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Ooni had some big products releases today. Any other day their release of a new multi-fuel Karu 12G pizza oven would have been the highlight. That was overshadowed by their release of their first electric pizza oven.
As we had anticipated, Ooni released the new Ooni Volt 12. With electricity as a fuel source, the new pizza oven can be used outside or inside. Now there’s no reason to miss out on making delicious pizza just because the weather is bad or you don’t have outdoor space.
Does it Still Get Hot Like a Gas Oven?
The first question that people like have about an electric pizza oven, is does it get hot enough? It does! The Ooni Volt can reach 850°F in about 20 minutes, which is not far from a gas powered Ooni, and hotter than most wood fired ovens. That translates to a pizza being cooked in just 90 seconds.
A pizza oven is a great application for electricity as a fuel source because it’s enclosed and it has a stone to retain heat. That means that helps with both heating times and with maintaining the heat between pizzas. Ooni says this is their most energy efficient design yet.
Feature and Specs
- Retail price of $999 (check price)
- Can reach 850°F in about 20 minutes
- 13 inches of cooking area on the 10 mm thick cordierite stone
- Triple-paned glass door to retain heat
- Weather resistant for outdoor use
Manual or Automatic with Balance
The Ooni Volt is for pizza newbies and experts alike. For people new to cooking pizza, you can pick a heat setting for the type of pizza you’re cooking and be done with it.
If you have more experience cooking pizza, you may want to use the balance feature. This changes how the heat is applied to the pizza. For example, if you make a pizza with a lot of toppings on it, you’ll want to adjust the balance to cook the top more.
Boost
Another feature that the Volt has is the Boost function. In between pizzas turn on the Boost to quickly return the stone to the preset cooking temperature. It’s similar to using a gas oven where you’ll turn down the heat when a pizza is loaded, then turn it back up after to heat the stone back up.
In the case of the Volt, the heating elements are located underneath the stone. When you hit Boost, it cranks those back up to heat up the stone to the proper temperature.
Design
The Ooni Volt has very sleek look to it. The outside is powder coated with framing that fits in with Ooni’s overall design aesthetic. It’s sized to fit well on a kitchen counter, and it has two handles built-in that make it easy to move around.
Safety
Ooni kept safety in mind when developing an indoor oven that gets to 850°F. There is an auto-shutoff feature on the oven that kicks in after 45 minutes of inactivity. That prevents you from accidentally leaving it on and not using it.
Additionally, there is an air gap and internal fan on the oven to make sure it’s at the right temperature. While you want the oven to get hot, you don’t want it to get too hot, and the fan prevents that.
Conclusion
Ooni took a risk moving away from gas and wood fired outdoor ovens, but we think they hit a homerun with the Volt. It has engineering and design that you come to expect from Ooni, without sacrificing on performance. While some might bristle at the price tag, Ooni does have other great options for the more budget conscious, including an oven steel for those dedicated to electricity.