As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at my restaurant, Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I’ve tested a wide range of pizza ovens—both in professional and home settings. In this article, I’ll compare the Solo Stove Pi Prime and the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven, two models I’ve personally used in my kitchen. I’ll break down how they perform across key categories: quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and a real pizza cooking test to see how long it takes to bake a proper pizza. If you’re curious about the step-by-step testing process, I’ve covered that in detail in a separate article.
The Solo Stove Pi Prime is a sleek, propane-powered pizza oven known for its simplicity, modern look, and reliable flame control.
The Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven brings a more classic, stainless-steel build with dual burners, mimicking a traditional brick oven while offering portability.
I tested both the Solo Stove Pi Prime and the Camp Chef Italia and shared a detailed comparison in this article.
And just a quick note: this article contains referral links. If you decide to purchase through them, it won’t cost you anything extra, but it tremendously helps keep my blog alive and supports future hands-on testing and reviews.
Solo Stove Pi Prime VS Camp Chef Italia: Quality and Materials
| The Solo Stove Pi Prime is made with durable stainless steel and excellent insulation. It feels solid and built to last. |
The Camp Chef Italia is also stainless steel, but the metal feels thinner and less premium in comparison.
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Solo Stove Pi Prime VS Camp Chef Italia: Temperature Control
| The Pi Prime can hit up to 950°F in 15 minutes. While it lacks markings on the dial, it holds heat well once dialed in. |
Camp Chef Italia takes around 40 minutes to reach about 700°F and struggles to maintain consistent heat.
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Solo Stove Pi Prime VS Camp Chef Italia: Shape
| The cylindrical shape of the Solo Stove Pi Prime helps with even heat distribution and easy pizza maneuvering. |
The dome shape of the Camp Chef Italia also supports airflow, but space is tighter and more limiting.
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Solo Stove Pi Prime VS Camp Chef Italia: First-Time Usage Impressions
| Solo Stove Pi Prime was easy to set up, connect propane, and preheat. Our first Margherita pizza came out great. |
Camp Chef Italia required more setup time and longer preheating, and our first pizza needed adjustments.
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Solo Stove Pi Prime VS Camp Chef Italia: Power Source
| The Pi Prime uses propane for fast, consistent heating. Great for outdoor cooking without the mess of wood. |
Camp Chef Italia also uses propane. While reliable, it lacks the wood-fired flavor some people want.
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Solo Stove Pi Prime VS Camp Chef Italia: Size
| The Pi Prime is compact and portable at 30 lbs, perfect for outdoor use. Fits a 12-inch pizza comfortably. |
Camp Chef Italia is heavier (47 lbs) and bulkier. It’s harder to move and rotate large pizzas inside.
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Solo Stove Pi Prime VS Camp Chef Italia: Ease of Cleaning
| Pi Prime is easy to clean with a grill brush and damp cloth. The stones come out clean with a quick wipe. |
Camp Chef Italia is also easy to clean with a scraper and damp cloth, but the stone takes longer to cool.
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Pizza Cooking Test
To truly understand the performance of the Solo Stove Pi Prime and the Camp Chef Italia, I ran a simple Margherita pizza test in each oven.
The Solo Stove Pi Prime heated up impressively fast. Within just 15 minutes, it reached over 900°F, making it ready to cook in no time. Once the stone was hot enough, I slid in a 12-inch Margherita pizza. It cooked in about 90 seconds, with a beautifully browned crust, perfectly melted cheese, and a noticeable crisp on the bottom. The flavor was excellent — lightly charred edges, bubbly mozzarella, and a balanced bite that tasted as good as a wood-fired pizza.
The Camp Chef Italia, on the other hand, took significantly longer to warm up. I waited nearly 40 minutes to hit the 700°F mark — and only after another 10 minutes did I feel it was ready for baking. The Margherita pizza cooked in about 9 minutes, and while it came out evenly baked on top, the crust lacked the same blistered texture. The taste was still satisfying, but not quite as bold or crisp as what I got from the Pi Prime.
Overall, both ovens delivered decent results, but the Solo Stove Pi Prime clearly outperformed in both speed and flavor.
How We Tested
To fairly evaluate both the Solo Stove Pi Prime and the Camp Chef Italia, I ran identical cooking scenarios using my go-to pizza oven testing method — one I’ve developed after years of working as a professional chef at Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston.
For each oven, I used the same homemade Margherita dough, rested for 48 hours, and cooked under similar outdoor weather conditions to minimize any external impact. I preheated both ovens following the manufacturer’s guidelines, then used an infrared thermometer to check the surface temperature of the pizza stone before launching the pizza.
I paid close attention to how fast each oven heated up, how evenly the heat was distributed, and how quickly the pizza cooked. I also tasted and evaluated the final product based on texture (especially the bottom crust), flavor, and cheese melt. Each oven cooked the same pizza style, with no changes to recipe or technique, to ensure the comparison remained consistent and accurate.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, whether you go with the Solo Stove Pi Prime or the Camp Chef Italia really comes down to your preferences and cooking style. Both ovens have their strengths, but I personally lean slightly toward the Pi Prime for its sleek build, consistent heat, and ease of use.
If you decide to buy one, I’d truly appreciate it if you use my referral links to make your purchase. It helps support my blog and allows me to keep testing and sharing honest reviews — and it won’t cost you anything extra.