The Volta Pizza Oven Kit receives our highest recommendation of a customizable (or not) real, backyard oven that can reach temps above 1000 degrees F. The word “volta” can mean lots of things in Italian like “archway”, “round”, “piece”, “roof” and “vault”. If you combine the idea of all these meanings, you’ll get the idea. It’s a neat little (relatively speaking) oven made in Italy, and it’s probably the most versatile invention of all our featured oven reviews. Why? Well, let’s jump into some of the features, and we’ll be honest about the bad stuff too!
Contents
The Good
- Can be used indoors or outdoors
- Makes a perfect home oven
- Makes a perfect commercial oven (being used commercially in hundreds of businesses in North America)
- Excellent for Mobile Trailers
- Does NOT NEED MORTAR for assembly
- Easily customizable to match your home, business, trailer, etc.
- Free delivery in the USA
The Bad
- Like most real ovens, it needs to be assembled, so don’t expect a ready oven from a box!
- Can be challenging to customize if you don’t have the right skills like working with mortar (ie. coloring, painting, etc.)
- Does not come with its own chimney (you can buy a 6″ chimney pipe separately)
Quality, Durability and Reliability
We were not able to test this oven long term to see how reliable it was over time, but we can tell you the quality is as good as we would expect (which is pretty good!). The factory (just outside of Venice, Italy) uses a premium quality refractory cement (specially engineered cement mortar designed to withstand high heat environments) mixed with their own proprietary masonry mix with 70% alumina. Once all the components are cast, it actually takes WEEKS to cure properly. This is a pain in the butt for the factory workflow process, but it makes for an oven that lasts for many years (we’re talking decades here!!).
As for the issue of ease of use, it’s much like any other oven which is pretty straightforward. Use your common sense and learn the techniques of using a peel and setting a proper fire. Once you figure that out, this oven is as easy to use as any other wood-fired oven.
Cleaning
Cleaning a wood-fired pizza oven is an art that can be easily learned and mastered with some patience and willingness to learn. We’ve seen several different techniques, but here’s a decent one that doesn’t take long!
Price
At $2K even, this oven is a very good value for a ready-made cast oven that can reach temperatures of 1100 degrees (though you’d never need this for baking) and can be assembled by YOU with very few challenges!
What Else?
I’m so glad you asked! There’s lots more! Ready? Here goes…
As anyone with wood-fired oven experience knows, you can use your oven for a whole l0t more than just pizza. Bread, slow roasts and even an entire lamb can be on the menu! The Volta can reach 1000 degrees in about 45 minutes and can stay hot for 24 hours! Great deal and economy on that front!
This kit is easier to transport and also comes in larger sizes than the popular Portuguese ovens from Grills ‘N Ovens so those two issues are quite appealing for lots of good folks across the country.
The Volta Pizza Oven Kit without customization
It’s a very well insulated oven with ceramic fiberboard for the hearth insulation, and it includes ceramic fiber blankets for insulating the dome. Also, because the dome is spherical in shape (not like a half barrel design) there are no “cold spots” and you can make an excellent, artisanal, authentic pizza in 90 seconds! This is the classic Neapolitan design that’s world-famous! It can be assembled in about half an hour with no tools. The pieces are interlocking, so assembly ease is maximized. The deal also includes a very heavy steel, stand-alone door with a temperature gauge.
One example of the Volta oven kit with a customized look
Please note that there are 2 sizes available from the good folks at Grills ‘N Ovens, and largest is 47 inches in diameter. That’s the commercial size, but it’s not much more expensive than the smaller model. Be sure to contact the retailer who will be thrilled to answer your questions on sizing.
So What Say We?
If you’re looking for an authentic Neapolitan, wood-fired pizza oven straight from Italy (that won’t break the bank), there’s no question this is your ticket! It’s infinitely customizable, and it’s built like a tank to withstand high heat for many, many years. With free shipping (can you imagine free shipping on something this huge when a toothbrush from Amazon can be $15 to ship without Prime?!), I’d suggest this unit for any purist who would like the real deal in his backyard!
Check Price and Availability : Grills 'n Ovens