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Gozney Dome (Gen 2): Two-minute review
The Dome (Gen 2) is a beast. Eating 16-inch pizzas for breakfast and capable of firing multiple smaller pizzas at once, the Dome (Gen 2) and its even bigger Dome XL (Gen 2) sibling are something you’d expect in a commercial kitchen rather than in an urban backyard. This big presence is met with refined design and elegant coloring, giving it the personality to be the centerpiece of the most bourgeoisie of outdoor kitchens.
This grand oven is pitched by Gozney as a great outdoor all-rounder and while I agree with this sentiment, the truth is that your kitchen oven is easier to use for most oven-baked dishes and your stock standard barbecue is arguably more versatile. But what these other devices can’t do is make pizza, and the Dome (Gen 2) is the most competent and easy to master pizza oven that a backyard has ever been graced with.
Gozney’s decision to add a second thermometer under the thick pizza stone compliments the usual ambient temperature gauge and gives relatively inexperienced pizza makers the keys to the kingdom for perfectly cooked pizza every time. But the company has also shifted the dial meaningfully on wood-fired cooking capabilities with the new active rechargeable fan that lets you boost oxygen input to quickly adjust the oven’s temperature as if you’re cooking with gas.
The opportunity for wood-fire or charcoal cooking is where you start to see some of the real versatility of the oven, which can be used to infuse wood-cooked flavors into a variety of dishes that would otherwise require another separate technical oven like a Green Egg or an Argentinian grill.
The included dual meat probes and capability for high-heat cooking means it’s can cook proteins particularly well, possibly better than many barbecues if you pair it with a cast-iron skillet. The new lateral gas burners and redesigned interior arch stretch the flames and heat further and more evenly across the top of the oven, and while the ovens are bigger, they’re more efficient than their predecessor, using only fractionally more gas despite the additional internal space.
The new Dome and Dome XL Gen 2 ovens boast a number of new features that offer major advantages over the original design, but the headline act has to be the bigger internal space added without making the oven considerably bulkier. This additional internal floorspace means that the oven is large enough to cook multiple pizzas or dishes simultaneously, making it capable of serving large dinner parties.
The large cooking space is paired with the ability to achieve sustained temperatures up to 500ºC/932ºF for perfect pizzas in quick rotation, which also allows the user to experiment with wood-fire cooking and smoking to make it an extremely versatile outdoor oven that will appeal to a lot of people.
Gozney Dome (Gen 2) review: Price & availability
- Dome (Gen 2): $2,300 / £2,000 / AU$2,999
- Dome XL (Gen 2): $2,800 / £2,500 / AU$3,999
The Dome XL (Gen 2) is at the top of Gozney’s current range of pizza ovens and at $2,800 / £2,500 / AU$3,999 the price is a major consideration for any one looking for an outdoor pizza oven. If you’re a sporadic at-home pizza maker, dropping this much cash is steep and, to be honest, the Gozney Arc at $699 / £600 / AU$1,200 or the Tread for $500 / £500 / AU$899 are excellent ovens that’ll more than scratch this level of itch.
Where the Dome (Gen 2) – listed at $2,300 / £2,000 / AU$2,999 – really starts to make a lot of sense is if you're after a professional-level pizza oven at home. Reputable built-in ovens start at more than double what you’re looking at for the Dome (Gen 2) and there are a lot of trade-offs you’ll have to consider if you do go the built-in route. The Dome (Gen 2) may lose out a little on overall thermal mass, but the dual-fuel versatility and Wood-fire Control Kit ($200 / £175 / AU$299), offers additional temperature control that makes it notably easier than managing a traditional pizza oven.
The Dome (Gen 2) can sit directly on the countertop of your outdoor kitchen or can be purchased with the Dome (Gen 2) Series Stand for an extra $500 / £500 / AU$849. The Gozney accessories are all crafted to the same standard as the ovens themselves, so the stand combines sturdy and durable materials with handy hooks for hanging peels, holding gas cylinders and storing wood.
