When it was time for us to get serious about making pizza at home, we bought the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven Bundle – and one year in and over 100 pizzas, we’re still really happy with it! Want to explore this backyard wonder with us?
(We bought the Ultimate Bundle, but there are several other options to fit your own needs and budget).
Solo Stove Pizza Oven
Solo Stove is a company mostly known for their innovative outdoor smokeless fire pits, ventured into the realm of outdoor pizza ovens when they released the Solo Stove Pi outdoor pizza oven in March of 2022. The Pi promised to make pizza nights more exciting and delicious – and they have delivered!
Introducing the Solo Stove Pi
As the company has described it, “Pi is a stand-alone, portable pizza oven designed for an efficient and fun cooking experience for everyone. The pizza oven features dual-fuel capabilities with wood and propane fuel options, offering a traditional wood-fired taste or a quick meal solution.”
What About the Solo Stove Pi Prime?
Solo Stove also released a propane gas-only version of the Pi pizza oven. I would suggest for most people, this really is the Goldilocks pizza oven – it’ll do what most anyone will want to do, easily, and at a very good price point. Unless you’re using your pizza oven frequently, getting the hang of using wood is not easy and therefore one less skill to worry about learning and keeping sharp.
And the Pi Prime Essential Bundle really includes everything for under $500. Just take note that not only does this bundle not have a stand, and that the stand Solo Stove offers is not compatible with this model.
Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven Bundle
Although the Pi is sold as a stand alone product, that version has just a single fuel source: wood.
And while a wood-burning pizza oven is the classic and makes delicious pizzas, in our opinion, the flexibility of having the gas (in this case propane) option, is simply too important not to have.
Thankfully, every bundle gives you the choice of adding the propane burner.
Wood Vs. Propane for Cooking Pizza
Cooking with wood versus propane can affect the flavor of your pizza, but more than anything else, it has an effect on the cooking experience.
Let’s quickly explore the pros and cons of using wood versus propane to cook pizza, particularly when using an oven like the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven which offers both options via a bundle.
Cooking Pizza with Wood:
Considerations:
- Flavor: Wood can impart a unique, smoky flavor to the pizza that is highly prized in traditional wood-fired pizzas. This cannot be replicated with propane.
- High Heat: Wood fires can reach very high temperatures, which is ideal for cooking pizza quickly and achieving a crispy crust.
- Authenticity: For pizza purists such as the AVPN, wood is the traditional way to cook pizza and provides an authentic pizzeria experience.
- Preparation Time: It takes a little longer to get a wood fire started and up to the right temperature compared to turning on a propane burner. It also takes a little longer in between pizzas.
- Managing the Temperature: Wood fires are natural and therefore, they can fluctuate and need fairly constant attention to maintain ideal cooking temperature throughout the cook and in between pizzas.
- Safety: You are handling and moving a few pieces of hot metal and working around flaming wood. It’s not hard to keep yourself safe, but if there are children around, you’ll want to take some precautions.
- Fuel: You can buy great quality wood and starters from Solo (that’s their business!) or Amazon. But the day-to-day cost of these materials is quite a bit more than propane.
Cooking Pizza with Propane:
Considerations:
- Flavor: Despite the lack of the wood smoke, most of the flavor really comes from the super high temperature and quick cooking time. You might not even notice a difference using propane instead of wood.
- Convenience: Propane ovens heat up quickly and require less prep time. You can start cooking within about 20 minutes of firing it up.
- Control: Propane provides a consistent and even heat source, which can help produce uniformly cooked pizzas (but you still need to rotate!). Propane also allows for simpler temperature adjustments – although, to be honest, it’s not super precise. Still, this is a huge plus, especially when you’re learning or experimenting with new doughs.
- Fuel: Propane tanks are readily available and easy to replace or refill at many retail locations. You can also cook many, many pizzas on a single tank. Still, make sure you don’t run out!
- Cleanliness: No emptying the ash tray at the back.
Can You Do Both?
Unfortunately, the Solo Stove Pi cannot do a hybrid of using propane and wood at the same time, and there’s no safe way to switch part-way through.
What Else Comes in the Solo Stove Pi Oven Bundle?
