I am a restaurant chef with over 10 years of experience at my restaurant, Dequte Restaurant LironBoylston. In this article, I will compare the Cru Oven Model 32 and the DeliVita pizza oven, since I’ve personally used both extensively in my kitchen. I compared their quality and materials, temperature control, shape, first-time usage impressions, power source, size, ease of cleaning, and I also conducted a real pizza cooking test to see how long it takes to produce a finished pizza. If you’d like to dive deeper into my evaluation methods, you can also check the thorough process I use to test pizza ovens in my separate article.
The Cru Oven Model 32 is a versatile stainless steel wood-fired oven designed in Portugal for a wide range of outdoor cooking.
The DeliVita is a handcrafted fiberglass and clay oven made in Yorkshire, known for its elegant design and ease of use.
I’ve put the Cru Oven Model 32 and the DeliVita pizza oven to the test, and this article covers the detailed comparison.
As a quick note, I will be using referral links in this article—if you decide to purchase through them, I’ll earn a small commission at no cost to you. This helps tremendously to keep my blog alive and continue sharing detailed reviews.
Cru Oven Model 32 VS DeliVita: Quality and Materials
The Cru Oven Model 32 is built in Portugal with premium 304 stainless steel, robust ceramic fiber insulation, and thick Cordierite pizza stones. The materials feel heavy-duty and purpose-built for consistent high-heat cooking over many years. The oven’s dual-layer steel construction stands out as particularly durable. |
The DeliVita uses a fiberglass outer shell and a clay-lined interior that retains heat effectively. It feels thoughtfully designed and beautifully handmade, but the lighter build, while stylish, doesn’t feel quite as substantial or solid as the Cru Oven Model 32’s all-metal construction.
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Cru Oven Model 32 VS DeliVita: Temperature Control
The Cru Oven Model 32 reaches around 900°F in about 40 minutes, and maintains heat with decent consistency if you preheat long enough. The removable dome helps manage heat and makes it easier to recover temperatures between batches. A built-in thermometer helps gauge when to bake. |
The DeliVita heats up quickly (15–25 minutes) and gets to 550°C (about 1000°F). However, it relies entirely on adding or reducing wood manually. Without a built-in thermometer, you have to use an infrared gun to know your exact cooking temp, making control more hands-on and less predictable.
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Cru Oven Model 32 VS DeliVita: Shape
The Cru Oven Model 32 has a barrel-shaped dome with a wide front opening (11.8″) and deep interior. This shape circulates hot air evenly, prevents hot spots, and gives plenty of room to move food or rotate pizzas. |
The DeliVita has a compact, traditional dome shape with a smaller interior. While it also distributes heat well, the narrower space feels less versatile for baking larger items or shifting fuel placement compared to the Cru Oven Model 32.
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Cru Oven Model 32 VS DeliVita: First-Time Usage Impressions
The Cru Oven Model 32 took me about a minute to set up—the dome simply lifts onto the base, and it’s ready. Preheating took longer than advertised, but the first Margherita came out evenly cooked with excellent wood-fired flavor. The removable dome made cleanup easy right away. |
The DeliVita came fully assembled and looked great straight out of the box. Lighting the fire was easy, and the oven heated up quickly, but it took practice to manage the peel and rotating the pizza in the compact chamber. The first pizza tasted great, though the edges were a bit scorched.
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Cru Oven Model 32 VS DeliVita: Power Source
The Cru Oven Model 32 uses wood or charcoal. This flexibility makes it easier to adapt to different fuels depending on what flavor you want or how easy it is to start the fire. Wood gives a classic smoky character. |
The DeliVita relies exclusively on wood. The wood flavor is fantastic, but requires frequent refueling with hardwood to keep temperature consistent, which is more hands-on work.
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Cru Oven Model 32 VS DeliVita: Size
With a 20″x16″ cooking surface and wide opening, the Cru Oven Model 32 can handle pizzas up to 15″, large bread loaves, or multiple dishes. At 56 pounds, it’s portable enough for two people to move but still stable. |
The DeliVita is lighter at 66 pounds and compact (internal space 54×50 cm), suited to 12″ pizzas or smaller dishes. While portable, its size makes it less ideal if you want to cook multiple larger items side by side.
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Cru Oven Model 32 VS DeliVita: Ease of Cleaning
One of the Cru Oven Model 32’s biggest strengths is the removable dome. After the fire dies down, you simply lift off the dome, brush out ashes, and wipe the stainless interior. This design makes thorough cleaning fast. |
The DeliVita is also simple to clean—just sweep out ashes and brush debris once cooled. However, because of the lower front opening, it’s harder to reach the back, especially if you’re taller or have large hands.
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