The Camp Chef Italia Pizza Oven Delivers Pizzeria Quality Results at Home
The Camp Chef Pizza Oven makes creating pizza at home a fun and rewarding experience. Making your own dough and perfecting your own pizza recipe in the comfort of your own kitchen can be a fulfilling journey. Doing so can also be incredibly frustrating when your home oven can’t cook your pizza properly.
I’ve used my residential oven for years along with a variety of pizza stones and baking steels along with baking methods that include turning the oven up as hot as it can go and even using the “broiler method.” The problem with home ovens is that they usually don’t get hot enough and have long heat recovery times between pizzas. I’ve also used my outdoor grill with limited success. It had been a struggle to cook great pizzas consistently with these various appliances.
I became frustrated with constantly babysitting each of the above mentioned methods of cooking while trying to host people at home. I sought an a better, yet affordable solution. I was shopping on Amazon and stumbled upon an oven about the size of a full-size microwave called the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven. It looked pretty simple, but the reviews (which you can’t always trust) were largely good, and it had used the propane heating source like I was seeking. The price was in the value category I was looking to spend and with free returns on Amazon Prime, I figured I had nothing to lose.
Want to order your own Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven? Click this link which will take you directly to Amazon to purchase. It won’t cost you anything additional, but I’ll earn a small commission that will help me provide giveaways and grow the website!
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| This White Clam Pizza made in the Camp Chef oven was inspired by my trip to Frank Pepe’s in New Haven, CT. |
What’s in the Box?
The oven comes with just about everything you need to get started except for the pizza itself and a propane tank. Included in the box is the oven itself, the oven door, a gas hose with adapter for grill tank or small propane bottle, thermometer, and instructions. Assembly takes about 10 minutes, and you’re ready to go. The ability to use a small propane bottle and a full size grill tank right out of the box cannot be understated because it isn’t necessary to buy a $25 adapter.
Oven and Stone Size
The oven itself offers a relatively small form factor, but accommodates comfortably a full size 12″ by 18″ Old Forge pizza. It can also easily fit two 10″ round pies. The official measurements and specifications are:
- Overall Dimensions without shelf: 15 in. x 26 in.x 16 in.
- Stone Dimensions: 13.25 in. x 20 in.
- Oven Opening Dimensions: 22.25 in. x 4.25 in.
- Shelf Dimensions: 5 in. x 23 in.
- Total Output: 17,000 BTUs/Hr.
- Overall Weight: 47 lbs.
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| Hot Wing Old Forge Pizza Cooked in the Camp Chef Italia Pizza Oven. |
Temperature and Controls
The great thing about this oven, and the primary reason a person can attain pizzeria quality results at home is that it can reach temperatures in excess of 750 degrees. Although this level of heat is not necessary for all styles, the heat is stable, distributed evenly across the stone, recovers quickly, and has virtually no hot spots. After testing some other similar pizza ovens in this market, I’ve found that it is very common to have to constantly babysit and adjust the temperature in other models – that is not the case here. You essentially choose the high, medium, or low setting that you want and monitor the temperature atop the oven. I also recommend monitoring the temperature of the stone with an infrared thermometer which will really help dial in consistent results.
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| Old Forge Pizza baked in the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven. |
Camp Chef Pizza Oven Baking Performance
I have tested 2 of these ovens for about a year now, and have found them to generate high quality results time and time again. I’ve made New York, Detroit, Old Forge, Grandma, Deep Dish, and Old Forge Pizza time and time again with ease. Check out my YouTube video for a variety of pizzas created in this oven. The bottoms consistently come out crisp, pizzas are evenly cooked and ingredients cook at a similar rate of a professional pizzeria oven.
Pizza Oven Stone Temperature is Critical
Have you ever spent a ton of time making pizza in your home oven and pulled out the pizza because the cheese was starting to burn, but the crust was still soft and undercooked? That is because the temperature is not high enough and the source of the heat is coming from above and around the pizza, not from the bottom where a stone makes direct contact with the dough and cooks from the bottom up.
