Ooni Volt 2 Review: ‘Ultimate’ pizza oven does all the work for you
A self-confessed pizza snob has tested the $899 Ooni Volt 2, revealing if this high-tech oven can actually deliver restaurant-quality pizza at home.
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As a self-described pizza connoisseur, I take my pizza very seriously. I’m constantly craving the crisp dough, the rich tomato sauce and that oh-so-important cheese pull.
But getting the perfect pizza isn’t all that easy. I can’t spend the big bucks at a pizzeria every week, and my home oven might as well make my meal a crime scene.
Do I settle for a quick Domino’s or or Pizza Hut every now and again? Of course, but I never really want to and always feel a little let down – in the pizza itself and me giving in to a cheap alternative.
After a recent accidental bite of pineapple from a local takeaway pizza (that I definitely did not order), I realised enough was enough and knew I needed to get the big guns to satisfy my pizza needs.
Enter the Ooni Volt 2.
This is the newest and most advanced model from pizza oven juggernaut Ooni, and in my opinion, the very best.
With an all-new Pizza Intelligence system, this oven does all the work for you. With the press of a button, the Volt 2 will cook your pizza perfectly every time and in record time. No more practice pizzas to see if the temperature is right or twisting and turning your dough to make sure it’s pointed at the right angle to the flame. It’s all done for you and it is unbelievably easy.
As a diehard pizza lover, trust me when I say that this is the ultimate pizza oven for those craving a slice in a matter of minutes.
NEED TO KNOW
- The Ooni Volt 2 is an extremely advanced electric pizza oven with three cooking presets to make Neapolitan, Thin & Crispy and Pan/Deep Dish pizzas with just a touch of a button.
- Each preset has its own ideal temperature and timer to cook the pizza perfectly and without the need to fiddle with settings.
- It can also do more than cook pizza, with settings to bake, grill and proof dough as well as save two of your own pizza recipes.
1-MINUTE REVIEW: Ooni Volt 2 Pizza Oven
Ooni Volt 2
What You Need To Know
The Ooni Volt 2 is a marvel of modern cooking, and a pizza lover’s dream come true. You no longer have to cook outside to get an authentic pizza as it can all be done from your kitchen counter.
This ultra-advanced oven makes cooking oh-so simple thanks to the inclusion of Pizza Intelligence. This is a smart cooking system that has three pizza-making presets to make Neapolitan, Thin & Crispy and Pan/Deep Dish pizzas. Each comes with its own predetermined timer and temperature so all you need to do is press the button, wait for it to cook and get eating.
My Neapolitan pizza was cooked super fast and easily, and was hands down one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten. When using this preset, you can also use Boost Mode to replicate the rolling flame of a wood fired pizza and give your cheese that bubbly leopard print these pizzas are renowned for.
The Thin & Crispy was also amazing, but it could have used a few minutes longer than the timer preset recommended. The same goes for Deep Dish, which I cooked in the Ooni Sheet Pan & Rack (purchased separately). But it was still great and on par with many pizza restaurants I’ve dined at.
In addition to these three cooking options, this oven also comes with dough proofing, baking and grilling/broiling settings, making this a versatile, multipurpose appliance that’ll make you want to throw away the old air fryer and have it take pride of place on your benchtop.
Each setting is selected on the easy to use digital interface. There’s also a control dial to manually choose your timer and temperature settings.
While it is fairly large and heavy, it is on par with the size of most home pizza ovens, and a lot lighter than wood fired, gas or charcoal ovens. And it comes with some added perks to improve the cooking experience, such as a glass viewing window, cool-to-touch handle and dishwasher safe filter. You can also make your favourite pizza recipes and save them as your own presets, so instead of messing around with the settings each time, just one button will get it cooking.
IS THE OONI VOLT 2 WORTH IT?
With all the settings – both for pizza and cooking generally, this pizza oven is totally worth the money for any pizza lover.
It completely takes away all the hassle of perfecting your pie most home pizza ovens create. The temperature control and cooking times are taken care of, so all you need to do is choose your setting, slide your pizza in, cook it and enjoy.
You may miss that smokey, charred flavour a wood fired or charcoal oven offers, but the quality, durability and great results the Volt 2 produces supersedes this immensely.
