As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of hands-on experience at Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I’ve had the chance to test and evaluate many outdoor pizza ovens in a real kitchen environment. In this article, I’ll compare two ovens I’ve personally used—DeliVita and Carbon—based on quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and a real pizza cooking test that shows how long it takes to make a Margherita pizza in each. If you’re curious about how I run my oven tests in detail, feel free to check out my separate article that explains my full testing process.
DeliVita is a handcrafted, wood-fired pizza oven with a ceramic interior and iconic design, made in the UK to bring artisan cooking to your backyard.
Carbon, on the other hand, is a gas-powered oven built for performance and portability, offering high heat and convenience at a more accessible price point.
I’ve conducted thorough tests to compare DeliVita and Carbon, detailed in this article.
And just a quick note—this article includes referral links. If you decide to purchase one of these ovens, I’d greatly appreciate you using the links provided. It won’t cost you anything extra, but it helps support my blog and allows me to continue sharing real-world kitchen-tested reviews.
DeliVita VS Carbon: Quality and Materials
| The DeliVita oven is handmade in the UK using fiberglass for the shell and clay inside, offering a stylish, durable, and weather-resistant build with artisanal charm. |
The Carbon pizza oven features a stainless steel body with firebrick interior. It’s durable and functional but leans toward a more industrial look.
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DeliVita VS Carbon: Temperature Control
| DeliVita relies on real wood and manual heat control, giving you an authentic cooking experience. It reaches up to 550°C for genuine wood-fired flavor. |
Carbon uses separate upper and lower gas burners with dials for fine temperature adjustment, reaching up to 950°F. Great for fast, precise heat.
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DeliVita VS Carbon: Shape
| DeliVita follows the traditional dome shape that enhances airflow and distributes heat evenly, just like classic Italian pizza ovens. |
Carbon has a rectangular build. It’s spacious and efficient but lacks the airflow circulation benefits of a dome-shaped oven like DeliVita.
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DeliVita VS Carbon: First-Time Usage Impressions
| The DeliVita oven arrives fully assembled with a sleek modern look and premium accessories. It feels like a high-end, chef-worthy appliance out of the box. |
The Carbon oven also includes useful accessories. Its modern design, stamped logo, and visible flame window give it a bold first impression.
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DeliVita VS Carbon: Power Source
| DeliVita uses only wood for cooking, offering that hard-to-beat smoky flavor in every pizza. It’s more hands-on but deeply satisfying. |
Carbon runs on propane or natural gas, making it quick and easy to use. No smoky flavor, but very convenient and beginner-friendly.
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DeliVita VS Carbon: Size
| The DeliVita oven is compact and fits up to a 12-inch pizza. It weighs about 66 pounds and is sturdy but less portable. |
Carbon can fit up to a 15-inch pizza and has collapsible legs. At 60 pounds, it’s slightly lighter and easier to store or move around.
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DeliVita VS Carbon: Ease of Cleaning
| DeliVita is easy to clean with a long-handled brush after cooling. Its smooth interior and included tools make the job quick and tidy. |
Carbon has a firebrick base and stainless steel interior that clean up easily. The included brush helps sweep out food residue efficiently.
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Pizza Cooking Test: DeliVita vs Carbon
In our pizza cooking test, I prepared a classic Margherita pizza in both the DeliVita and Carbon ovens to see how each one handled real kitchen conditions. The DeliVita oven took about 25 minutes to preheat, which is expected for a traditional wood-fired oven. That time allowed it to build a steady, evenly distributed heat, and once ready, the pizza baked in just about 2 minutes. The result was a beautifully charred crust with a smoky aroma, and the flavor reminded me of true Neapolitan-style pizza—crispy on the outside with a soft, airy inside.
The Carbon oven, on the other hand, heated up much faster, reaching proper cooking temperature in roughly 10 to 15 minutes thanks to its dual gas burners. The first Margherita pizza I cooked was slightly underdone on the bottom, so I increased the stone temperature to around 740°F. On the second try, the pizza cooked in about 80 seconds and had a crisp base with golden-brown edges and evenly melted cheese. It tasted excellent, but the lack of wood-fired flavor made the experience feel a little more modern and less rustic compared to DeliVita.
While both ovens delivered great results, DeliVita had the edge in flavor and traditional charm, whereas Carbon impressed with speed and convenience.
How We Tested
To compare the DeliVita and Carbon pizza ovens fairly, I followed the same hands-on testing approach I use at my restaurant, Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston. With over 10 years of experience as a chef, I prepared the same style of Margherita pizza in each oven to assess their real-world performance. I examined how quickly each oven heated up, how evenly they cooked, and how the final pizza tasted. I paid close attention to dough rise, crust texture, cheese melt, and overall flavor. The ovens were tested outdoors under similar weather conditions, using their default setups—wood for DeliVita and propane for Carbon. I also noted usability details like how easy it was to manage temperature, rotate the pizza, and clean the oven afterward. This method helped me evaluate not just specs on paper, but how each oven performs in a working chef’s hands.
Conclusion
In the end, whether you choose the DeliVita or the Carbon pizza oven depends on your needs, preferences, and cooking style. Both ovens have their strengths—DeliVita offers timeless design and authentic wood-fired flavor, while Carbon delivers powerful dual-burner precision with modern gas convenience. If you decide to purchase one of these ovens, I’d really appreciate it if you use my referral links. It helps keep my blog alive and supports the time I spend testing and reviewing gear like this—at no extra cost to you.
Here’s the link for DeliVita and this is for Carbon. Thank you!