A baking stone in a residential oven usually helps this somewhat, but once a cold pizza is applied to the stone, it cools down significantly and never recovers until well after the pizza is removed. Because the stone in the Camp Chef Italia is heated directly by perimeter flame directly below the deck, the pizza continues to cook in a manner that very closely resembles a professional pizza oven.
Measuring Temperature in Pizza Ovens
The Camp Chef Italia Pizza Oven comes with a thermometer that measures ambient top heat of the oven. Knowing the temperature of the stone requires an Infrared Thermometer. These point-and-shoot thermometers are a quick and reliable way to measure stone temp. I like to launch a raw dough New York or Neopolitan style Pizza around 650f degrees in this oven.
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| A look at the fried texture on the Pan Fried Sicilian Pizza cooked in the Camp Chef oven. Check out my Pan Fried Sicilian Pizza Recipe! |
Another benefit of high and direct heat is that cooking times are really fast. A 10 inch new york style pizza can be cooked in as little as 3-4 minutes depending on your recipe and oven temperature. A neopolitan pizza can be cooked in under 2 minutes! I also found that this little oven bakes other foods much more quickly and much better than my traditional range.
Cooks More Than Pizza
The results with all of the different types of pizza have been fantastic, but the more I used the oven to bake pizza, the more uses I found for it. I first tried cooking bacon in it because I didn’t feel like splattering my stove top and counter with grease. Using a broiling pan, I found that the bacon cooked very quickly, evenly, and was super flavorful without sitting in the grease. I used the same process with a full pan of meatballs, which came out better than any meatball I’ve ever cooked (fried or baked).
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| The sear on this T-Bone steak after preheating the cast iron skillet in the Camp Chef Italia oven was incredible! So juicy inside! |
The curved oven top creates a convection-type cooking and really “sears” in flavors by cooking the outside quickly and also cooking thoroughly and leaving the inside juicy and flavorful. This was extremely evident when I cooked a t-bone steak in this oven with amazing results. Check out the video on how I cooked the steak!
I’ve also cooked ribs and chicken in the oven with fantastic results as well. Because of the quick preheat time of around 10 minutes, I find myself cooking foods in the Camp Chef because I don’t have to heat up my whole kitchen with the residential oven. There’s something fun about cooking outside and not having to clean up as much afterward too!
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| The high direct heat allows for rapid expansion of air pockets in the dough. Check out the pretty bubble on this pizza! |
Camp Chef Accessories
The product comes with just about everything you need. I did buy the Camp Chef Pizza Spatula, after returning two other brands of inferior quality and found it to be a sturdy and reliable tool that can handle small pizzas and heavy full size old forge trays. I highly recommend the spatula. They also offer an custom size oven cover if you’re going to be leaving it outside.
Final Thoughts on Camp Chef Pizza Oven
The bottom line is that the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven is an exceptional value because of the high level of performance, versatility and portability that this appliance provides. I have put this oven to the test with so many different types of pizza, meats, and more and it has delivered exceptional results each and every time. Whether you want to use it at home, tailgating, camping, or even on a boat this oven won’t let you down.
Best Way to Get Started Making Homemade Pizza
When starting with a new pizza oven, one question I consistently receive is “What is a good dough recipe to make pizza?” The easiest way for me to answer all of those questions is by recommending the only pizza cookbook I ever use, The Pizza Bible by Tony Gemingani. I’ve owned many pizza cookbooks over the years, but none even compare to the Pizza Bible. You will gain so much pizza knowledge with this book and take your home pizza making to the next level, so skip asking me and just grab the book!
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I certify that I have personally purchased these items with my own funds and was NOT provided any products, compensation, or discounts of any kind. This review was motivated by high quality products which I wanted to spread the word about. The links above are amazon associates links. Clicking them will take you directly to each product on Amazon. Should you order one of the products, it will NOT cost you anything additional, but I will earn a small commission to help fund NEPA Pizza Review giveaways and help grow the website and social channels!
