less central. Insights flow in from customer support interactions, product reviews, social media, community groups, ambassadors and direct outreach.
“When thousands of people are using your product, patterns emerge,” Tapaninaho says. “Those real-world insights help inform improvements and new features across our product line.”
But Ooni is careful not to become purely reactive. The company sees its role as both listener and leader by responding to expressed needs while also anticipating latent ones.
“We also work to anticipate what pizza makers will need next and push the category forward,” Tapaninaho says.
Solving the ‘Turning Problem’
One of the clearest examples of that philosophy in action is Ooni’s latest innovation, the Rotating Stone. The product tackles a pain point familiar to anyone who has tried to cook pizza at the extreme temperatures Ooni ovens are known for: turning the pizza at precisely the right moment.
“One of the most consistent pieces of feedback we heard from Ooni owners was that turning pizzas in a high-heat oven can be the most challenging part of the cooking process,” says Tapaninaho.
While rotating stones already existed in the market, Ooni saw an opportunity to rethink the concept entirely.
“None of them delivered the performance, durability or cooking consistency we believed pizza makers deserved,” he says.
The result is a system that continuously rotates the pizza during cooking, reducing hot spots and eliminating the need for manual turning. The benefit is both technical and psychological: more even cooking, and a more approachable experience for beginners.
“It’s a simple concept, but it can make the cooking process more accessible, especially for people who are newer to high-heat ovens,” Tapaninaho explains.
Engineering Beyond the Obvious
What sets Ooni’s Rotating Stone apart isn’t just the rotation—it’s the engineering behind it. Rather than relying on a traditional central pivot, the company developed a perimeter-balanced turntable designed for greater stability.
“Unlike standard rotating stone ovens that rely on a single central pivot, the Ooni turntable is engineered with perimeter-balanced stability,” says Tapaninaho. “By shifting the weight and rotating mechanism to the perimeter of the stone, we eliminated the wobbling and stalling common in central platform designs.”
That design choice allows the stone to handle not just delicate Neapolitan pizzas, but significantly heavier cookware as well, such as a 15-pound cast-iron skillet.
Ooni also layered in more advanced technology, including a LIDAR sensor that allows users to start and stop the rotation with a simple wave of the hand, an industry first in this category.
“We didn’t stop at simply making the stone spin,” Tapaninaho says. “We reimagined the entire system.”
R&D as a Competitive Advantage
Behind that reimagining is an intensive research and development process. The Rotating Stone underwent extensive prototyping, with teams testing different motor systems, rotation speeds and stability mechanisms.
“The goal wasn’t simply to make the stone spin, but to make sure it delivered more consistent results and better performance than other products on the market,” says Tapaninaho.
One of the biggest technical challenges was ensuring smooth, even rotation at extremely high temperatures without compromising the heat retention properties of a traditional cordierite pizza stone.
“We spent a great deal of time testing real-world cooking scenarios… baking hundreds of pizzas,” says Tapaninaho. “This allowed us to dial in things like rotation modes and stability.”
Expanding Beyond Pizza
While the Rotating Stone is designed with pizza in mind, its broader impact may be in how it expands the perceived use cases of a pizza oven.
By automating rotation, the system removes the need for constant manual intervention, making it easier to cook a wider range of foods; from vegetables and seafood to meats and rotisserie-style dishes.
“The Rotating Stone takes that off your plate,” says Tapaninaho. “With a stone that is constantly rotating through the heat, food cooks more evenly without needing that constant intervention.”
Its stability also enables the use of heavier cookware like cast-iron skillets and roasting pans, further broadening its utility.
“At Ooni, we’ve always believed that pizza ovens should be extremely versatile cooking tools, not just single-purpose appliances,” he adds.
Early Market Validation
So far, early feedback suggests the product is resonating. According to Tapaninaho, both customers and retail partners quickly grasped the value proposition.
Much of the initial response has centered on ease of use, especially those intimidated by the learning curve of high-heat cooking.
“The Rotating Stone directly addresses that challenge by automating the turning process, which makes the cooking experience far more intuitive and approachable,” Tapaninaho explains.
Early users have also highlighted the product’s build quality, quiet operation and ease of installation, signaling that Ooni’s focus on premium design is landing as intended.
Importantly, the feedback isn’t limited to pizza. Customers and partners are exploring broader applications, from cast-iron dishes to rotisserie-style cooking, reinforcing the product’s versatility.
Listening Forward
For now, the Rotating Stone is available exclusively for Ooni’s Koda 2 range, including the Koda 2, Koda 2 Pro and Koda 2 Max. But as with all Ooni innovations, its future evolution will likely be shaped by the same feedback loop that inspired it. “We are always listening to our community and thinking about how new ideas can evolve across the wider Ooni ecosystem,” says Tapaninaho. “The balance of listening to our community and leading with innovation is what allows Ooni to keep raising the bar.”