Solo Stove Pi Fire Review: Turn Your Backyard Fire Pit Into a Pizza Oven

What We Like & Dislike About the Solo Stove Pi Fire

Pros:

• Works with all Solo Stove fire pits
• Comes with carrying case and fire-proof gloves
• Uses split wood as a fuel source (rather than propane gas or pellets)
• Heats up quickly and maintains temperature with minimal maintenance
• Available in three sizes to suit different Solo Stove fire pit models
• With a base price of $190, the Pi Fire Ranger is half the price of an Ooni Koda and a full $1,800 less than the robust Gozney outdoor pizza oven

Cons:

• Requires the purchase of a Solo fire pit
• Does not come with wood pizza peeler or steel turner tools
• Bulky design may not store well in smaller spaces or apartments
• Common Ranger and Bonfire models only offer 12” and 14” respective cooking surfaces

Solo Stove Pi Fire Review

With the Bonfire size fire pit in place, my primary test would be a weeknight pizza party (high stakes!). Though I usually like to make my own dough, time constraints and a pressing deadline led me to my neighborhood pizza shop, which was happy to sell me a couple of portions of their fresh dough. (A highly recommended move for fellow desk jockeys.)

Before prepping the toppings, I lit a generous fire to get the stone inside Pi Fire nice and hot. Using a laser thermometer made it easy to get a quick read of the stone’s temperature and maintain a target temp of 650ºF—a hot cooking surface makes for a swift and happy rise in the pizza crust! At this temp, I found the Pi Fire only took 7-8 minutes to bake a pizza.

And, thanks to the efficient design of the Solo’s fire pits, ample airflow made feeding the fire to maintain the target temperature easy and without constant log-turning. And smoke-free, too.

With minimal dough-stretching mishaps, I successfully chef’d up four Instagram Story-worthy pepperoni and plain cheese pies on my first go with the Pi Fire, all in the comfort of the concrete and fence-lined oasis of my little PHL backyard. Before you begin your wood-fired pizza journey, I’d like to pass on some learnings I’d pass to a budding pizzaiolo.

Pro Tips for Using the Pi Fire Pizza Oven

• While readying your pizza, flour the underside of your dough well and work quickly distributing toppings to make for a hassle-free launching into the oven
• Check the stone temperature between pies; you may need to add a log or two to the fire during a cooking session to maintain optimial temps
• Rotate the pizza a couple times while cooking to minimize hot spots and uneven cooking

If you’re thinking about adding a pizza oven to your culinary arsenal, I think Solo’s Pi Fire is a smart system that integrates with one of the most popular (and best looking) backyard fire pits available. Aside from the ease of use and reliability to turn out fantastico za, its split wood fuel source might be one of the most overlooked features compared to alternatives that require metal tanks of propane or wood pellets packaged in plastic bags to provide heat.

Overall, the Pi Fire is recommended.

SHOP FROM SOLO STOVE