The Dome (Gen 2) Door ($100 / £90 / $149) is a handy bit of kit for those looking to use the oven for cooking anything under about 500ºF/250ºC, and the Dome (Gen 2) Mantle ($170 / £140 / $249) helps you use a peel to rotate pizzas and makes it easier to check on dishes using cast-iron pans, baking dishes or dutch ovens.
Gozney’s more recent Pro Placement Peels start at $90 / £90 / AU$179 for a 12-incher, but they are a big step forward from earlier iterations and have a more dispersed perforation pattern to help your bases slide on and off better. Even the $60 16-inch Acacia Wood Pizza Peel and Server boards earn their keep by giving you a board big enough to build on that’ll keep your pizza from sweating, sticking and ripping as can happen when using a metal peel.
Even the Dome (Gen 2) Neapolitan Arch ($60 / £50 / AU$89) makes it considerably easier to give your pizzas perfect leopard spots, although it’s important to note that it’ll make the opening of the Dome (Gen 2) too narrow to get a big 16-inch pizza peel in.
Gozney Dome (Gen 2) review: Specs
The Dome and Dome XL (Gen 2) ovens are both larger than the original Dome, offering 40% and 90% more internal cooking space respectively. While they’re big jumps in cooking real estate, the ovens actually only take up 17% and 43% more floor space than their predecessors respectively. The (Gen 2) range also includes dual temperature readouts so you can easily see the difference between your stone and ambient oven temperatures.
Both ovens come with LPG gas connections included, with compatibility for the optional Wood-fire Control Kit. Since it’s such a core feature, it would have made sense to include this by default, but those interested in gas only will appreciate the discount.
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Max temp: |
500ºC / 932ºF |
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Heat time: |
40 – 45 minutes |
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Pizza capacity: |
1 x 16-inch pizza or 2x 10-inch pizzas |
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Weight: |
136lbs / 62kg |
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External dimensions incl. flue (HWD): |
986 x 826 x 652 mm / 38.8 x 32.5 x 25.7 in |
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Oven mouth size (HW): |
140mm x 419mm / 5.2 x 16.5in |
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Max temp: |
500ºC / 932ºF |
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Heat time: |
40 – 45 minutes |
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Pizza capacity: |
1 x 18-inch pizza or 2x 12-inch pizzas |
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Weight: |
161lbs / 73kg |
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External dimensions incl. flue (HWD): |
997 x 946 x 697 mm / 39.3 x 37.2 x 27.4 in |
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Oven mouth size (HW): |
140mm x 470 mm / 5.2 x 18.5 in |
Gozney Dome (Gen 2) review: Design & features
- Wood and gas temperature control
- Extremely spacious
- Stylish design
The overall material selection and considered design of the Dome (Gen 2) ovens are bold enough to make them a hero piece in even the most luxe outdoor kitchens, but the Bone and Off Black color options are also subdued enough to not clash with your home’s unique style.
This wide appeal and versatility continues through the overall design allowing users to make more than just excellent pizza, but also indulge in high-heat steak sears, wood-fired veggies and smoky slow cooks on occasions when you really want to lean into your outdoor cooking.
The original Dome included an adjustable air intake vent to facilitate some control over the heat generated by the wood fire, but the Dome (Gen 2) takes this convenient feature a step further by adding a rechargeable fan that actively pumps air through the burning wood to dramatically increase the level of temperature control. This active ventilation even includes a boost function to supercharge oxygen delivery and considerably speed up temperature-saturation time. The residual ash and other prep requirements mean the option to wood fire your pizza is more work than gas, but the additional airflow control makes this the easiest wood-fire oven on the market.
While Gozney has done an amazing job reducing the additional work in wood-fire cooking, the immediacy and control of gas means it’s still likely to be the go-to fuel for your day-to-day pizza making. The Dome (Gen 2) incorporates the lateral burner design that debuted on the Arc range and combines it with the reengineered ceiling shape to enable the flames to stretch right across to the far side of the oven. This helps to spread heat across the 30mm cordierite stone base during warmup and cooks pizzas more uniformly from the top down.