Coming in at $899, it is a steep price to pay for a good slice of pizza. Sure, it might be easier to order your pizza from a cheap takeaway, but you cannot beat the taste, speed and complete perfection the Ooni Volt 2 offers.
ALL THE DETAILS
- Design and size
- Pizza Intelligence
- Digital interface
- First pizza setting: Neapolitan
- Bonus setting: Neapolitan Boost
- Second pizza setting: Thin & Crispy
- Third pizza setting: Pan/Deep Dish
- Proofing function
- Oven and Grill/Broil functions
- Added accessories
- Verdict
FULL REVIEW OF THE OONI VOLT 2
DESIGN AND SIZE
Boasting a super slick and borderline space-age look, the Ooni Volt 2 is set to turn any pizza night into a gourmet feast.
While it is still a large unit, it is actually on the smaller side compared to other pizza ovens on the market. With a width of 44.2cm and depth of 54.5cm, it still will need a large cooking space and benchtop. It’s also definitely a two-person operation getting out of the box and onto the counter.
You need to position the oven near the counter edge so the door can open fully to 90° and slide your 30cm pizza in. Despite this, the power cord is pretty short. I ended up grabbing an extension cord to help it reach without yanking it too much.
The design of the oven is incredibly well thought out. The see-through glass window lets you easily check on your pizza without opening the door, the handle stays cool and it has smoke and grease free filter that’s dishwasher safe.
Along with a pizza stone, this Ooni oven comes with a grill rack to make use of its oven and grill settings. This is a major plus, but like any grill rack, there was a little bit of resistance pulling it in and out of the oven.
PIZZA INTELLIGENCE
Using a traditional home pizza oven, you have to slide your pie in hoping it’s at the right temperature and constantly keep watch just in case it burns. But that’s all in the past when using the Volt 2.
Instead, it uses a new advanced system called Pizza Intelligence.
This is an adaptive cooking system which sets the cooking temperature and timer with pinpoint accuracy. This is made even easier with the three pizza presets: Neapolitan, Thin & Crispy and Pan / Deep Dish.
As someone who finds cooking stressful, this takes away all the worries of over or undercooking. All I needed to do was press the button, set the preset temperature and timer, and off it goes, doing all the hard work for me.
If these specific settings aren’t best suited to your pizza, you can easily tailor them using the control dial within the temperature range of each preset.
DIGITAL INTERFACE
Before you start cooking pizza, you need to get used to the digital interface and settings. Considering how simple and well laid out it is, this only takes a minute or so.
I recommend having a good read of the manual before you start. While it’s easy enough to use, it’s good to fully understand what each button does. Some of the buttons do look similar (namely the Neapolitan and Thin & Crispy settings), so you want to know you have the right one before you start.
Additionally, there are also buttons for dough proofing, oven baking, grilling / broiling and two custom preset buttons – the latter letting you save your own cooking settings and recipes.
Next to the control dial is where you select your timer, temperature and crispness (which is only available when you are grilling).
With just a press of a couple of buttons and a twist of a dial, all the work is done for you. Now all you need to do is insert your pizza and get ready to eat.
FIRST PIZZA SETTING: NEAPOLITAN PIZZA
The first preset is the classic Neapolitan-style pizza to give you an authentic Italian flavour and airy crust.
This setting reaches 375°C and 450°C, and takes around 45 minutes to preheat, which is on par with other home pizza ovens.
Despite the preheating time, it was amazing how fast it was to cook. In just 90 seconds, my raw pizza was completely cooked. Watching it through the window was genuinely thrilling for a pizza lover like myself. I even had a small audience gather around me.
Once it came out, it was the definition of a chef’s kiss. The crust, base, toppings and cheese came out as good as what you’d get at a top tier Italian restaurant.
BONUS SETTING: NEAPOLITAN BOOST
If you’re after that woody taste a classic pizza oven offers, the Volt 2 has that covered with Boost Mode.
While the standard Neapolitan is a great pizza, this setting is designed to replicate the rolling flame of the traditional pizza oven and create that unbeatable leopard print crust and cheese.
