Gozney roccbox
Buy now £399, Gozney.com
Rating: 9/10
It’s not the cheapest nor most expensive option out there, and you get plenty for your money including the pizza oven, pizza peel and a detachable gas burner, or the Wood Burner 2.0 if you’ve opted for the dual fuel version.
PortabilityThe roccbox weighs 20kg, so it’s not something that you can just pick up and take with you if you’re going anywhere on foot. But there is a cover that can be bought for £39.99 that also has a heavy-duty strap with a carry handle to add some pick-me-up portability.
Gozney has done its best to make it movable with the detachable burners, which twist on and off, retractable legs and a secure pizza stone that won’t rattle around inside the oven. But, for us, the roccbox is one for the boot of the car or camper van to add an extra dimension to your meal planning when you’re going away.
DesignThe roccbox is undeniably a pleasure to look at, and its grey or green silicone jacket looks and feels nice to the touch, as well as having the practical purpose of being an extra level of protection against burns if any hands accidentally wander towards the outer case during cooking.
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Roccbox lettering is raised from the silicone, while the thermometer is inset into it, and the fact that this gauge sits at the same level as the 19mm cordierite stone floor, means you get an entirely accurate reading. So you know when your cooking floor is ready to receive your precious dough.
We wonder why more ovens don’t have similarly positioned thermometers and once we tested the accuracy of this ones reading, using our infra-red gun, we never had to use it again, relying on the in-built readings – which only adds to the convenience of the cooking process.
Rather than the classic dome, the main oven is shaped more like a U.S Postal Service letterbox and this not only gives the roccbox some very cool retro styling on the outside, but directs and elongates the flame from the gas burner on the inside.
This means the flame has a lovely roll over the firebox roof and places it at the perfect distance from your pizza – far enough away so as not to burn, but close enough to enable rapid cooking.
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Insulation is key when it comes to pizza ovens, as this is what keeps the temperature stable for all the time that you’re cooking, and the roccbox gets this spot on. Gozney has obviously put a lot of thought into this, as the insulation between the inner and outer shell is the best we’ve tested.
Well-designed and dense, it adds to the stress-free experience of cooking because we didn’t have to keep worrying about heat distribution and temperature control. Plus, it was especially impressive because there is no door on the roccbox, which is what ovens usually rely on to keep temperature stable in between pizzas. We have tested plenty of ovens where the temperature dramatically drops in between pizzas, but we just didn’t have this problem with the roccbox at all, so no one had to be kept waiting for their pizza.
The insulation also means that we could enjoy open-door cooking with minimal heat loss, which allows you to keep a close eye on your dough and avoids constantly opening and closing a door.
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This is where Gozney’s history of designing and making ovens for professional kitchens was really telling, and with a 12.2in opening it allows you to keep a close eye on the pizza’s progress and have enough room to turn it where necessary, although you may need a few trial runs to get your pizza peel technique down. We also never suffered from any sticking when trying to turn the pizza, which added to the ease of cooking.
The pizzaYou won’t be disappointed with what comes out of the roccbox either, as it produces inch-perfect pizza (11in, to be precise) in around 60 seconds, time after time.
If you make your own dough, you will probably be quite protective of it and want an oven that will cook it optimally, not overcook, burn and make all your efforts worthless. This is where the roccbox’s flame profile, which we already mentioned, comes into play.
Our Neapolitans were consistently delicious with a perfect crust – puffy, airy and delicious to the bite with a lightly charred, flavourful bottom while the rest of the pizza was classically thin, but equally delicious.
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When we did add toppings, we achieved a perfect blend of oozing cheese, crispy pepperoni and juicy peppers, mushrooms and onions, as well as just the right amount of charring around the whole dough.
The verdict: Gozney roccboxIf you don’t like to be parted from your pizza oven, then the roccbox offers an opportunity to keep yourself supplied with delicious discs of perfectly cooked dough and toppings no matter where you are.
Using the oven over summer, we were really impressed with its considered engineering that gives you the heat control – something which is so crucial in making pizzas that are all of the same quality.
It’s not exactly a grab-and-go oven at 20kg, like some others out there, but the pizza is consistently impressive and the ease of use means it’s well worth the price tag, especially if you’re looking to expand what you serve up at your next party.