What temperature should a pizza oven be?

Neapolitan: about 900°F / 480°C, 60–90 seconds. New York on a steel: 550°F / 290°C, 6–8 minutes. Pan pies cooler and longer. The floor, not the air, is the number that matters.

How long do you preheat a pizza steel or stone?

A Baking Steel Original or Lodge Pizza Stone: 45–60 minutes at the top of a 550°F / 290°C oven. An Ooni: about 20 minutes. A Dome: longer. Do not guess with a pale pie.

Do I need an infrared thermometer?

No. Useful if you already own fire and keep burning bottoms. Buy dough skill first. The Infrared Thermometer for Pizza is a later tool.

The number on the dial

Pizza oven temperature

Pizza oven temperature by style: 480°C (900°F) Neapolitan, 290°C (550°F) New York on a steel, how long to preheat, and when an infrared gun is theatre.

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Measurements

Neapolitan wants 480°C (~900°F) and a minute. A New York slice wants 290°C (~550°F) and several minutes on a steel. Those are different pies. One oven does not honestly do both.

Heat, by job

The floor matters more than the air. A steel at 290°C (550°F) beats a cold stone at any number on the door.

Setup	480°C (~900°F)	Kitchen oven	Preheat under 30 min	Weeknight
Gozney Dome	Yes	No	No	No
Ooni Koda 16	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Breville Pizzaiolo	Sometimes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Steel in kitchen oven	No	Yes	No	Yes
Stone in kitchen oven	No	Yes	No	Sometimes
Infrared gun	Sometimes	Sometimes	Yes	No

Tick = yes. Dash = no or not the job. Bar = only sometimes.

What to buy

Every row is a product we would buy. The tomato button opens Amazon. Prices and stock live there.

Gozney Dome Pizza Oven
Pizza Oven
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Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven
Pizza Oven
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Baking Steel Original
Baking Steel
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Lodge Pizza Stone
Baking Steel
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Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo
Indoor Pizza Oven
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Infrared Thermometer for Pizza
Thermometer
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Preheat until the floor is hot, not until the light turns off. A steel takes 45–60 minutes. A gas Ooni takes about 20. Launching early is how you get a floppy centre.

What owners repeat

Not planted quotes and not five-star theatre. These are the two lines that keep showing up when people have paid: the reason they keep it, and the reason someone sends it back.

A steel at max
They keep it becauseRack at the top. 45–60 minutes at the hottest the kitchen oven will go, usually 290°C (550°F). That is a New York bake.
They complain thatIt will not do 90-second Neapolitan. Anyone who says otherwise is selling you an oven.
Gas on a patio
They keep it becauseTwenty minutes to a floor that will leopard. Turn the pie. Do not walk away.
They complain thatAir at 480°C (900°F) with a cold stone is still a pale bottom. Launch when the floor is ready, not the flame.

Common questions

What temperature should a pizza oven be?: Neapolitan: about 480°C (900°F), 60–90 seconds. New York on a steel: 290°C (550°F), 6–8 minutes. Pan pies cooler and longer. The floor, not the air, is the number that matters.
How long do you preheat a pizza steel or stone?: A Baking Steel Original or Lodge Pizza Stone: 45–60 minutes at the top of a 290°C (550°F) oven. An Ooni: about 20 minutes. A Dome: longer. Do not guess with a pale pie.
Do I need an infrared thermometer?: No. Useful if you already own fire and keep burning bottoms. Buy dough skill first. The Infrared Thermometer for Pizza is a later tool.