There are actually a few different Solo Pi Bundles, and they vary on what is included:
- Propane Burner (all of the bundles give you this as an option – I say go for it)
- Steel Pizza Peel
- Pizza Cutter
- Infrared Thermometer
- Pizza Turner (Essential & Ultimate Bundles)
- Stove Cover (Essential & Ultimate Bundles)
- Pi Stand (Ultimate Bundle)
- Bamboo Pizza Peel (Ultimate Bundle)
- Heat resistant silicon top mat (Ultimate Bundle)
What’s missing? In my humble opinion, there are a couple of things the bundle really should include:
- A brush to clean the floor of your pizza oven (this is pretty essential).
- A box of starters and their mini oak firewood to get you going. Still, these are readily available from Amazon (starters and firewood), which avoids paying for shipping.
Thoughts On The Solo Stove Pi Bundle Accessories
As mentioned, I think the propane attachment is essential for the versatility it adds.
Here are some other general comments:
- Steel Pizza Peel: It’s the perfect size for your oven and very durable – don’t bother shopping for a cheaper one on Amazon.
- Infrared Thermometer: although I only use this now when the outside temperature is really cold or it’s really windy and I can’t gauge how hot the oven is, when I got started, this was SO IMPORTANT to learning how to cook with my Pi.
- Pizza Turner: Although their 2.0 version with slots is arguably better, I like the one included in the bundles lot better than the cheaper ones on Amazon. The handle is plenty long enough to keep your hands away from the heat.
- Stove Cover: Lifetime warranty or not, if you’re keeping this exposed to the elements, a cover is a good investment.
- Pi Stand: This one is up to you. We didn’t have a big enough work station to use up the space for our pizza oven, so the stand was the way to go for us. One year in, there’s spiderwebs, but no rust!
- Bamboo Pizza Peel: When comparing launching from steel or bamboo, I vastly prefer bamboo. It will burn a bit on the bottom and you do not want to cut your pizza on it (the cutter will gouge it). But I quite like the one that Solo Stove includes.
- Heat resistant Silicon top mat: I think the best part of this is that no one will accidentally put a plastic cup on top which would surely melt onto the stove. But it’s not that easy to clean and dry thoroughly, so I don’t love putting my peel or turner on top for sanitary reasons.
Pi Bundle Pricing
This is probably what you’re mostly wondering about – and yes, Solo Stove makes the bundle pricing irresistibly good.
Even better, Solo Stove often has sales where the gas burner might be free (which is what we got when we bought our Ultimate Bundle or some other notable discount. If you’re on a budget, you might want to sing up for their newsletter or their social media posts and watch for a deal!
Other Bundles Available
In mid-2023, Solo Stove added a number of other product accessories to their lineup:
- Pi Prep Board
- Pi Turner 2.0
- Pi Rocker Blade
- Oven Brush
- Cast Iron Cookware Set
- Lazy PiZolo (a lazy Suzy for the oven to rotate on)
- Apron
- Dough docker
Various combinations of these products have been bundled together, but none include the stove itself. So these are intended to be add-ons.
While several of these are quite appealing, by the time these bundles came out, we’d already gotten the things we needed for our oven separately. I do think the Culinary Collection would be a good investment for someone ready to dive deep and explore other dishes in the Pi but lacking any other accessories. However, I will say that a missed opportunity is that the prep board cannot attach to the Pi Stand. You might also take a look at the Rock’n-Dock Collection since it has a couple of other items bundled together, which will save you a bit of money if you want all three.
Solo Stove Pi Recipes
How could we end this article without at least providing some recipes?
Most of our pizza recipes include directions for how to cook them in an outdoor pizza oven (although not all, since some – like Roman or Sicilian – are meant to be cooked differently (like in a pan).
But here are a few of our favorites for you to explore:
- Neapolitan Margherita Pizza
- Pizza alla Diavola
- Biga Pizza Dough
- Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza
- Mediterranean Pizza
Todd’s cooking skills have revolved around the grill since about age 12, when he developed a love for grilling and took over for Mom at the BBQ. He worked at Wendy’s and at Earl’s Tin Palace (a restaurant chain in Canada) but never really did any sort of baking…until he and Heather started making pizza together! Now he’s often making dough in the mornings and pizza in the evenings.