I've tested a lot of pizza ovens over the years, and one of the most important lessons I've learned is to keep the oven on a separate table. Trying to balance a pizza oven on a makeshift stand is dangerous, and keeping it on your main outdoor dining table leaves no room for your guests.
However, pizza oven tables are surprisingly expensive. It can seem like a waste of money to drop a few hundred dollars on a pizza oven table when you could just rest the oven on any old outdoor table.
That said, the pizza pros think a good pizza oven table is worth the money. The chefs I spoke to were unanimous: a pizza oven table can save you a lot of trouble - and here's how.
1. Preparing ingredients
One of the main reasons the experts love pizza oven tables is that they give you a clean, easy surface for preparing ingredients and putting your pizza together.
Chef Steven Chiapetti says 'I love my pizza oven table. Stainless steel makes it easy to clean and gives me an area to properly prepare my pizzas. I like easy, cleanable surfaces and these tables provide a surface to do this. Most have wells or cutouts for you to place your ingredients to make it fast and easy to produce multiple pizzas quickly.'
Other chefs agree. Chef Hakki Adeniz says 'Pizza oven tables are good for chopping and prepping ingredients. To deal with dough and toppings, you must have a firm, stable surface, and these work great. Having enough room is important, especially if you're dedicated to creating the best possible pizza for each and every customer.'
Chef Serge Krikorian adds that on top of places for your ingredients, pizza oven tables include spots for tools. Sege says 'Many also feature additional shelving or side space and hooks, allowing you to hang your utensils and organize everything you need next to your oven.'
Steven Chiappetti is executive chef at the Albert, an Italian American restaurant inspired by his Calabrian heritage, as well as Archive Lounge, a restaurant inspired by his travels in Sicily.
Hakki is the founder of Champion Pizza, an NYC pizza chain with 14 loactions. He is best known for the Discovery+ and Prime Video film "Hi, I'm Hakki," showcasing his unwavering commitment to serving others and making a positive impact.
Chef Serge Krikorian and his wife, Mary Krikorian, started their catering business in 2002 and have been in the family restaurant business since 1994. Having catered thousands of events over the years as Dinner’s Ready, they recently launched Vibrant Occasions Catering.
2. Storing fuel
Pizza oven tables are usually multi-level, which offers an excellent spot for storing the fuel for your oven. Chef Krikorian says 'Many pizza oven tables come with built-in storage options, such as shelves or compartments, making them perfect for storing propane tanks, wood, and other essentials. This keeps your outdoor kitchen organized and ensures everything is easily accessible when you're cooking.'
Chef Chiapetti agrees and points out that because this area is open, it's easy to keep clean and keep hygienic. 'I love the under-counter shelf, it provides a fantastic storage area for the fuel source used on your oven. It's easy to get to and easy to keep clean. Depending on the fuel source of your grill, having a table just for the oven makes is just easy to roll around when using propane in your outdoor kitchen, or easy to clean the ash from wood chips used.'
'A lot of these tables include spaces for wood or propane, keeping everything neat and accessible,' says Chef Hakki Adeniz. 'This is important to someone like myself who enjoys utilizing wood-fired ovens.'
This pizza oven table is packed with features. It has hooks for storing tools and even a bottle opener. However, by far the best feature are the stainless steel pans, perfect for holding your toppings.
Ooni's table is designed for their largest ovens, and has built-in hooks for storage and large space for holding propane or firewood.
If you're on a budget or tight for space, a folding pizza oven table like this is perfect for saving a little space and money. It might be compact, but it can hold a pizza oven of up to 70lbs, twice as much as most pizza domestic pizza ovens.
3. Movement
Pizza ovens are also versatile. Most come on wheels or fold, so you don't have to give them a dedicated corner of the patio and lose any space. You can wheel them in and out as you need them, making your pizza oven a more adaptable appliance.
Serge Krikorian says 'Many pizza oven tables are equipped with wheels or casters, providing mobility. This is ideal for those who want the flexibility to move their oven around the patio for better positioning, whether for shade, airflow, or social gatherings.'
However, bear in mind that pizza ovens are usually pretty heavy, so you won't want to move them too often. Hakki Adeniz says 'These tables can be useful for moving ovens around patios but use caution. Personally, I would store them in one location.'
4. Hosting
Pizza oven tables also make hosting much easier. I've been at parties where the pizza oven is mounted on the main dining table rather than a table off to the side. Don't get me wrong, it was a great party, with every getting to make their own pizza. However, that meant that the pizza oven became the focus of the whole event. It took up half the table, leaving little room for drinks and ingredients, and it was wood fired, and the smell of smoke bothered some people.
A dedicated pizza oven table moves the oven off the main table, creating a little separation. The rest of the party can flow as normal, with delicious pizza cooking in the background without dominating the entire event.
5. Fire proofing
Finally, one of the most important reasons to use a pizza oven table is fire safety. Most people buy a cheap wooden folding table to hold their pizza oven. This Tärnö side table from IKEA is most commonly used, or its dupe on Amazon. However, this could be a fire risk.
Chef Krikorian warns 'While it's possible to use a standard outdoor table, it's not ideal. Most aren't built to handle the weight or high heat of a pizza oven.' The best outdoor pizza ovens reach more than 900°F, so if anything goes wrong, you don't want it sitting on something flammable like wood. This is especially important if you use a wood-fired oven because an ember leaping out of the wood box could start a fire on a wooden table.
What are the drawbacks to a pizza oven table?
The biggest drawback to a pizza oven table is that they're often relatively expensive, or at least more expensive than buying a little side table. On top of that, the stainless steel is hard to style. That's not a big issue if you just need a solid surface for cooking, but if you care about your style, it might look a little strange to have a big stainless steel unit in the middle of your patio.
However, the experts still think it's worth buying a pizza oven table. Chef Hakki Adeniz admits that you can get away with a side table, but says that it makes cooking harder. 'A standard outdoor table would not perform as well but could get the job done. These pizza oven tables are made with specific necessities in mind, such as range of motion, heat resistance, or storage. So, choose a specialty table for the best experience.'
A pizza oven table is just one of the small things that can improve your pizza oven game. Weighing up the best fuel for your oven, the best wood, or just learning how chefs make pizza can all make huge changes to your cooking.
