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If You Love Fire Pits and Wood-Fired Pizzas, Get Ready
I was skeptical about a pizza oven atop a fire pit—until I tested the Solo Stove Pi Fire and my family insisted we keep it forever
By Leslie Yazel
When I first heard about the Solo Stove Pi Fire pizza oven, I scoffed. I may have even rolled my eyes. So I’m supposed to chop wood, build a fire, get it roaring and then—then—I cook the pizza? As a person with multiple “Under 30 Minutes” cookbooks, I mentally filed this as “pointlessly complicated.” Once upon a time, cooking innovations were designed to save time—microwaves, food processors, blenders and the like—not suck up more of it.
But context is king and now that I’ve tried the Solo Stove Pi Fire, what I thought was an overly fussy pizza oven has turned out to be a beloved patio party-starter, a tween favorite and something that turns an uneventful Wednesday evening into a memorable family night of fun. It also makes delicious pizza on par with more expensive options.
Because I shop and recommend products for a living, and because at Buy Side, we heartily recommend the Solo Stove as a great fire pit option—it comes in three sizes and lets you enjoy a fire with less smoke in your eyes—I dutifully asked to test out the Pi. I tried to keep an open mind as I know some people are really into perfecting their own pies at home. but I think you know I was already a little sour on the concept.
Once it arrived, however, the oven almost immediately started winning me over. It’s super easy to assemble; you basically just screw the three legs on. And when we started our pizza-making, what I thought would be a hassle ended up being a fun process the whole family can take part in. Your Team Pizza can gather kindling and chop wood, stretch pizza dough, make sauce or prep toppings or aim an infrared thermo gun (sold separately), to check the temperature. (Solo recommends cooking at 550 to 675 degrees Fahrenheit, which took about 30 minutes of roaring fire to hit). You use semolina or cornmeal on the oven’s pizza stone for easy sliding in and out, and in about 8 minutes, you have great tasting wood-fired pizza.
The instructions are clear and easy. Full disclosure: I chose to build the fire and then place the pizza oven over the open flame using its two handles, because I found it a little easier to stoke and tend the fire without the oven atop the stove. The Solo instructions understandably recommend that you not do that, and there is about a foot of clearance between the stove and oven to allow for fire maintenance. When I use the stove, I wear my fitted Dickey’s coveralls, heatproof gloves and safety glasses with my hair tied back—if that’s not your fashion statement, following Solo’s guidance is best.
I had every intention of sending the oven back to the Solo folks after I’d tested it, but my family enthusiastically intervened and now we’ve happily purchased it. (You can read why we don’t keep freebies at Buy Side here.)
Solo has a line of accessories to help you embrace your inner pizzaiolo. You can likely find less pricey tools, but I recommend buying the Stainless Turner or making sure to get another in the exact size. It’s perfect for the crucial rotation of the pie and it’s sized exactly for the Pi oven. That tool, combined with the wide “mouth” of the oven, makes rotating the pie easier than with tabletop pizza ovens I’ve tried. And unlike those ovens, which advise cooking at 900-plus degrees, the Pi is able to get hot enough in colder weather. During one of our four nights of testing, the temperature outside was less than 20 degrees, but the thermo gun showed it easily hit 650.
I’m a Pi convert, as now I see its use case: It’s great for people who already have a Solo stove and want to add a pizza oven, or for people who’ve been eyeing the Solo stove and other pizza ovens and want a two-in-one solution. If you’ve read this and you’re still thinking, eh, too much time commitment for me, then this wildly-popular, high-quality pizza oven may be a great fit for your needs.
What you get with the Pi is a lot: a couples or group project that doesn’t involve screens; a custom food experience (everyone gets to pick their own toppings); a predinner conversation piece; and a post-dinner s’more-making option, as you already have a fire going. With the Pi, it’s not just pizza; it’s Pizza Night.