As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I’ve had the privilege of testing and comparing numerous pizza ovens. In this article, I’ll share my insights on two popular models: the Bertello Pizza Oven and the DeliVita Pizza Oven. My comparison focuses on essential factors such as quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and, most importantly, a real pizza cooking test to determine performance. If you’d like to learn more about my testing process, feel free to check out my separate article detailing it.
- Bertello Pizza Oven: A compact and versatile pizza oven offering multi-fuel capabilities, known for its portability and efficient cooking.
- DeliVita Pizza Oven: A stylish and artisan-crafted oven, celebrated for its aesthetics and ability to produce wood-fired pizzas with authentic flavor.
I’ve conducted thorough tests to compare the Bertello Pizza Oven and the DeliVita, detailed in this article.
Disclaimer: If you decide to purchase either of these ovens, I’d greatly appreciate it if you use my referral links. They help keep my blog alive at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your support!
Bertello VS DeliVita: Quality and Materials
| The Bertello Pizza Oven is crafted with a durable stainless steel exterior and a refractory stone surface, ensuring long-term reliability and excellent heat retention. |
The DeliVita Wood-fired Oven features a fiberglass exterior for weather resistance and a clay interior for traditional heat retention. Elegant but pricier.
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Bertello VS DeliVita: Temperature Control
| The Bertello reaches over 900°F within 10–15 minutes, offering excellent heat consistency for perfectly crispy pizzas. |
The DeliVita requires 15–20 minutes to preheat and reaches 500–550°F. While effective, it lacks built-in temperature controls and relies on manual fuel adjustments.
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Bertello VS DeliVita: Shape
| Bertello’s dome-shaped design ensures uniform heat distribution, resulting in evenly cooked crusts and toppings. |
The DeliVita‘s traditional dome shape supports consistent heat distribution but has a more compact interior, limiting batch size.
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Bertello VS DeliVita: First-Time Usage Impressions
| Assembling and using the Bertello is straightforward, and the preheating process is fast, making it beginner-friendly. |
The DeliVita arrives preassembled and ready to use, but handling the long pizza peel may take practice for smooth operation.
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Bertello VS DeliVita: Power Source
| The Bertello Pizza Oven is multi-fuel, accommodating wood, charcoal, and gas, offering exceptional versatility for different cooking styles. |
The DeliVita exclusively uses wood, delivering authentic flavors but requiring more manual effort for fuel management.
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Bertello VS DeliVita: Size
| Bertello is compact and portable, weighing just 34.6 pounds with a 12.5″ x 13.5″ cooking surface, perfect for on-the-go use. |
The DeliVita is heavier at 66 pounds but still portable. Its smaller cooking capacity (one 12” pizza) may limit usage for larger gatherings.
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Bertello VS DeliVita: Ease of Cleaning
| Cleaning the Bertello involves removing ash and pellet residue, which can be challenging due to its compact size. |
Cleaning the DeliVita is straightforward; a brush and cloth suffice for removing ash and soot. However, managing wood debris takes extra effort.
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Pizza Cooking Test
When it came to testing how quickly each oven heated up, the Bertello Pizza Oven was notably efficient, reaching a temperature of 900°F in just 10–15 minutes. This impressive heat-up time proved ideal for quick, spontaneous pizza sessions, making it a standout in convenience and readiness. On the other hand, the DeliVita Wood-fired Oven required around 15–20 minutes to reach its optimal cooking temperature of 500–550°F. While still relatively fast for a wood-fired oven, it was slightly slower than Bertello, reflecting its more traditional design.
Cooking a classic Margherita pizza in the Bertello took a swift 90 seconds. The oven’s high heat and excellent temperature distribution ensured a perfectly crisp crust, bubbling cheese, and evenly cooked toppings. The DeliVita, meanwhile, required around 2 minutes to cook the same pizza. While the results were flavorful, achieving an evenly baked crust required more manual effort, such as frequent rotation, to avoid uneven cooking or overcooked edges.
In terms of taste, the Bertello delivered a crisp and light crust with beautifully caramelized toppings. Its ability to combine wood and charcoal as fuel added an authentic wood-fired flavor, producing restaurant-quality pizza with minimal effort. The DeliVita, with its pure wood-fired design, created pizzas with a distinct smoky aroma and a rustic touch. The crust was golden and flavorful, though slightly less crisp than the Bertello’s output. While the DeliVita added charm to the process with its traditional feel, the Bertello’s speed and consistency made it a winner for crafting perfect pizzas effortlessly.
How We Tested
To compare the Bertello Pizza Oven and the DeliVita Wood-fired Oven, we conducted a series of tests focused on evaluating their performance in a real cooking environment. Our testing began with assessing how quickly each oven reached its optimal cooking temperature. We used a digital infrared thermometer to measure the heat levels on the pizza stone and the ambient temperature inside the ovens.
Next, we prepared identical Margherita pizzas using the same dough, sauce, and toppings to ensure consistency. Each oven was tested with its recommended setup—Bertello with its wood and gas combo for high-temperature efficiency and DeliVita with wood logs for authentic wood-fired cooking. During the cooking process, we observed how evenly the heat was distributed, how quickly the pizzas baked, and how easy it was to manage the cooking process, including rotating the pizzas for uniform results.
Finally, we evaluated the taste, texture, and appearance of the pizzas, paying close attention to the crust’s crispness, the toppings’ caramelization, and the overall flavor profile. We also noted any challenges, such as maintaining temperature, handling the ovens, or cleaning up afterward. These hands-on tests allowed us to compare the two ovens in real-world scenarios and determine their strengths and potential drawbacks.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the choice between the Bertello Pizza Oven and the DeliVita Wood-fired Oven comes down to your specific needs and preferences. Both ovens deliver excellent results, with Bertello offering versatility and affordability and DeliVita standing out for its sleek design and traditional wood-fired flavor. Whichever you decide to purchase, I’d greatly appreciate it if you could use my referral links for your purchase. This helps support my work at no extra cost to you. Here is the Bertello referral link and the DeliVita referral link. Thank you for your support!