Cuisinart Pizza Oven review: “Friday night pizza has become a weekly ritual in our house”

RRP at time of testing: £300 | Check price at Amazon, B&Q or Cuisinart directly

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My verdict

Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll confirm: I’m no cook. My husband is firmly in charge of anything that involves actual skill in the kitchen. He plans the meals, cooks them and generally carries the mental load of feeding the family. Mostly because he’s far better at it than I am.

I could quite happily live off Weetabix, but we do have two children to consider. Understandably they need proper nutrition and balanced meals and as parents, we’re meant to model good eating habits. Apparently.

Recently, though, we’ve been making a conscious effort to cook more from scratch. Fewer ultra-processed foods, more “does this homemade loaf of bread taste okay?”. Pizza dough has become part of that mission.

We love pizza. But two large Papa John’s now feels like a small financial decision that requires a sit-down chat first. So the idea of investing in something that lets us recreate it at home, with better ingredients and less cost, makes a lot of sense for our family.

Not just for pizza - the Cuisinart Pizza Oven can be used to make calzones, baked goods and more

So when Cuisinart offered to send us their indoor pizza oven, we didn’t need asking twice. It’s indoors, it sits on the worktop. That falls firmly into my territory of kitchen gadgets these days. 

And now? Friday night pizza has become a weekly ritual in our house. Dough made in advance, toppings laid out, kids assembling their own creations. It’s part dinner, part activity, part mild chaos. For us, that alone goes a long way towards justifying the £300 price tag.

How we’ve tested the Cuisinart Pizza Oven

We’ve been using the pizza oven every Friday for over three months. It’s become one of those weekly traditions that everyone actually looks forward to.

My husband is very much in charge of the dough. He usually makes it on a Thursday and leaves it to prove overnight. By hand. Which I admire him for, I'd [personally chuck it all into a stand mixer.

He’s a classic pepperoni fan, as is our eldest. Our youngest sticks firmly to a margherita. And me? Despite having absolutely no business doing so, I insist on going for the most complicated option. A romana padana (IYKYK). 

Most of the testing has been done by my husband, so a lot of the practical feedback in this review is his. I’ve mainly contributed by eating the results and having lots of opinions.

What’s in the box? 

In a very large, understandably heavy box - you get: 

• The pizza oven itself

• Pizza cutter

• Deep pan dish

• Foldable pizza peel

• Ceramic pizza stone

• Crumb catching tray

• Instruction manuals with different pizza recipes

For an indoor pizza oven, do make sure you have the space for it

Indoor vs outdoor pizza ovens: which one should you get? 

What type of pizza oven is right for your home comes entirely down to space and how frequent you intend to use it. 

Outdoor ovens are certainly the dream if you want that full-on, wood-fired experience. They get hotter, cook faster and give you a charred, smoky flavour most love about Neopolitan pizzas. But they also need space, fuel and decent weather. Which in the UK is… optimistic. 

Indoor ovens like this one by Cuisinart are more about convenience. You can use them year-found, they’re easier to manage and still get hot enough to produce a really good tasting pizza. 

For us, an indoor version makes much more sense. There’s no garden set-up and not standing outside in February questioning your life choices. 

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Cuisinart Pizza Oven: first impressions and setup

“There’s nothing complicated about it - all you have to do is take it out of the box and get started. There’s really no setup to it”, my husband, David, says. “Put the rack in, put the stone in, put the crumb tray in and plug it in. It takes about 15 minutes to get to 400°C before cooking.”

He’s right, there’s no faff here. There’s no apps, no endless settings and no instruction manual deep dive required. Though the instruction manual does contain recipes for different pizza styles, which is useful. 

You do need to think about where it’s going to sit. It needs a flat, heat-resistant surface and a bit of space around it. We’ve been using ours on the hob, which works well, but not everyone will have that option. 

The pizza oven comes with suitable accessories, including a pizza peel (L) and pizza cutter (R)

How long does the Cuisinart Pizza oven take to heat up? 

It takes around 15 minutes to preheat, which feels reasonable given the temperatures it reaches. “You have to turn the pizza around after about two and a half minutes, otherwise it’ll burn one side”, shares David. “But that’s the same as all pizza ovens.”

“Fail to turn it and the consistency isn’t the same, so you do have to keep an eye on it.”

It’s not a “stick it in and forget it” appliance. You do need to be present and keep an eye on things. Cooking time is quick though. David adds: “It takes up to five minutes to cook an average pepperoni pizza.”

We’ve been using a New Haven-style base, which works really well. One thing to note is size, according to DH: “The pizza it cooks is 12 inches, which might feel small compared to a large takeaway. But it’s more than enough for one person.”

Cuisinart Pizza Oven cooking results: how good is the pizza, really?

As a family, we’ve all been impressed with the results. Standard pizzas come out crisp with what my husband proudly calls “a good undercarriage”. Apparently this is a key pizza metric. 

My romana padana is less crisp on the base, but that’s entirely on me for piling it high with toppings. As he says: “For your pizza I have to cook it slightly longer because of how much you put on it.” Fair.

Taste-wise though, everything has been consistently good. The boys demolish theirs without complaint or much encouragement, which is about as glowing a review as you’ll get.

Friday night homemade pizzas have become a weekly tradition in our home

Cuisinart Pizza Oven: cooking functions and features

There’s not loads of customisation here. You’ve got a temperature dial, a timer and that’s it. It beeps when it’s ready, then you cook your pizza.

For us, that’s actually a positive. David says: “You just twist the dial to what heat you want and set the timer. That’s it. Good to go. I think that’s better than having too many settings.”

The deep pan is a nice extra. We’ve used it mostly for dough balls, which have become a firm favourite.

