As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at my own kitchen, Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I’ve had the chance to test dozens of pizza ovens in a real commercial environment. In this comparison, I’ll break down the differences between the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Deco Chef pizza oven, both of which I’ve used extensively in my kitchen. I evaluated them based on quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and I also ran a real cooking test using Margherita pizza to see how they actually perform under pressure. (If you’re curious about how I test pizza ovens in detail, I’ve covered that in a separate article.)
The Alfa Futuro 2 is a high-end, Italian-crafted outdoor oven that’s designed for serious cooking performance and durability, ideal for those who want restaurant-quality pizza at home.
The Deco Chef, on the other hand, is a more budget-friendly option with a surprisingly good feature set for its price range, making it a popular choice for beginners and backyard cooks.
This article offers a comprehensive comparison of the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Deco Chef, based on my own testing experience.
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Winner
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Loser
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Our Rating:
4.7
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Our Rating:
3.3
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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- Handcrafted Italian design and stainless steel arch
- Heats up to 1000°F but takes closer to 30 minutes
- Sleek and spacious shape
- Runs on gas by default but includes an optional Hybrid Kit for wood-fired cooking
- Its size makes it more suited for permanent outdoor installations than Portability
- Requires more effort to clean
- Made of stainless steel with decent quality
- Half-circle dome design
- Lightweight and portable
- Cleaning is manageable
- Lacks premium finishing
- Maintaining a consistent temperature above 550°F can be challenging
- Exclusively powered by hardwood pellets
Just a quick note: I use referral links in this article, which means if you decide to buy through them, I’ll earn a small commission—at no cost to you. These links help keep my blog alive and allow me to continue testing and sharing honest reviews.
Alfa Futuro 2 VS Deco Chef: Quality and Materials
| The Alfa Futuro 2 is crafted entirely in Italy using premium stainless steel. Its handcrafted stainless arch, heavy-duty build, and ergonomic details signal a truly high-end product built for durability and commercial use. |
The Deco Chef Pizza Oven is made from stainless steel with triple-layer insulation, offering solid quality for its price point. While it’s not as robust as the Alfa Futuro 2, it’s still a dependable choice for casual home use.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Deco Chef: Temperature Control
| Alfa Futuro 2 excels in temperature control, reaching up to 1000°F in just 30 minutes. The patented Full Effect Flue System distributes heat evenly for reliable, repeatable performance. |
The Deco Chef reaches advertised temps of 950°F, but in practice, maintaining a consistent high temperature (above 550°F) is more difficult. It requires close monitoring and frequent pellet feeding.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Deco Chef: Shape
| The Alfa Futuro 2 has a sleek, modern profile with a wide arched front and glass door. The shape enhances heat circulation and visual appeal, making it ideal for professional kitchens and outdoor setups. |
The Deco Chef has a compact half-dome shape with a front-loading system. It’s functional for small or medium-sized pizzas but can be tight for larger dishes. The design is good for portability but lacks some airflow efficiency.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Deco Chef: First-Time Usage Impressions
| Using the Alfa Futuro 2 for the first time felt professional. It cooked two Margherita pizzas evenly and beautifully in one go, leaving a strong impression with its speed, balance, and power. |
The Deco Chef gave a decent first impression, especially with its included accessories. However, achieving even heat was more difficult, and feeding pellets manually added some trial-and-error to the process.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Deco Chef: Power Source
| The Alfa Futuro 2 uses gas by default and can be upgraded with a hybrid wood kit. Its flue system maximizes fuel efficiency and performance, offering the best of both worlds. |
Deco Chef uses hardwood pellets as its main fuel source. It adds nice wood-fired flavor, but it requires frequent attention and steady feeding for optimal results. No gas option is available.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Deco Chef: Size
| Alfa Futuro 2 is large and powerful, with a 70×40 cm cooking area that fits two pizzas or even a 2kg loaf of bread. It’s heavy and needs two people to move, but the size makes it perfect for high-volume cooking. |
Deco Chef is compact and portable, with a 13-inch cooking surface. It’s lightweight and great for outdoor events or camping, but limited in capacity for larger pizzas or restaurant use.
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Alfa Futuro 2 VS Deco Chef: Ease of Cleaning
| Alfa Futuro 2 requires more effort to clean due to its size, but cleaning is straightforward with a metal scraper and brush. Its solid construction makes maintenance easy once cooled. |
Deco Chef is very easy to clean thanks to removable trays and its stainless build. A quick wipe and brushing are usually enough, making it convenient for casual use.
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Pizza Cooking Test: Alfa Futuro 2 vs Deco Chef
To truly evaluate performance, I cooked classic Margherita pizzas in both ovens under similar conditions.
The Alfa Futuro 2 took around 30 minutes to preheat fully, reaching just under 1000°F. Once at temperature, it cooked two Margherita pizzas simultaneously in only 90 seconds. The crust was beautifully charred with a perfect balance of crunch and chew, the mozzarella melted evenly, and the sauce developed a rich, slightly smoky depth. It felt like something I’d confidently serve in a restaurant.
The Deco Chef Pizza Oven, on the other hand, preheated in about 15 to 20 minutes, with the internal temperature maxing out around 700–750°F in practice, despite higher advertised claims. A single Margherita pizza took about 60 to 90 seconds to cook. The results were good—the flavor was pleasantly smoky thanks to the hardwood pellets, and the crust was decent—but I had to rotate the pizza manually to avoid uneven cooking, and the bottom was sometimes underdone.
In short, both ovens deliver solid results, but Alfa Futuro 2 clearly pulled ahead in terms of speed, evenness, and that artisan-quality finish you look for in wood-fired pizza.
How We Tested
As a restaurant chef with over a decade of experience at Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I approached this comparison the same way I test any new equipment for my kitchen—under real cooking conditions. I used the Alfa Futuro 2 and the Deco Chef Pizza Oven on separate days but in similar outdoor environments to maintain fairness. I tested them using the same dough, toppings, and sauce, specifically making a Margherita pizza to see how each oven handles classic, ingredient-forward pizza.
Before testing, I allowed both ovens to fully preheat to their maximum working temperatures, using their intended fuel sources—gas (with optional wood kit) for the Alfa Futuro 2, and hardwood pellets for the Deco Chef. I observed heating times, checked internal consistency using an infrared thermometer, and paid close attention to crust texture, bottom crispness, cheese melt, and flavor development.
All my testing reflects real-world usage—not lab conditions—so you get a chef’s honest take on how each oven performs in practice.
Conclusion
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Winner
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Loser
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Our Rating:
4.7
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Our Rating:
3.3
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|
Pros:
|
Pros:
|
|
Cons:
|
Cons:
|
- Handcrafted Italian design and stainless steel arch
- Heats up to 1000°F but takes closer to 30 minutes
- Sleek and spacious shape
- Runs on gas by default but includes an optional Hybrid Kit for wood-fired cooking
- Its size makes it more suited for permanent outdoor installations than Portability
- Requires more effort to clean
- Made of stainless steel with decent quality
- Half-circle dome design
- Lightweight and portable
- Cleaning is manageable
- Lacks premium finishing
- Maintaining a consistent temperature above 550°F can be challenging
- Exclusively powered by hardwood pellets
At the end of the day, it’s completely your choice whether the Alfa Futuro 2 or the Deco Chef Pizza Oven is the right fit for your cooking needs. Both ovens offer something unique—whether it’s the professional-grade performance of the Alfa or the budget-friendly portability of the Deco Chef.
If you decide to purchase either oven, I’d really appreciate it if you used my referral links. It helps keep my blog running, and I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Here they are:
Look through the best pizza ovens we found.