Why I Disagree With Spruceeats.com on their Roccbox Pizza Oven Review?
There are a lot of reviews on the internet about different pizza ovens and I agree with some of them. But here is why I disagree with this specific review of Spruceeats.com on their Roccbox Pizza Oven Review.
Roccbox pizza oven is a very impressive take on the classic brick oven. It redefines the way you cook pizza by introducing a more portable oven instead of an expensive built brick oven.
It is one of the most impressive pizza ovens when it comes to retaining heat. It is very well insulated and can produce intense heat to cook authentic pizzas in a matter of minutes.
The Roccbox Pizza Oven also does not shy away from the aesthetics. It is designed beautifully and it really does resemble a brick oven especially on the opening that was made like a dome.
One thing I find interesting about other reviews is that they assume the expense and overdo the presentation. If you are looking for an authentic pizza oven, then you should definitely budget.
That is why it is not surprising that some say that the Roccbox Pizza Oven is too expensive for its size. But the performance and other features justify that so they do not need to be cheap.
When you want to make a homemade pizza, you should invest in the best equipment so that you have something to help you along the way and cook like you are a professional.
In this review, you will see the justification of why the Roccbox Pizza Oven is priced the way it is and some of the points that I want to clarify from the review of this other website.
So in case you are still doubting yourself from buying this amazing pizza oven because of the review that you read, here is some information that might make you want to reconsider.
Why I Disagree With Spruceeats.com
First off, once you open their review, you will see that they have labeled the Roccbox Pizza Oven as extremely expensive and heavy which is not a good way to summarize the oven.
Yes, indeed, it is heavy but if you really know something about cooking pizza, it needs consistent heat and high temperatures to be cooked perfectly from the crust to the toppings.
That is why the Roccbox Pizza Oven is very heavy. It highlights the insulation that most brick ovens have and to be honest with you, not a lot of portable pizza ovens have that insulation.
It also has a lot of accessories which explains the expensive price that is put on the Roccbox Pizza Oven. You cannot get most of these accessories from other brands so they are included with the oven.
Insulation
To further explain why I disagree with the ‘very heavy’ notion towards the Roccbox Pizza Oven, here is a little peak on the reason why Gozney made their pizza oven weigh that much.
Insulation is a very important component of a pizza oven. See, some pizza ovens might need longer periods of time to cook a specific pizza or especially if the crust is thick.
The thick ceramic insulation of the Roccbox Pizza Oven is what makes it heavy. As you can see, this pizza oven is not that large but it has a lot of weight in it for its size.
However, it has the best insulation in the portable pizza oven industry. This allows you to cook multiple pizzas in as little fuel as possible to conserve energy and of course time.
The Roccbox Pizza Oven does have some weight in it but you cannot blame it since they put that weight in good use. It can use small amounts of fuel for long periods of time to cook pizza.
Also, you should keep in mind that the Roccbox Pizza Oven is a miniature version of a brick oven. You cannot simply expect a brick oven to be light, right?
Even the review that they made agrees with this. So if you really think that a pizza oven should have proper insulation, then the Roccbox Pizza Oven is the best option that you have.
Accessories
This explains the price of the Roccbox Pizza Oven. Aside from its impressive performance, which we will be talking about, later on, it has all the accessories that you need.
Most portable pizza ovens that are being sold at the moment need extra burners or special accessories in order to activate their full potential but with this pizza oven, that is not the case.
The Roccbox Pizza Oven is an all-in-one oven that does not need many separate purchases to make it work. Gozney included the accessories that you need within the product when you buy it.
For example, the pizza peel that is included in the Roccbox Pizza Oven perfectly fits in the opening of the oven, plus it is very durable and easy to use.
That is the thing where you also realize that the accessories that are included in the Roccbox Pizza Oven are all specifically designed for the pizza oven so you do not have to improvise.
The burners are also included in the pizza oven. It is very versatile as it uses both wood and gas for fuel and the burner attachments come along with the product when you purchase it.
For other brands, burner attachments might cost another hundred dollars just to make them work with other fuels. So when it comes to the price, the Roccbox Pizza Oven really justifies it.
Performance
Nevertheless, I cannot say that Spruceeats.com was completely wrong with their review. There were some points that we both agreed on and one of them is the performance of the pizza oven.
For one, the Roccbox Pizza Oven can reach a maximum temperature of 932 degrees Fahrenheit which is the standard temperature for cooking authentic Neapolitan pizzas.
