Solo Stove Pizza Ovens: Pi or Pi Prime?

The Pi Prime is the one most families should buy. It's gas-only, lighter, quicker to set up, and cheaper — you turn a dial and you're 15 minutes from pizza. If the words 'tend the fire' sound like a chore, the Prime was built for you.

The original Pi is for the fire-lovers. With the right burner it cooks over real wood — using Solo Stove's famous airflow trick for a clean, roaring flame without a face full of smoke — or over gas when you're tired. It's the more flexible oven, but the burners are bought separately, so the flexibility isn't free. Two ovens, one easy call. As decisions go, it's easy as Pi.

Both ovens share the same great bones: a round stainless body that looks fantastic on a patio, a demi-dome shape that bounces heat down onto the cheese, and a big, wide mouth. That wide mouth matters more than any spec sheet number — it gives nervous first-timers room to launch and turn a pizza without panic. Both bake a proper 12-inch pizza at around 900°F in about 90 seconds.

The differences are fuel and fuss. The Pi Prime is sealed around its built-in gas burner: simpler, lighter, faster to light. The Pi is modular — wood burner, gas burner, or both over time. If you're torn, be honest about your weeknights. Most people who 'might do wood someday' are gas people. Nothing wrong with that — the pizza can't tell the difference nearly as much as the internet says.

Here's the honest matchup. Ooni beats Solo Stove on choice — more sizes, more fuels, lighter ovens. Gozney beats it on raw build heft. But Solo Stove wins two categories outright: looks and launch-friendliness. The Pi is the best-looking oven in the yard, and that wide mouth is the most beginner-friendly opening in this class.

So the Solo Stove buyer is usually someone whose patio is part of the fun — the oven stays out, looks like sculpture between pizza nights, and makes first-timers feel like naturals. If you need a 16-inch pizza or a trunk-friendly travel oven, look at Ooni. If you want the prettiest 12-inch pizza machine on the block, you've found it.

First: the Pi's fuel flexibility costs extra. The wood and gas burners are separate purchases, and adding both puts you in premium-oven territory. Budget for the whole setup you actually want, not just the sticker on the oven.

Second: there's no big-pizza option. Both ovens top out at 12 inches, so a hungry crew means cooking in rounds — one pie in, one pie sliced, repeat. Third: at around 30 pounds with a round body and no folding legs, the Pi is happiest as a patio fixture, not a road-tripper. It's a homebody. Honestly, same — and pizza night at home is the whole point.