Ever since I moved into my house, I’ve always entertained the fantasy of building an outdoor pizza oven — laying the brick, shaping the dome, and then enjoying the fruits of a wood-fired pizza.
That dream has never gone away, even as I’ve tested a number of the best pizza ovens in my yard. However, having used the Gozney Dome XL for the past six months, I might spare myself the trouble (and my wife the aggravation) of building my own oven.
That’s because the Dome XL has just about everything you could possibly ask for in a pizza oven: a massive internal chamber, dual-fuel capabilities, and a great design that will make your patio look oh so Pinterest. But, this is also one of the largest — and most expensive — pizza ovens I’ve ever tested. It’s overkill for many, but if you’re serious about pizza (and have the dough to spend), this is the splurge model to get.
Gozney Dome XL (gen 2): Price
The Dome XL sits at the top of Gozney’s lineup, at $2,799. You can get it in either black or an off-white bone. I’ve been using the latter, and it will show soot deposits above the opening — which could be a sign of authenticity or unsightliness, depending on your tastes.
The Dome XL is large enough to accommodate one 18-inch pie, two 12-inch pies, or three 10-inchers; if your needs are more modest,
Gozney also makes the Dome (Gen 2) for $2,299, which offers all the same functions, but can fit either one 16-inch pizza or two 10-inch pizzas. I’ve rarely baked more than one pie at a time, so it’s probably the more sensible option for most.
Design
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Gozney Dome XL (Gen 2) specs
Size: 3.3 x 3.1 x 2.3 feet
Weight: 161 pounds
Capacity: one 18-inch pie, two 12-inch pies, or three 10-inch
Internal dimensions: 28.5 x 21.4 x 9.4 inches
Mouth opening: 18.5 x 5.5 inches
Stone thickness: 1.18 inches
Max temperature: 950 degrees
Fuel types: Propane, natural gas, wood, charcoal
This thing is MASSIVE. The Gozney Dome XL (Gen 2) is more than 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep, stands 39.3 inches tall, and weighs 161 pounds. It’s so big that it was delivered on a pallet, and I needed to get a neighbor to help me lift it on the pedestal.
Fortunately, Gozney thought ahead, and provided straps on all the corners to make it easier to lift. If you’re considering buying this, make sure whatever surface you’re planning to place it on has a lot of support.
The Dome (especially the bone model) looks kinda like a big hamburger: The top and bottom “buns” are gently rounded, while the middle is wrapped in stainless steel.
The stand is pretty tall. I’m about 6 feet, which places the oven’s opening just below eye level. If you’re of shorter stature, you may find it’s a bit too high for comfort.
A large vent pipe extends out the top. If you bought the Dome stand along with the Dome, you’ll find it’s a little tricky to place the cap on the top of the vent pipe, as it’s waayyy up in the air.
Below the mouth of the oven is a module with a color LCD display that displays the internal temperature of the oven as well as the temperature of the pizza stone.
To the right is a control knob used to adjust the gas flame; to the left is a small control pad to adjust settings, like setting a timer. Next to it are two ports to which you can attach temperature probes, so you can use the oven to more precisely cook meat or other proteins.
If you purchase the wood-fire control kit, it comes with a little control unit that slots into the right side of the oven. Inside is a small fan, and a knob on the exterior lets you control the amount of air that gets blown into the chamber. It’s ringed with LEDs, so it was really easy to see if I had the fan on low or a higher setting. And, this controller also links via Bluetooth to the main control unit on the Gozney, so you can monitor everything from one spot.
Both controllers use a rechargeable battery, which slides easily into each unit. The batteries have small LEDs so you know how much charge you have left, and come with USB-C ports, so you can juice them up as easily as your phone.
Performance
As a dual-fuel oven, you can either use propane (or natural gas) or wood to heat up the oven. The gas flame comes out of the left side of the chamber, and the wood basket sits on the right. To test the oven, I used both propane and wood separately, and got equally consistent results. The curved interior of the Gozney allowed the flames and heat to curl over nicely from either side.
Using a little firestarter, it was very easy to get the wood burning, and the large size of the basket meant that I didn’t have to cut up the wood into tiny chunks, as I had to with other wood-fired pizza ovens, such as the older Ooni Karu. While baking with wood requires a bit more work — you have to make sure the fire doesn’t go out, for one thing — it’s a lot more satisfying than cooking with gas.
As with all pizza ovens, I let the Gozney Dome heat up for a good 30 to 40 minutes, to get its stone up to temperature. After that, it performed spectacularly well, making everything to perfection.
Gozney says that the Dome can fit pizzas up to 18 inches in diameter; I was able to comfortably fit a 16-inch pizza pie, but any larger, and it would have been a bit trickier to turn, and would put one edge pretty close to the flame.
The Dome did a fantastic job baking the pies, though. The gas knob allowed me to fine-tune the heat, which let me make both Neapolitan and New York-style pizzas, so I could get either a puffy, leopard crust or an evenly browned finish.
If you get this and make nothing but cheese and pepperoni pies, Gozney should have the right to take it back.
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Accessories
Accessories include a $499 stand, which raises the oven up to about five feet, has two trays on either side, a platform for a propane tank, and a small tray for holding other items.
If you’re investing this much in a pizza oven, I would also recommend you pick up a cover — the one for the oven costs $89, and the one that protects the oven and stand is $99. It’s proved more than durable, having guarded the oven through two blizzards. And, it’s provided shelter for my cat when it rains.
A wood-fire control kit costs $199, and includes a metal rack to contain the wood and a module that fits into the side of the oven, and lets you regulate how much air is blown in. In my testing, it worked fantastic, and integrated perfectly with the main control unit on the oven.
Gozney also sells an assortment of peels, cutters, and other pizza-related products, most of which you can find elsewhere, and probably for less.
I will say, though, that its $44 pizza cutter is one of the best I’ve ever used. It’s solidly built, and has one of the sharpest blades ever. And, you can easily unscrew it to clean out cheese and other bits.
Bottom line
The Gozney Dome XL doesn’t come cheap, and it’s a lot more pizza oven than most will ever need. As I said above, the next step after this is building your own pizza oven. If you’re just starting out, I would recommend one of the best pizza ovens that costs less than $500, like the Solo Pi Prime or the Ooni Koda 2. You’ll get just as good results.
What separates the Gozney Dome XL is all the extras: The size, the design, the controls, and all those bits that will signal to your neighbors that, when it comes to pizza, you’re not messing around. If you get this and make nothing but cheese and pepperoni pies, Gozney should have the right to take it back. This is the ultimate pizza oven for those who are really serious about their craft, and want something that looks as good as the pies it makes.