This is an impressive feat for most pizza ovens since they cannot reach this temperature. That means that this pizza oven can cook pizzas in just 60 seconds or sometimes even less.
When we tried the Roccbox, we noticed that it takes a little longer to preheat compared to other pizza ovens. It needs at least 30 minutes to preheat it to reach the maximum temperature.
But then again, keep in mind that the Roccbox Pizza Oven has very thick insulation. That is why 30 minutes is not too long of a time to preheat such a thick, insulated pizza oven.
From there, it can retain heat for at least an hour. The impressive heat-retaining capability of this pizza oven allows you to cook other recipes without using too much fuel.
Cooking in the Roccbox Pizza Oven
Trying out the Roccbox Pizza Oven was such a fun experience. It allows you to properly track your pizza inside as it has an opening that is wide enough to take a peek inside it.
The pizza peel was extremely helpful when it comes to transferring the pizza in the oven. It is not completely flat as it has holes and five slightly protruding bumps in the middle.
This was very interesting and innovative since the fresh pizza dough does not have full contact with the pizza peel so it has fewer surfaces to touch and grip on which makes it easy to slide.
Once you set up the oven, all you really need to do is wait for it to heat up. There is no need for you to get extra tools to use as you have everything you need to cook a beautiful pizza.
The Roccbox Pizza Oven also has a built-in thermometer that sits on the side of the oven. It is accurate and you can read it in both Celsius and Fahrenheit if you are more familiar with one over the other.
What I did find a little bit hard to do is turning the pizza around. The pizza peel that was included in the pizza oven has a short handle and a flat surface that was just wide enough for the opening.
If you are cooking a thin pizza, you might want to turn it every 10 or 15 seconds to prevent burns. You can use a spatula which I figured was much easier for turning the pizza around than the pizza peel.
Both the gas and wood gas burner attachments did pretty well, although the gas option was much faster when it comes to preheating and cooking compared to the wood attachment.
The wood option, obviously, gives more flavor to the pizza. It took around 45 minutes to preheat the oven with the wood burner because you will need to reload every 30 minutes.
The Roccbox has a small wood burner attachment so you need to cut up the wood that you will use into small pieces at approximately 5 inches in length and 1 inch in thickness.
The Set-Up
Setting up the Roccbox Pizza Oven does not break a sweat. It does not take too much time and the guide that was provided with the pizza oven was simple and easy to follow.
Since everything comes out of the box, all you need to do is find a sturdy tabletop to set the Roccbox Pizza Oven on and then pull out the foldable legs to make the oven stand.
Then, choose the fuel of your oven and then fire it up. Igniting the wood burner attachment was pretty tricky and it involves fire starters since the pizza oven does not include an igniter in this attachment.
A small crumpled paper did the igniting for me and from there, the Roccbox Pizza Oven went to town and preheated very fast but needless to say, it did produce a lot of smoke.
Using dry, non-treated wood as fuel is the best option. They do not produce as much smoke but they still put just enough flavor to your pizza when it is cooked.
The gas burner attachment has everything you need. Just install it properly to the oven, connect the dedicated hose to the propane gas tank, and fire up the ignition.
The gas burner attachment already has its own regulator. The hose and regulator require at least 10 pounds of propane gas tank and a maximum of 20 pounds for the pizza oven.
Conclusion
The Roccbox Pizza Oven is a small, 20-inch pizza oven that has a lot to offer. It comes with all the equipment needed whether you want to switch fuel or transfer your pizza into the oven.
It does come with a price that is relatively high compared to most of its competitors but Gozney made sure to put all the things that you need and the things that will make it worth your money.
It has impressive insulation and can retain heat for hours. You might want to leave it outside to cool down for a while before storing it in closed storage for safety measures.
The Roccbox Pizza Oven does have a built-in thermometer which is very accurate. You can also fold the legs of this pizza oven to make it smaller for storing.
It does feel a little bit heavy if you consider bringing it on a camping trip or a picnic. However, if you just want some backyard fun with a pizza, then this oven is the perfect companion.
Another thing that you might also want to do is to constantly wipe the front of the oven. It is covered with stainless steel but it gathers soot that might build up in time.
Aside from that, the Roccbox Pizza Oven is a very great choice and you can be sure that it will bring the best homemade pizza that you want!
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