There’s a new digital interface powered by a rechargeable battery that’ll get you through 10 pizza sessions (at least) before needing a recharge. The new display comes with an easy-to-use timer with readings for both stone base and ambient oven temperatures, which does away with the need for remote thermometers and guesswork.
For those that do want to cook non-pizza dishes, the Dome (Gen 2) comes with a pair of meat probes that plug directly into the display to help you cook proteins to the desired level using higher heat or wood-fire methods that would otherwise be a little tricky to translate.
The other main design feature is the flu extension, which helps maintain airflow and improves resilience in windy weather. The oven works best with little to no wind, but it’s also fine in winds that approach from behind the oven. If you do have gusts blowing directly in and you can’t reorient the wheeled oven stand, you’ll need to use the door (or a baking tray) a little off the mouth as a windbreak to help you maintain temperature control.
- Design & features score: 5/5
Gozney Dome (Gen 2) review: Performance
- Perfect pizza every time
- Solid thermal retention
- Easy wood-fire operation
It’ll come as no surprise that the Dome (Gen 2) is exceptional at cooking pizza. It nails the basics of being able to sustain 932oF/500oC temps and has a stone base thick enough to cook dough as quickly as the toppings, but all Gozney’s ovens (and many others) are able to achieve this.
Where this range really begins to separate from the pack is in offering a balance of insulation and thermal mass that facilitates back-to-back pizzas in minutes. The added luxury of cooking multiple pizzas at once without seeing major dips in core temperature means you can upscale your production and host larger pizza parties with confidence.
Nothing on the market comes close to the added speed and convenience of wood-fired pizza that the active fan adds. The fan boost function brings the control almost up to the level you get from gas-fired pizza making. This reduces the effort and required skill down considerably and means that frequent wood-fired pizza is a feasible staple rather than an occasional labor of love. This makes the Dome (Gen 2) a difficult option to pass up for anyone serious about wood-fire pizza.
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Throw in the additional height of the Dome (Gen 2) Series stand and it elevates the cooking platform to a comfortable shoulder level for easier delivery and retrieval, plus it makes for better visibility without the need for crouching.
If you really want to perfect your traditional Neapolitan pizzas, then the Arch accessory intensifies the oven’s capacity to maintain perfect ambient temperatures for leopard spots. In fact, all the accessories add convenience or expand capabilities in different ways that do not disappoint.
The larger mouth opening means you can fit a dutch oven or taller pot in and the additional floor space can accommodate a pair of cast-iron skillets or multiple baking trays side by side. All of which adds considerable versatility to your outdoor cooking capabilities.
If you're hoping to use it more as an oven at lower temperatures, don’t expect it to be quite as easy as your electric oven. Maybe in Gen 3 we’ll get a wood-fire thermostat, but for now it still requires active management. The Door does reduce temperature loss to a degree every two or three seconds, so you can prep other dishes or have a short conversation before firing it up again.
The new series does miss out on the Steam Injector bread-making attachment, but given the oven is much better at high-heat cooking, it’s a sensible sacrifice that made way for the improved internal oven arch and heat distribution.
Should you buy the Gozney Dome (Gen 2)?
Buy it if…
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Gozney Dome (Gen 2) review: Also consider
Gozney Dome (Gen 2) review: How I tested
- Cooked over 40 pizzas
- Noted heat-up time and used a thermometer for temperature readings
- Used all available fuels
I tested the pizza oven over a period of a couple of months, making pizzas frequently for guests, family dinners and sometimes even for lunch.
Various other kitchen utensils were utilized to explore the versatility of the oven and all accessories mentioned (with the exception of the wood-fire kit) were tested for usability and frank feedback on each has been provided. The wood-fire kit was in short supply at the time of testing and will be tested following the review publication. The review will be updated with any pertinent findings at a later date.
The internal stopwatch was used to measure heat-up time and an infrared thermometer was used to verify the internal thermometer’s readings.
The oven was tested at various temperatures and using a range of settings to cook different toppings.
Over 40 pizzas and other dishes were cooked before coming to a final conclusion.
