As a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston, I’ve had the privilege of working with various pizza ovens in professional and home settings. In this article, I’ll be comparing the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the DeliVita Pizza Oven, both of which I’ve tested extensively in my kitchen. My comparison focuses on key factors such as quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and a real pizza cooking test to determine how long it takes to make the perfect Margherita pizza. For a detailed breakdown of my pizza oven testing process, check out my separate article.
The Big Horn Pizza Oven is a budget-friendly, compact oven that’s ideal for outdoor enthusiasts looking for an affordable yet functional option.
The DeliVita Pizza Oven, on the other hand, is a stylish, handcrafted wood-fired oven known for its portability and unique design.
I’ve compared the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the DeliVita Pizza Oven in detail in this article, using my own test results.
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. You can find the Big Horn Pizza Oven here and the DeliVita Pizza Oven here. Thank you for your support!
Big Horn VS DeliVita: Quality and Materials
| The Big Horn Pizza Oven is crafted with durable stainless steel, a silicone door seal, and a cordierite pizza stone. It’s sturdy and offers excellent value for its price. |
The DeliVita Wood-fired Oven combines fiberglass and clay, ensuring durability and weather resistance. It’s stylish but comes at a much higher cost.
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Big Horn VS DeliVita: Temperature Control
| The Big Horn heats up quickly but requires monitoring for precise cooking. Adding an external thermometer enhances temperature control. |
The DeliVita requires a hands-on approach to temperature control, relying on manually adjusting wood and using a separate thermometer for accurate readings.
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Big Horn VS DeliVita: Shape
| The Big Horn’s round dome shape ensures excellent airflow and even heat distribution, delivering perfectly crispy crusts and melted toppings. |
The DeliVita’s dome shape, inspired by traditional Roman ovens, promotes even cooking. Its clay interior helps retain heat effectively for consistent results.
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Big Horn VS DeliVita: First-Time Usage Impressions
| The Big Horn is lightweight, easy to set up, and beginner-friendly. Its compact size and straightforward operation make it ideal for casual home cooks. |
The DeliVita’s pre-assembled design and trendy appearance impress right away. However, its handling and cooking process may require some learning for beginners.
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Big Horn VS DeliVita: Power Source
| The Big Horn is powered by wood pellets, which provide a delightful smoky flavor. It’s also compatible with charcoal or other pellet types for versatility. |
The DeliVita uses traditional wood for fuel, offering an authentic wood-fired flavor. However, managing the wood and maintaining the fire can be labor-intensive.
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Big Horn VS DeliVita: Size
| Compact yet spacious, the Big Horn can accommodate a 12-inch pizza. Its lightweight design makes it portable and perfect for outdoor gatherings. |
The DeliVita is compact yet heavier. It also fits a 12-inch pizza but is harder to move, limiting its portability despite its smaller footprint.
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Big Horn VS DeliVita: Ease of Cleaning
| The Big Horn is easy to clean with removable parts. Regular ash cleaning keeps it efficient and user-friendly for repeated use. |
Cleaning the DeliVita involves brushing out ash and stuck bits. It’s simple but requires extra effort due to the oven’s small interior and reliance on wood fuel.
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Pizza Cooking Test
The Big Horn Pizza Oven heated up to its optimal cooking temperature of 500–550°F in just 15–16 minutes, demonstrating its efficiency for quick preheating. Once the desired temperature was reached, it cooked a Margherita pizza in approximately 1.5 minutes. The result was a delightful pizza with a golden, crispy crust and perfectly melted cheese. The smoky flavor from the wood pellets enhanced the overall taste, making it a standout option for delivering restaurant-quality results at home.
The DeliVita Wood-fired Oven also preheated in 15–16 minutes, reaching a similar optimal temperature range of 500–550°F. However, the cooking process for a Margherita pizza took slightly longer, about 2 minutes, due to the manual adjustments required for temperature control. Despite this, the pizza came out with a crunchy, golden crust and bubbly cheese. The distinct wood-fired flavor added a traditional touch to the pizza’s taste, though it required close supervision during cooking.
Both ovens delivered delicious pizzas with excellent crusts and melted cheese, but the Big Horn Pizza Oven stood out for its faster cooking time and consistent results, making it a more convenient option for quick, hassle-free pizza-making. The DeliVita Wood-fired Oven, while slower and requiring more manual effort, produced a more authentic wood-fired flavor that would appeal to traditionalists.
How We Tested
To fairly evaluate the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the DeliVita Wood-fired Oven, we conducted a detailed cooking test focused on preparing Margherita pizzas. The goal was to assess preheating times, cooking durations, and the overall quality of the pizzas produced by each oven.
We preheated both ovens to their recommended cooking temperatures of 500–550°F, using an infrared thermometer to monitor the heat levels and ensure consistency. The same type of wood pellets was used for the Big Horn, while traditional hardwood was utilized for the DeliVita, to reflect their intended use.
For the pizzas, we used identical ingredients: fresh dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and basil. Each pizza was cooked individually, and the cooking times were carefully recorded. During the process, we rotated the pizzas to prevent uneven cooking and closely observed how the ovens retained heat and distributed it across the pizza stones.
Post-cooking, we tasted the pizzas to evaluate the texture, flavor, and overall quality. Special attention was given to the crust’s crispiness, the cheese’s melt, and any smoky or wood-fired notes in the flavor profile. Additionally, we cleaned both ovens after use to assess how easy they were to maintain.
By applying the same rigorous testing methodology to both ovens, we ensured a fair comparison and gained valuable insights into their respective strengths and weaknesses. This comprehensive approach allowed us to highlight the unique qualities of each oven while helping users determine which one best suits their needs.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the choice between the Big Horn Pizza Oven and the DeliVita Wood-fired Oven comes down to your personal preferences, budget, and cooking style. Both ovens excel in their own ways, with the Big Horn offering affordability, portability, and efficiency, while the DeliVita provides a stylish, traditional wood-fired cooking experience with authentic flavors.
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 support my blog and allows me to create more content like this. You can find the Big Horn Pizza Oven here and the DeliVita Wood-fired Oven here. Thank you for your support!