I Made a Dozen Pizzas (and Calzones) to Find Out If the Gozney Arc Could Bring the Heat

My husband has a love-hate relationship with making pizza (and outdoor pizza ovens). There’s the appeal of cooking outside and chatting with friends as you throw a pie—but there’s also the reality: torn dough, the propane tank running out, the pie coming out a little too charred. The night usually ends with semolina flour scattered into every nook and cranny and with my husband wondering why he thought slinging pizza all night (while guests mingle and drink beer) would be fun. 

All that said, he still enjoys cranking up the heat and making some Neapolitan-style za, and any pizza oven that can streamline that harried experience, well, it’s worth something. I’ve long loved the Ooni Koda for its easy interface (just screw on the propane tank, turn the knob, and the heat gets blasting), so I was curious when Gozney released a compact domed pizza oven with a “lateral rolling flame” that replicates that of "traditional wood-fired ovens, distributing heat evenly and consistently,” per their website. They also promised this design would allow home pizzaiolos to “spend less time turning pizza and more time making memories.” Well, count me (and my husband) in. To test it, I made around a dozen Neapolitan-adjacent pizzas and a few calzones, burned through a tank of propane, and still ended up with semolina flour everywhere.

The Tests

• Pizza Test: I made a dozen Neapolitan-style pies (some with sauce and cheese and others with pepperoni and salami). Before cooking them, I preheated the oven to 900°F, timing how long this took, and using an infrared thermometer to take the temperature of the pizza stone on the left, center, and right. I also timed how long it took for the oven to reheat to 900°F after throwing a pie, repeating this three times. I used the pizza peel and turner provided by Gozney to throw, turn, and retrieve the pizzas.  
• Calzone Test: I used the Arc to cook calzones, noting how evenly and quickly they baked. 
• Use Test: Throughout testing, I noted how easy the oven was to set up, use, and clean.

What We Learned 

It Was Easy to Use, and the Size Was Spot-on

Like many gas-powered pizza ovens, the Gozney Arc was super easy to set up and use: twist on the propane tank to the connector hose, open it up, press and turn the dial, and it fires up. Adjusting the heat was easy, too, since you just had to turn the dial—my only qualm with it was that it spins a bit further north than needed since the max heat setting sits around nine o’clock. The smaller Arc oven I tested was also plenty big; I didn’t have any issues maneuvering the launching peel inside and even larger bakes, like calzones, fit nicely without being cramped. 

It Took a While to Heat Up but Was on Par With Other Pizza Ovens 

I used an infrared thermometer to find out how long the stone took to reach 900°F, which is a good heat for cooking thin-crust pizza. Since the burner is on the left side of the oven, that area heated up the fastest, reaching 900°F in around 27 minutes, while the center took around 38 minutes to come to temp. Because of the arcing flame, the right side of the stone also heated up faster than the center. For example, seven minutes into heating, the left side of the stone was 565°F, the center was 494°F, and the right side was 520°F. While there were differences, they were small and showed that the heating was pretty consistent.

…But It Cooked Pizzas FAST

All of the pizzas I made were ready in 90 seconds or less and every one of them emerged with puffy crusts and leopard spotting on the bottom. Recovery time was fast, too: on average, the oven took a little less than two minutes to climb back up to 900°F. This stellar heat retention, while a boon in terms of time spent cooking pizzas (I really could sling a pizza and eat it too!), did mean I had to pay close attention to pies as they cooked. If I got distracted, there was a penchant for blackened dough bubbles and charred toppings. 

Calzones were a little trickier to nail since they take longer to cook and need less blistering heat; even when I kept the flame low, I still had to use the turner peel to shield the top of the crust so it didn’t emerge completely burnt. That said, this is an oven meant to churn out pizzas and isn’t specifically made for calzones, so I don’t think this is a negative. Overall, it did its designated task, and it did it well. 

The Verdict

The Gozney Arc was easy to use and set up. I tested the 14-inch size and found it plenty versatile, but it’s also sold in a larger 16-inch pizza capacity if you want an even bigger option. The oven was a little slow to heat, taking nearly 40 minutes for the center of the stone to reach 900°F (the left and right sides heated faster due to the nature of the arcing flame), but it retained heat very well and churned out perfect thin-crust pizzas in under 90 seconds, with little reheat time needed. The one big downside is that, at $700, it’s $100 more than the Ooni Koda 16, one of our other top gas-powered picks. 

Gozney Arc

$700 $630 at Amazon $630 at Home Depot View on Gozney.com

The Pros

It’s easy to use and cooked leopard-spotted pizzas fast—there was little reheating time needed after slinging a pie (it usually took about two minutes to climb back up to temperature), which meant I could spend less time cooking and more time eating and socializing. I think the 14-inch size is big enough for most people’s needs, too. I didn’t have any issues launching or retrieving pizzas with the Gozney peel, and the interior felt spacious when turning pies. Gozney does sell a stand for the Arc, which I used and found great (it holds the oven at eye level and has folding prep tables), though it is an extra $250.  

The Cons

It’s expensive—at $700 for the 14-inch capacity Arc, it’s $100 more than the Ooni Koda 16, which performed similarly in our other tests. The Arc was also a wee bit slow to hit 900°F in the center of the stone, though it still did a fabulous job quickly cooking pizza after pizza. 

The built-in thermometer wasn’t accurate: a few minutes into heating, the thermometer said the oven was 188°F while the infrared thermometer reading was around 463°F in the center of the stone. This trend continued as the oven heated, though the displayed temperature did get closer to the actual temperatures as time went on. Still, I wouldn’t rely on the built-in thermometer. 

Key Specs

• Weight: 47.5 pounds
• Internal width: 14.8 inches 
• External dimensions: 19 x 22 x 13.5 inches 
• Max temp: 950°F
• Stone thickness: 2 millimeters
• Fuel type: Propane
• Warranty: 1 year from date of purchase

FAQs

What is the difference between the Gozney Dome and the Arc?

The Gozney dome is a dual-fuel oven; you can use propane/wood or natural gas/wood. The Arc, conversely, is propane-only. The Dome is also much larger at 26 x 24.8 x 28.8 inches, while the Arc is 19 x 22 x 13.5 inches. Both reach temperatures up to 950°F and boast even heating. 

Can the Gozney Arc be used indoors?

Since it uses propane, it’s best to use the Gozney Arc outside to be safe. 

Why We’re the Experts

• Grace Kelly is a commerce editor at Serious Eats and has been testing kitchen equipment for almost three years.
• Prior to this, she was an environmental reporter, prep cook, and bartender. 
• She’s made countless pizzas with her husband using outdoor pizza ovens.
• For this review, she cooked dozens of pizzas and a few calzones to test the Gozney Arc’s ability to bake up even, well-cooked pies. 

Editor’s note: We received a press sample of the Gozney Arc, but all of our opinions are our own.