As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at my own kitchen, Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I’ve had the chance to test and cook with many pizza ovens under real-world conditions. In this article, I’ll compare the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Stoke Wood-Fired Pizza Oven—two models I’ve personally used in my professional kitchen.
This review dives into all the important factors: quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and, most importantly, how each oven performed in a real pizza cooking test. If you’re curious about how I test pizza ovens in depth, I’ve also written a separate article that walks through my full testing process.
The Alfa Futuro 2 is a premium Italian-made gas oven known for its fast heat-up time, commercial-grade materials, and ability to cook two pizzas at once—perfect for serious home chefs and pros alike.
The Stoke Wood-Fired Pizza Oven is a more affordable, compact option with a traditional wood-fired flavor, designed for outdoor use and casual pizza nights.
This article offers a comprehensive comparison of the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Stoke Wood-Fired Pizza Oven, based on my own testing experience.
Please note: this article includes referral links to both ovens. If you decide to purchase one using my links, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support helps keep my blog running and allows me to keep sharing honest, hands-on reviews like this one.
Alfa Futuro 2 VS Stoke: Quality and Materials
| The Alfa Futuro 2 is crafted entirely in Italy using premium stainless steel and includes a hand-shaped steel arch and high-end finishes. It feels like a true commercial-grade oven built to last for years. |
The Stoke pizza oven is decent in build, though not on par with the premium finishes of Alfa Futuro 2. It’s functional but feels lighter and made from less durable materials.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Stoke: Temperature Control
| Alfa Futuro 2 reaches up to 1000°F in just 30 minutes and has excellent heat circulation thanks to its patented flue system. It maintains heat evenly for consistent, pro-level results. |
Stoke advertises 900°F but in practice struggled to exceed 700°F during testing. Temperature control can be inconsistent and slower, especially in cooler outdoor conditions.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Stoke: Shape
| The Alfa Futuro 2 has a sleek, modern shape with an ergonomic handle and large glass door. Its design isn’t just aesthetic—it helps with ventilation and even cooking. |
The Stoke oven’s shape is fairly standard, but the thick wall between flame and stone can reduce direct heat, making it harder to reach ideal cooking conditions.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Stoke: First-Time Usage Impressions
| From unboxing to the first cook, Alfa Futuro 2 gave a premium feel. It heated quickly and our first Margherita pizzas turned out beautifully with crispy crusts and even browning. |
Stoke was easy to set up and assemble in under 10 minutes. The first pizza was decent, but the bottom crust didn’t fully cook, requiring longer time or adjustments.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Stoke: Power Source
| Alfa Futuro 2 is gas-powered with an optional hybrid wood-burning kit, offering flexibility for both convenience and flavor. Its Full Effect Circulation System maximizes efficiency. |
The Stoke oven comes in wood or gas models. We tested the wood-fired version, which delivers classic smokiness but requires more effort and longer prep time.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Stoke: Size
| The Alfa Futuro 2 offers a spacious 70 x 40 cm cooking surface—big enough for two pizzas or up to 2kg of bread. It’s large, making it ideal for serious cooks and gatherings. |
The Stoke pizza oven is compact and portable (13” x 18.22” x 11.15”), better suited for casual outdoor use. It can handle a single pizza at a time.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Stoke: Ease of Cleaning
| Cleaning the Alfa Futuro 2 is a bit more work due to its size, but the materials and build allow for thorough maintenance. Brushing and scraping work well once it cools. |
The Stoke oven is smaller and easier to disassemble for cleaning. It’s low-maintenance but may require more frequent touch-ups due to lower-grade materials.
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Pizza Cooking Test: Alfa Futuro 2 vs Stoke Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
To get a fair sense of performance, I tested both ovens with the same classic Margherita pizza recipe. I looked at how fast each oven heated up, how long the pizza took to cook, and—most importantly—how it tasted.
The Alfa Futuro 2 heated up impressively fast, reaching optimal baking temperature (around 900–1000°F) in just under 30 minutes. I slid in two 12-inch Margherita pizzas at once, and within 90 seconds, both had a perfectly crisp base, nicely charred edges, and evenly melted cheese. The bottom crust was firm yet airy, and the flavor had that slightly blistered, smoky aroma you’d expect from a professional-grade pizza oven. The result was as close to Neapolitan-style as it gets outside of Italy.
The Stoke Wood-Fired Pizza Oven, on the other hand, took about 45 minutes to fully heat up. Despite aiming for 900°F, the oven maxed out at 700°F during testing. The Margherita pizza took just over 2 minutes to cook, and while the top came out nicely melted and golden, the bottom crust lacked the full browning and crunch I was hoping for. The flavor was good—especially with that wood-fired smokiness—but the texture didn’t quite reach the same level of crispness and balance as in the Alfa Futuro 2.
In short, both ovens delivered solid results, but Alfa Futuro 2 delivered a more restaurant-quality bake with less effort and greater consistency.
How We Tested
As a restaurant chef with over a decade of experience at Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I rely on repeatable, real-world testing when comparing pizza ovens. For both the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Stoke Wood-Fired Pizza Oven, I used the same type of dough, ingredients, and cooking environment to ensure fairness.
Each oven was unboxed, assembled, and preheated as per the manufacturer’s instructions. I tracked how long it took each oven to reach its optimal baking temperature and tested multiple pizzas back-to-back to assess heat retention and consistency. I specifically used a classic Margherita pizza—simple enough to highlight flaws, but technical enough to reward precision. I monitored crust texture, browning, cook time, and overall flavor.
This hands-on, side-by-side testing helped reveal how each oven performs under the same real kitchen conditions I work with every day. If you’d like to see exactly how I run my pizza oven tests in greater detail, check out my full testing article linked separately.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it’s your choice whether the Alfa Futuro 2 or the Stoke Wood-Fired Pizza Oven fits your needs and cooking style better. Both ovens offer solid performance, but if you decide to purchase one, I’d highly appreciate it if you use my referral links. I’ll earn a small commission at no cost to you, which helps me keep this blog alive and continue testing ovens like these.
Here’s the link for Alfa Futuro 2 and for Stoke.