I Tested the Ooni Volt 2 Indoor Pizza Oven—It Makes It Easy to Cook Pizza Year-Round

Indoor pizza ovens are admittedly a luxury, but if you throw pies on the reg (and find yourself accruing a stack of books on dough hydration), they can be worth the price and counter space. Ooni, one of the big names in the pizza oven game, released its indoor pizza oven, the Volt, a few years back to high acclaim. We tested it and were blown away by how quickly it got that pizza stone ripping hot, baking perfect Neapolitan pies. So when the brand recently released its latest iteration of the Volt, I jumped at the chance to test it. I set it on my countertop, plugged it in, and baked up thin-crust pizzas, Neapolitan pies, Detroit pan pizza, and even naan. 

The Tests 

• Neapolitan Pizza Test: I made two Neapolitan pizzas in the Ooni Volt 2 using the Neapolitan pizza preset. I timed how long it took to reach the preset temperature of 810°F. I also noted how easy it was to throw, turn, and remove the pizzas, and timed how long they took to cook. 
• Detroit Pan Pizza Test: I made a Detroit-style pan pizza in our favorite aluminum Lloyd pan, using the pan pizza function on the oven. The preset temperature was 530°F, but I adjusted it to match the recipe's cooking temperature of 550°F, noting how easy it was to change it. After baking the pizza for 14 minutes, per the recipe, I removed it from the oven and examined how nicely it had baked. 
• Thin-Crust Pizza Test: I made New York-style pizzas using the thin and crispy setting, noting the final texture of the pizza.
• Naan Test: I used the Neapolitan setting to get the oven hot enough to make naan, setting it to 500°F. Then, I threw and rotated each naan one at a time, noting how evenly they baked and if they got bubbly char marks. 

What We Learned

How Is the Ooni Volt 2 Different from the First Version?

The newest Ooni Volt is more compact (though the 13-inch wide interior is the same size), and features a touchscreen and a single dial as opposed to the first versions’ three-dial interface. It also has a larger window and widens the temperature range from 150-850°F to 70-850°F. It adds three pizza presets, too, which I’ll get into below. 

The Digital Screen Has Pros and Cons 

We live in a digital age (hi to the artificial intelligence skimming this article), and features like touchscreens have made their way onto refrigerators and ovens. The Volt 2 also employs a touchscreen, switching from the three-dial user interface (UI) of the first version to a single dial and touchscreen combo. I admit that I was not a fan at first. Ever try to use a touchscreen with floury or doughy fingers? It’s not easy. And even when my hands were clean, sometimes I had to push hard to engage the digital button I was pressing. The symbols for each preset were another thing I didn’t love: It’s not exactly intuitive that a pizza slice symbol means thin and crispy, while a whole pie symbol means Neapolitan (though the symbols are defined in the manual). That said, once I got used to the oven, I did remember which symbol was which, and having the dial to adjust temperatures and set a timer was useful. But I’d still prefer a more manual oven, as the Ooni Volt 2’s busy touchscreen display also meant that I could only view the timer or the temperature at one time.

The Pizza Presets Were Handy, But I Had Frustrations With Other Features

The Ooni has a variety of presets: thin and crispy, Neapolitan, pan pizza, and dough proofing. It also has an oven mode, a broil/grill mode, and two buttons that you can program with your own presets. I liked the pizza presets, with Neapolitan set at 810°F, thin and crispy set to 660°F, and pan pizza set to 530°F. These were adjustable, within certain limits, which was great. I did find it somewhat irritating that the oven mode has a preset of 360°F, which felt like a very random temperature, and a temperature range of 210ºF to 480°F. To broil, you have to use a separate function. In some ways, all the presets and functions were more limiting and time-consuming to figure out than just turning on a pizza oven, adjusting a dial to your preferred temperature, and pressing start. 

The Ooni Volt 2 Indoor Pizza Oven Gets Hot Fast 

I was truly impressed by how quickly the electric-powered Volt 2 heated up. It hit the blisteringly hot 810°F needed to cook leopard-spotted Neapolitan pizzas in 21 minutes, which is on par with most outdoor pizza ovens. It cooked those pies in 120 seconds, which was just a little longer than the advertised 90 seconds, but this could be due to the fact that I had trouble getting the dough thin enough. It also cooked a Detroit pan pizza in 14 minutes when set to 530°F—not too shabby.  

It’s Excellent at Making Pizza and Flatbreads 

If you’re looking for a dedicated indoor oven for high-temperature baking, this is it. As I said, it heated up really fast—hitting 810°F in about 21 minutes—and pizzas and naan cooked very quickly. The Detroit-style pan pizza got nicely crispy, frico-like edges, and the auto-adjust feature lowered the temperature to ensure it didn’t burn. It’s a cool, smart feature that worked well in all my tests. The naan was excellent too—puffed and chewy and with little blisters of char. 

While the Volt proved its versatility in terms of pizzas and flatbreads, the same can’t be said for cooking other items. See, while the Volt does come with a rack, it doesn’t come with a sheet pan that fits the rack. The only sheet pans I had that were small enough to fit inside were eighth-sheet pans, which, while useful, won’t hold a spatchcocked chicken. The interior of the oven isn’t that tall either, so while you could definitely roast vegetables or salmon fillets, you won’t be able to bake a tall loaf of bread or roast any bird larger than a butterflied, small chicken. 

The Verdict

The Ooni Volt 2 indoor pizza oven is compact and countertop-friendly. It heats up and bakes pizzas and flatbread quickly, with perfectly cooked results. If you’re looking for a dedicated indoor pizza oven, it does the job well. 

That said, the UI wasn’t my fave: The touchscreen could be tricky to use, and the symbols take some time to memorize. The presets were helpful, but were also limiting; the oven requires fiddling to get what you want. 

Pros 

If you’re a pizza nerd and want to have access to a pizza oven year-round (or don’t want to brave foul weather to cook pizza in an outdoor oven), then the Volt 2 is a great option. It heated to 810°F in 21 minutes, cooked perfectly crispy-bottomed Neapolitan and New York-style pizzas, and baked a delicious, thick, and frico-edged Detroit pan pizza in under 15 minutes. It also made excellent naan. 

The Ooni Volt 2 is also fairly compact (roughly the same size as my Breville toaster oven), sleek, and light enough to move if you don’t want to keep it on the counter. It comes with a rack and it has oven and broil functionality, too, so you can use it for more than just pizza. 

Cons 

My biggest peeve with the Volt 2 is the user interface: I didn’t love the touchscreen, which was tricky to use with messy hands. While the pizza presets were useful, they were more limiting than just setting the oven temperature yourself. I also don’t need a preset for baking. 

The oven is also somewhat loud, and it takes a long time to cool off, so if you want to stash it after cooking, you’ll have to wait at least 45 minutes for it to be cool enough to touch. 

Key Specs 

• Dimensions: 21.5 x 17.4 x 10.3 inches 
• Weight: 38.8 pounds
• Settings: Neapolitan, Thin & Crispy, Pan Pizza, Oven/Broil, Dough-Proofing, Boost
• Heat range: 70°F to 850°F 
• Stone thickness: 10 millimeters 
• What’s included: Pizza stone, cooking rack

FAQs

Can you use the Ooni Volt 2 indoor pizza oven outside? 

Yes! You can plug the Volt in anywhere with an outlet—it’s electric!  

Why We’re the Experts

• Grace Kelly is a senior editor at Serious Eats.
• Her backyard currently has three pizza ovens, but this is the first indoor pizza oven she’s tested. 
• Her husband benefited greatly from this review.