You can cook other things in it like calzones, baked goods and tray bakes, but we’ve stuck very firmly to pizza. Afterall, if it’s not broken…

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Is the Cuisinart Pizza Oven easy to use? 

Using the oven itself is straightforward. There’s very little to learn. The “faff”, if there is any, comes from making your own dough. 

We enjoy it, mainly because we know exactly what’s going into it and it feels slightly virtuous. But if you’re not that way inclined, shop-bought bases work just as well. 

There’s one small gripe from my husband, though: “One thing I would say is that the plug cable isn’t very long. We’re lucky with sockets, but for some people that might be annoying.”

It took us a little while to get used to the size and shape of our homemade bases

Capacity and size of the Cuisinart indoor pizza oven

The 12-inch pizza size is actually ideal for individual portions. We tend to make one each, which works well with kids who all want different toppings. There are usually leftovers too, which we reheat in the air fryer the next day. Possibly the best lunch going. If we have some left because we're full, the pieces go in our food caddy.

Storage-wise, it’s not small. Ours fits in a cupboard, but it takes up most of a shelf. Definitely something to think about before buying.

Does the Cuisinart Pizza Oven feel built to last? 

In my husband’s words: “Yes. It feels built to last. You just need to think about where you store it so it doesn’t get in the way or get damaged.”

I agree - it’s sturdy and well made and we’ve had concerns with it after weekly use so far. 

Up close, homemade dough balls and my favourite - a romana padana

Cuisinart Pizza Oven: is it safe to use in the home?

Given it’s an indoor pizza oven, yes, it is safe. But this is worth mentioning because of the temperatures involved. 

“You definitely need to keep it out of reach of children when it’s on”, David shares. “400 degrees will do some damage. A normal oven goes to 250, so yeah… we have a strict rule that the kids stay away.” 

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How easy is it to clean the Cuisinart Pizza Oven? 

According to David: “The stainless steel is easy to clean with a wipe down of a cloth and the crumb tray is simple to remove and clean. 

“The pizza stone is a different story, though, as you have to scrape it. It goes black after a few uses, which is normal given you’re cooking at 400 degrees. It’s going to burn.” 

That’s only on the inside, though. Outside, it’s very easy to keep on top of cleaning-wise.

It's recommended that you don't scrub the pizza stone, scrape it instead

Does it make your kitchen smell?

Yes, a bit. You get that warm, slightly charred pizza smell while it’s in use. In an open-plan space, it does travel. My advice: put your washing away before you start cooking. Learn from my mistakes.

That said, it’s not unpleasant. Just noticeable, so you might want to crack a window open. 

Is the Cuisinart Pizza Oven worth the money?

At £300, it’s not cheap. But when you consider the cost of takeaway pizza now, it starts to make sense quite quickly. Two large pizzas can easily hit £50 these days (looking at you, Papa Johns). 

After about 10 weeks of Friday night pizzas, we’ve already offset a fair chunk of that cost.

More importantly, it’s become something we actually do together as a family. Which sounds a bit soppy, but it’s true.

If you have the storage space, an indoor pizza oven is definitely worth it IMO

Cuisinart compared to Ooni, Sage and Daewoo

Final verdict: is this the right pizza oven for you? 

This really comes down to how you cook, how much space you’ve got and how committed you are to the idea of “pizza night” becoming a thing rather than a last-minute Uber Eats decision.

If you’re after a quick, no-effort dinner solution, this probably isn’t it. You do need to preheat it, keep an eye on cooking and, ideally, prep your dough in advance. It asks a bit more of you than your standard oven or air fryer.

But if you enjoy the process of cooking, even in a slightly chaotic, kids-helping, flour-everywhere sort of way, it’s brilliant. It turns pizza from something you order into something you do. And that shift has been lovely in our house.

The results are consistently good. Not quite wood-fired restaurant level, but far better than what we’d manage in a normal oven. Crisp bases, quick cooking times and enough heat to feel like you’re making “real” pizza rather than just assembling one.

Is the Cuisinart Pizza Oven the right indoor pizza oven for you? It is for us

There are a few practical things to consider. It’s not small, so storage matters. The short cable might annoy you depending on your kitchen layout. And you do have to accept that the pizza stone will look well-used very quickly. But none of those have been dealbreakers for us.

Where it really wins is value over time. If you’re someone who regularly orders takeaway pizza, this starts to pay for itself fairly quickly. More than that, it changes the habit altogether. We’re not debating what to order anymore, we’re planning what toppings we’re having - and we know exactly what’s in our pizza.

It’s also unexpectedly good for family life. The kids get involved, everyone makes their own, and dinner feels a bit more like an event than just another meal to get through at the end of a long day.

Would I recommend it? Yes, with a couple of caveats.

Buy it if you:

• love pizza and eat it regularly

• like the idea of cooking from scratch (or at least semi-scratch)

• have the space to store it

• want to turn dinner into more of a shared activity

Maybe skip it if you:

• are tight on kitchen space

• want something completely hands-off

• know you’ll only use it occasionally

For us, it’s earned its place. It’s not life-changing, but it has made Friday nights better, cheaper and a bit more fun. And that feels like a win for us. 

About the author

Rebecca Roberts (aka Beccy) is our resident lifestyle expert with a practical focus on sleep, wellness and everyday comfort. She’s equally at home tackling frank, NSFW‑adjacent topics as she is road‑testing kitchen appliances, mattresses and vacuums that work for real parents. As a mum of two, she writes with the time‑poor, sleep‑deprived in mind - honest product reviews, realistic routines and products that make parents’ lives easier.

When she’s not at her desk, she’s probably product‑testing with her two helpers, corralling a PTA or walking her two dogs up and down country lanes.

About Mumsnet Reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of research and testing. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.

All prices are correct at time of publication.

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