As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I’ve had the chance to work with numerous pizza ovens. In this article, I’ll compare the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the Cru Champion Pizza Oven, both of which I’ve used extensively in my kitchen. I’ve evaluated them based on quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and conducted a real pizza cooking test to see how long it takes to bake a perfect Margherita pizza. If you’re curious about my detailed pizza oven testing process, feel free to check out my separate article.
The Big Horn Pizza Oven is a budget-friendly, compact outdoor oven that delivers impressive performance with wood-fired flavor.
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven, on the other hand, is a premium, versatile oven designed to handle a variety of cooking tasks beyond just pizza.
I’ve conducted thorough tests to compare the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the Cru Champion Pizza Oven, detailed in this article.
Disclaimer: This article includes referral links. If you decide to purchase through these links, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps keep my blog alive.
Big Horn VS Cru Champion: Quality and Materials
| The Big Horn Pizza Oven features durable stainless steel with a silicone door seal and a cordierite pizza stone. Solid and affordable, it offers excellent value for home cooks. |
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven is constructed with a thick ceramic stone dome sandwiched between stainless steel and aluminum, making it robust but heavier and more expensive.
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Big Horn VS Cru Champion: Temperature Control
| The Big Horn Pizza Oven heats up quickly but requires close monitoring. Using an external thermometer helps ensure consistent cooking temperatures. |
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven retains heat exceptionally well but takes around 13 minutes to preheat. It maintains steady temperatures with minimal adjustments needed.
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Big Horn VS Cru Champion: Shape
| The Big Horn Pizza Oven’s round dome shape ensures even heat distribution, delivering consistently crispy crusts and evenly cooked toppings. |
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven’s semi-round dome with layered materials promotes even cooking and excellent heat retention for consistent results.
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Big Horn VS Cru Champion: First-Time Usage Impressions
| The Big Horn Pizza Oven is straightforward to set up and preheat, making it a user-friendly choice for beginners. It is affordable yet highly functional. |
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven offers a high-quality build and features like an adjustable wood rack. Setup is straightforward but requires learning for optimal performance.
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Big Horn VS Cru Champion: Power Source
| The Big Horn Pizza Oven is powered by wood pellets, providing a smoky flavor that enhances pizza taste. It’s also compatible with charcoal or alternative pellets for versatility. |
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven supports both wood and charcoal, giving flexibility in flavor and cooking methods. Wood provides a smoky flavor, while charcoal offers convenience.
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Big Horn VS Cru Champion: Size
| Compact yet spacious, the Big Horn Pizza Oven can fit a 12-inch pizza. Its lightweight design makes it perfect for outdoor cooking and small gatherings. |
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven has a spacious 24” x 24” cooking area, fitting an 18-inch pizza or two 10-inch pizzas simultaneously. Ideal for large gatherings but not portable.
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Big Horn VS Cru Champion: Ease of Cleaning
| The Big Horn Pizza Oven is easy to clean with removable parts. Regular ash cleaning ensures the oven stays in top condition for longer use. |
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven has removable components that simplify cleaning. Ashes and soot need to be brushed off regularly to maintain its performance.
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Pizza Cooking Test
The Big Horn Pizza Oven heated up to its optimal cooking temperature of 500–550°F in approximately 15–16 minutes, showcasing its efficiency for quick outdoor cooking sessions. Once preheated, the oven cooked a Margherita pizza in just about 1.5 minutes. The pizza delivered a delightful smoky flavor, with a perfectly golden, crispy crust and bubbling, evenly melted cheese. The toppings retained their freshness, resulting in a pizza that rivaled those made in traditional wood-fired ovens.
The Cru Champion Pizza Oven reached its ideal cooking temperature of 800–900°F in around 13 minutes, slightly faster than its competitor. Cooking a Margherita pizza took about 96 seconds, producing evenly cooked results with a light, charred crust and rich smoky flavor. The cheese melted beautifully, and the crust had a nice balance of crunch and softness. The higher cooking temperature and spacious interior allowed for a consistent, restaurant-quality pizza-making experience.
Both ovens excelled in delivering delicious pizzas, but the Big Horn Pizza Oven’s faster preheating time and slightly longer cooking duration allowed for greater control, making it a better choice for those prioritizing convenience and ease of use.
How We Tested
To provide a fair comparison between the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the Cru Champion Pizza Oven, we conducted hands-on cooking tests under similar outdoor conditions. We focused on preparing Margherita pizzas, using identical ingredients, including pre-made dough, fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves, to ensure consistency.
The testing began with measuring the preheating time for both ovens. We used an infrared thermometer to monitor when each oven reached its ideal cooking temperature (500–550°F for the Big Horn and 800–900°F for the Cru Champion). We carefully observed the heat distribution across the cooking surfaces and ensured the pizza stones were evenly heated.
During cooking, we timed how long each oven took to bake a Margherita pizza. Each pizza was rotated periodically to avoid uneven cooking, and we assessed the final results based on crust texture, cheese melt, and overall flavor. The smoky flavors imparted by the wood and pellet fuels were also evaluated for their impact on the taste.
Post-cooking, we inspected how easily each oven could be cleaned, taking into account the removal of ash, soot, and food residue. This process helped us gauge the practical usability of both ovens, including how well they perform in real-world scenarios for home cooks and professionals alike.
This comprehensive testing method allowed us to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the Cru Champion Pizza Oven, offering insights for anyone considering these products.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the decision between the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the Cru Champion Pizza Oven depends on your specific needs, preferences, and budget. Both ovens offer impressive features and deliver excellent results, so you can’t go wrong with either one.
If you decide to purchase one, I’d greatly appreciate it if you use my referral links. I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps keep my blog running and allows me to create more content like this. You can find the Big Horn Pizza Oven here and the Cru Champion Pizza Oven here. Thank you for your support!