As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at my own kitchen—Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston—I’ve tested many outdoor pizza ovens firsthand. In this article, I’ll compare two ovens I’ve personally used in my kitchen: the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Carbon pizza oven. I’ll evaluate them based on quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and I’ll also include results from a real pizza cooking test to see how long each takes to deliver that perfect Margherita. If you want to dive deeper into how I conduct my pizza oven tests, feel free to check out my separate article.
The Alfa Futuro 2 is a high-end, Italian-made gas oven designed for performance and style, capable of handling serious pizza output with a large cooking chamber and rapid preheating.
The Carbon pizza oven, on the other hand, is a compact and sleek dual-fuel oven that offers flexibility and portability for pizza lovers looking for power in a smaller form.
In this write-up, I’ve compared the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Carbon in detail, using my testing data.
This article includes referral links that help support my blog at no extra cost to you. If you decide to purchase one of the ovens, using the links is a small way to say thanks—it means a lot and keeps this project alive.
Alfa Futuro 2 VS Carbon: Quality and Materials
| The Alfa Futuro 2 is crafted entirely in Italy using premium materials, including a hand-shaped stainless steel arch and durable refractory stone. Its build screams long-lasting performance and artisan precision. |
The Carbon Pizza Oven features stainless steel with a weather-resistant coating. While well-constructed with firebrick for heat retention, it doesn’t match the refined craftsmanship of the Alfa Futuro 2.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Carbon: Temperature Control
| The Alfa Futuro 2 Pizza Oven uses the patented Full Effect Circulation Flue System, offering superb heat management. It reaches 1000°F in just 30 minutes and holds consistent heat ideal for professional-grade pizzas. |
The Carbon Pizza Oven has separate upper and lower burners, which allow independent flame control. It heats up fast and hits over 950°F, but the learning curve is a bit steeper for getting that perfect balance.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Carbon: Shape
| The sleek, modern look of the Alfa Futuro 2 combined with its wide viewing glass and ergonomic handle make it not just functional but a centerpiece in any outdoor kitchen. Its shape also improves heat flow. |
The Carbon Pizza Oven has a more compact, squared design with a stamped metal logo that looks great. The shape is practical for storage but doesn’t quite match the upscale presence of the Alfa Futuro 2.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Carbon: First-Time Usage Impressions
| From unboxing to first use, the Alfa Futuro 2 Pizza Oven gave an immediate impression of top-tier quality. The first Margherita pizza came out perfectly with crispy edges and melty cheese—no surprises, just great results. |
With the Carbon Pizza Oven, the setup was quick, and the branding was solid. The initial bake needed some dialing in, but after a couple of adjustments, it produced a solid pizza with nice charring.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Carbon: Power Source
| The Alfa Futuro 2 is gas-powered but also compatible with a hybrid wood-burning kit. This flexibility is great for chefs who want that smoky flavor option. The flue system optimizes circulation for even cooking. |
The Carbon Pizza Oven runs on propane (or natural gas), with no wood-burning option. While convenient and clean-burning, it lacks the hybrid flexibility offered by the Alfa Futuro 2.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Carbon: Size
| The Alfa Futuro 2 Pizza Oven has a spacious interior (70 x 40 cm) that fits two pizzas or large bread loaves with ease. It’s designed for volume, ideal for restaurants or serious backyard chefs. |
The Carbon Pizza Oven is more compact, supporting up to a 15-inch pizza or two small pies. It’s great for tight spaces but not ideal for high-output scenarios like the Alfa Futuro 2.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Carbon: Ease of Cleaning
| Due to its size, cleaning the Alfa Futuro 2 takes a bit more time, but it’s straightforward with basic tools. Its chimney and flue system require periodic maintenance. |
The Carbon Pizza Oven is simpler to clean. It comes with a helpful brush, and its firebrick can be easily wiped down after use. The smaller size makes quick cleaning possible.
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Pizza Cooking Test: Alfa Futuro 2 vs Carbon
To fairly compare both ovens, I used the same dough, same toppings, and aimed for the same Margherita pizza in each oven.
The Alfa Futuro 2 heated up to 1000°F in about 30 minutes, just as promised. I preheated it fully before launching the pizza onto the stone. Each Margherita took just 90 seconds to bake. The result? Crispy bottom, airy crust, perfectly melted mozzarella, and slightly charred edges — exactly what I expect from a professional pizza oven. Even heat distribution and the visual control through the glass door gave me total confidence with every pie.
The Carbon Pizza Oven preheated much faster — around 10–15 minutes to hit 740°F. My first Margherita came out a little underdone on the bottom, even though the cheese was nicely melted. On the second round, I waited until the stone hit 760°F. That pie cooked in about 80–90 seconds, and the crust developed a satisfying crisp. It lacked the deep browning and slight smokiness of the Alfa, but it still delivered a tasty and balanced pizza, especially impressive for a compact propane oven.
Both ovens are capable of making excellent Neapolitan-style pizzas in under 2 minutes. However, Alfa Futuro 2 delivered a more even, professional-grade result straight away, while Carbon needed a bit more attention and temp adjustment to hit the same quality.
How We Tested the Alfa Futuro 2 and Carbon Pizza Ovens
As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at my restaurant, Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I tested both the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Carbon Pizza Oven using the same process I rely on in a professional kitchen. I started by unboxing and assembling each oven to get a sense of their design, construction quality, and how easy they are to set up right out of the box. Once everything was in place, I fired up both ovens using their standard gas configurations and followed the manufacturer’s guidelines to bring them up to optimal temperature.
I prepared a batch of my usual Neapolitan pizza dough and used it to cook Margherita pizzas in both ovens. My goal was to see how each oven handled heat-up time, how evenly the heat was distributed, and how consistently it cooked the pizza from top to bottom. I paid attention to how long each oven took to get to temperature, how the crust turned out, how the toppings melted and browned, and how easy the cooking process felt overall. After multiple rounds of pizza making, I moved on to cleaning each oven to evaluate how much effort it takes to maintain them after use. Testing both ovens in a real kitchen environment gave me a full picture of what to expect in terms of performance, usability, and long-term practicality.
Conclusion
In the end, whether you go with the Alfa Futuro 2 or the Carbon Pizza Oven depends on your cooking style, space, and preferences. Both ovens offer great performance, but if you’re looking for premium craftsmanship, spacious capacity, and powerful heat control, the Alfa Futuro 2 stands out as the more professional choice. Still, the Carbon Pizza Oven holds its own with fast heating and a solid design at a lower price point.
If you decide to buy one of these ovens, I’d really appreciate it if you used my referral links below. It won’t cost you anything extra, but it helps keep my blog alive and supports the time I spend testing and reviewing these products.
Here’s the link for Alfa Futuro 2 and here’s the one for Carbon Pizza Oven. Thank you!