Pacific Living PL8430SS 430 Stainless Steel Outdoor Pizza Oven

UPDATE: Ive bought 2 of these in the last year. The first one was awsome (thus the review below), i bought it from Seate Luxe in 2014. The second one was a disaster, the box was damaged, it looked like it had been dropped and repaired poorly. The knob isnt smooth and falls off, the pizza stone was broken, and the front door doesnt close correctly letting some heat escape. I bought the second one from Mayfair by the way.ORIGINAL REVIEWGreat oven. I use it at my restaurant for pizza. I use it all day at 550f, no problem. Struggles a bit above 700 but i dont care. Its showing some wear and tear after a couple of weeks but only cosmetic. This little guy is sturdy, well made, compact, energy efficient and good looking. I turn it down all the way during off hours and it maintains 400f with just a tiny flame, crank it up and its at 550 agan in 10 min.

This is a well built oven that looks good on the patio. It comes with a sturdy cover and decent roll-around casters, although I keep it in one place since it requires a power hook-up for the interior light. I did have one problem with a side shelf suddenly collapsing under the weight of a pizza being placed on it, but maybe I had not firmly locked it in place. Needless to say, the pizza went kersplat. It took me a while to figure out how to get the interior hot enough to actually cook pizza though.The thermometer on the door is pretty useless as it does not truly indicate the actual temperature inside, so an added high temp internal oven thermometer is necessary to gauge when the oven is hot enough to cook. Also, the thin pizza stone that ships with the oven is not really big enough for a 16 inch pizza, so I ordered a bigger, thicker one from California Pizza Stones that fits my needs better. But, without some modifications to the oven itself, the internal air temperature is not hot enough for the toppings to cook fast enough before the bottom begins to burn within minutes.While cooking pizzas that were not getting done enough on top and too much on the bottom, I had noticed that a tremendous amount of heat was escaping from the chimney. After conferring with Rich of Pacific Living, I removed the chimney from the top of the oven. He assured me that no harm would come to the oven if I did so. Thus, I merely unscrewed and removed it and then sealed the 4.5 inch hole up with metal tape that is used to seal clothes dryer ducts. I looked for a solid metal cap, but they only come in 4 or 5 inch sizes, so the tape will have to do, even though it looks rather jury-rigged.The results from plugging up the chimney have been terrific. I have raised the oven's internal temperature from around 550 degrees to approximately 675 degrees, with the stone getting up into the 700's. Thus, I can now cook a pie in six or seven minutes on the middle shelf and they look very close to what one finds in Naples, where Pizza Margherita was invented at Pizzeria Brandi in 1889.Bottom line is that I recommend this oven, but only with the modification to the chimney that I described. The window in the door and interior light are very helpful to check the internal thermometer that I placed there as well as the pie's progress without opening the door and letting precious heat escape. However, it is a good idea to check the bottom with a peel after about two or three minutes to make sure it is not burning and to rotate the pie for more even cooking. Hope all this info was helpful. Good luck with your pizza!

After researching pizza ovens for a couple months, I finally settled on the Pacific Living 430 to sit on top of my new BBQ island. Many factors considered: Rapid heat time (30 minutes and fully ready to go), smoker box for wood chips to get wood-fired pizza taste, perfect size, and LOOKS absolutely beautiful as a stand alone piece of equipment.Like many reviews, cooking pizzas takes a few trials and errors before you really start dialing it in. Couple helpful tips: Right out of the box, I carefully cut off the 3 legs of the chiminey cap. The cap now just sits on top of the chiminey with roughly 1/8 - 1/4 inch gap. I read another review of a guy who removed the chiminey altogether and capped the hole with metal flashing tape. Works great, but doesn't look very nice he stated. My suggestion both works and looks great! The key objective is to retard the amount of heat that escapes through the chimney, thus also length of time to heat the oven. Small design flaw I fugure, but there is no harm or danger in capping the chimney. There are other vents where smoke and heat can natually escape. The end result: Pizza oven reaches over 500 degrees, even 600+ in a very reasonable time. *That's the oven temp... the pizza stone itself is 750 degrees and does a fantastic job!Wood smoker box: This took awhile to really figure out, as most every attempt resulted in the chips catching fire (even soaked in water extensively). Obviously you lose the smoke objective once they catch fire. I have learned to just use dry wood chips, but wrap the center section of the exterior smoker box with foil. Too many vent holes on the lid no more - works great! However, I am still going to tinker with other (larger) smoker box solutions for more extensive smoke time.Pizza peel: Get one stainless (thin) for easy rotating of pizza while in the oven. I also bought three 16" wood pizza peels with handles. Great for making multiple pizzas (party!), and serving directly on the peel when done. The wood ones are naturally thicker, so they don't work real well when first rotating a pizza, especially if the crust is not thoroughly cooked. ***Use LOTS of corn meal on pizza peel before putting down the dough! Cover all edges too... this will save you headaches day-1.I've had my oven 2 months now and is getting regular use. I'm very happy with this product and looking forward to using it for meats, veggies, and baking fresh breads too. Everyone has given great compliments, both on beautiful oven and out of this world awesome pizzas! Keep it clean inside and out... should last for many years.