In the Neapolitan preset, a light next to the control dial will turn orange. When holding down the dial for three seconds, it will start blinking green. Once it turns a solid green, you can launch the pizza in.
It raises the temperature up to 450°C and after the 90 seconds was done, you can definitely notice a difference.
The crust didn’t really resemble the leopard print, but the cheese was really bubbly. This pizza also held its heat for far longer. It was the only pizza you had to blow on before taking a bite.
SECOND PIZZA SETTING: THIN & CRISPY
This New York style pizza is often my go-to crust choice, so I had some high hopes.
This preset took about 30 to 35 minutes to preheat, and had a predetermined temperature of 350°C.
After cooking for four and half minutes, the end result lived up to my expectations with the base having a nice crispiness underneath. However, it could have been left in for another minute or so to give it that extra crunch.
THIRD PIZZA SETTING: PAN / DEEP DISH
Pan and deep dish pizza is an entirely new cooking experience for me, and probably will be for many Australians.
To make a deep dish pizza, you need the right dish. I used the Ooni Sheet Pan & Rack, but this needs to be bought separately.
This setting was the fastest to preheat, reaching its target 275°C in about 25 minutes.
After nine minutes, the dough was evenly cooked on all the sides and base. Instead of a pizza, it’s probably better described as a pie. Like the Thin & Crispy, it could have cooked for another few minutes, but it was still amazing, and will likely be my new pizza night go-to meal.
PROOFING FUNCTION
Before I made my pizzas, I proofed my dough. Usually it needs a day to proof in rooms around 20°C to 23°C. This isn’t always easy in summer when you can’t escape the scorching heat. That’s where the proofing function works best.
You can set a temperature between 20°C and 30°C to make sure your dough is proofing in the best circumstances possible. This was super handy and gave me confidence that I was following all the steps in the recipe to a tee.
The only downfall is the size of the oven. When using the stone and rack, it’s hard to get a big bowl of dough in, so it’s best with small quantities or flatter, wider bowls.
OVEN AND GRILL/BROIL FUNCTIONS
The Ooni Volt 2 can do plenty more than cook pizzas.
There are dedicated presets to use it as an oven or grill where you can set the temperature and timer to match your meal.
As an oven, I cooked some plain and simple oven fries. Following the instructions on the packet, they didn’t turn out as crunchy as what my regular oven cooks. But while I was missing that crunch, they were cooked through and evenly heated.
Similarly, I used the grill for ham and cheese on toast. If you like your toast crunchier and darker, it probably isn’t the best option, but it shouldn’t be written off.
The toast was heated evenly and cooked all the way through without the burnt top, soggy bottom or cool spots.
If you’re short on time, the Volt 2 could be a great solution as both the oven and grill preheated about five minutes faster than a home oven or grill.
ADDED ACCESSORIES
The Ooni Volt 2 comes with a pizza stone and rack, so you can get cooking right away, but there are some added accessories you can buy to amplify your pizza cooking.
The Ooni Sheet Pan & Rack is a must if you want to cook with using the Pan / Deep Dish function.
Many pizza lovers use a pizza peel, and while Ooni sells a bamboo pizza peel, a steel pizza peel and a perforated pizza peel, I found these rather tricky to use. I am not experienced with using them, so sliding the dough off was almost impossible.
If you are new to pizza ovens, I’d use a pizza tray instead of a peel. I put my dough and toppings straight on it, slid it on the pizza stone and removed it easily. Ooni sells a Pizza Steel that can do the same job. Otherwise, there are plenty of good options from Maxwell & Williams, Wilton and Avanti.
Another great accessory is the Ooni Pizza Oven Brush. I made a real mess of my pizza stone and the scraper got all the big burnt bits off. It did send the ash flying in a few directions, but it got the job done a whole lot faster than using old school elbow grease.
While this isn’t an accessory, I checked out the Ooni app and found it super helpful. There is a recipe calculator to help you make your dough based on the yeast you’re using, when you want to cook and how many dough balls you’re making. A word of warning – the recipes are in US measurements, so always double check the quantities beforehand.
VERDICT
As a devoted, lifelong pizza lover, I can hand-on-heart say that the Ooni Volt 2 is a beast of a pizza oven. There is no other oven like it on the market.
