The popularity of pizza ovens doesn’t seem to be dropping off any time soon. As such, there are new brands and models popping up all the time. The latest one to show up here at Popular Mechanics, is from Gozney—the Arc Lite. We’ve tested a few Gozney ovens over the last few years, most recently the Dome Gen 2, a large, feature rich, high-end oven. The new Arc Lite, is on the other end of the spectrum—much smaller and more affordable—but no less effective at making pizza.
If you’ve been scared off by pizza oven prices, we get it—some of them, to be frank, are very expensive. It’s not that they might not be worth it, but you don’t have to drain your bank account just to be able to make a great pizza. Case in point:, The Arc Lite has no apps, no timers, no LCD screens, no doors, no extras—just a pizza stone, a knob to ignite the burner and control the flame, wrapped in an attractive, insulated box. And it’s as effective at making pizza as ovens costing hundreds more.
$399.99
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Keeping It Simple
It really doesn’t get much easier, unless you order out for pizza (in which case, it won’t be as good). Just connect the hose to the propane tank, then press and turn the knob to ignite. Adjust it to high to warm up the oven—it took about 20 minutes on a cool, breezy, early spring day. It’s critical with any oven to keep an eye on the pizza stone temp. I usually shoot for about 800 degrees Fahrenheit, measured with an infrared thermometer. The Arc Lite can go over 900 degrees, but I’ve found at that temp you may need to turn the pizza every 15 to 20 seconds—a moment’s inattention can easily overcook one side.
At 800 degrees the pizza was done in a little over 90 seconds. The crust on the bottom was crisp, and spots on the cheese and edges were nicely browned. I made several pizzas in one testing session and found the temperature recovered quickly after each pizza and remained relatively stable overall. This made temperature management easy, and pizza quality consistent and reliable.
The only limitation of the Arc Lite is the size of the pizza you can make: 12-inches. But, keep in mind this makes the oven a manageable size and weight to set up and put away when you’re done. It also won’t take up a lot of room on your porch or patio.
The Arc Lite performs exactly as it should, and it delivered excellent results—that were quickly confirmed—and devoured—by my co-workers. It proves you don’t need to spend a ton of money to make amazing pizza at home.