It’s easier to use than my regular oven, a lot faster and the results are unbeatable. The three Pizza Intelligence presets each gave amazing results. The Neapolitan was the favourite, and the Boost Mode gave it an extra kick.
While the Thin & Crispy and Deep Dish could have done with a little longer, this is a really easy fix be adjusting the timer.
The added bonus of the dough proofing, baking and grilling is something no other pizza oven can compete with.
Retailing at $899, this is not a cheap purchase. And the added accessories just increases the price. But the Ooni Volt 2 is a worthy investment for any Italian food lover or pizza enthusiast.
My local takeaway can eat its heart out, because from now on the only pizzas I’ll be eating will be made with this.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
HOW DOES THE OONI VOLT 2 COMPARE TO THE OONI VOLT 12?
The Ooni Volt 2 and Ooni Volt 12 are the two main electric pizza ovens in the Ooni range. Though similar, there are a few key differences that set them apart.
- Controls: The Volt 2 uses Pizza Intelligence to predetermine the time and temperature a Neapolitan, Thin & Crispy and Deep Dish pizza require. The Volt 12 uses control dials to manually adjust the top and bottom heating elements.
- Pizza size: The Volt 12 can cook pizzas up to 33cm in size whereas the Volt 2 can only cook up to 30cm pizzas.
- Speed: While both reach up to 450°C, the Volt 12 will reach this temperature in approximately 20 minutes, while the Volt 2 takes about twice the amount of time.
- Settings: You have more settings and presets to use on the Volt 2 thanks to Pizza Intelligence while the Volt 12 just has control dials.
- Size: The Volt 2 is relatively small coming in at 26.3cm x 44.2cm x 54.5cm. The Volt 12 on the other hand measures 27.9cm x 61.7cm x 52.9cm.
- Price: You’ll be paying $600 less when you buy the Volt 2 over the Volt 12, with the former costing $899 and the latter $1499.
IS IT BETTER TO COOK PIZZA IN AN INDOOR OVEN OR OUTDOOR OVEN?
It isn’t necessarily better to use an indoor pizza oven or an outdoor pizza oven, as it depends on your cooking goals, how much space you have to work with and how long you want to spend cooking.
Outdoor pizza ovens are typically the better choice when cooking a Neapolitan-style pizza. Using gas, wood or charcoal, they can fire up to 480°C to cook your pizza in around 90 seconds while giving the cheese and crust a nice char and smokey flavour. However, these ovens are very big, so you’ll need a decent backyard or large balcony to use it. They also take a long time to heat up and will need regular maintenance.
On the other end of the spectrum, indoor pizza ovens are usually used for making New York style pizzas, pan pizzas and deep dish pizzas. They are comparatively smaller, easier to use and control, and can be used indoors as well as outside. They can’t typically reach the same high temperatures as classic outdoor ovens, and some models may need a pizza stone bought separately.
WHAT ARE THE BEST PIZZA TOPPINGS?
Everyone has their own pizza toppings they think are the best. Some are absolute must-haves, others are best on some pizzas over others, and there are a handful that are debatable whether they belong on a pizza at all (looking at you pineapple)!
To help you pick the best toppings, here is what normally appears on the most popular pizza recipes:
- Cheese pizza: Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and occasionally basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan, provolone or cheddar cheese.
- Pepperoni pizza: Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and thin slices of pepperoni.
- Meat Lovers pizza: Tomato or BBQ sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, ham, and ground beef.
- Hawaiian pizza: Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, ham and pineapple chunks.
- Vegetarian pizza: Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a mix of vegetables including mushrooms, olives, capsicum, onions, spinach, rocket, tomatoes and jalapeños.
- Neapolitan pizza: Tomato sauce, mozzarella or fior di latte cheese, basil and extra virgin olive oil
- New York style pizza: Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Sometimes you’ll also find mushrooms, onion, capsicum or Italian sausage.
- Chicago deep dish pizza: Chunky tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, onions, capsicum, pepperoni and Italian sausage.
- Detroit pan pizza: Tomato sauce, either mozzarella, monterey jack, provolone or havarti cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage and your choice of vegetables.
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