Breville Smart-Oven Pizzaiolo

Is it unreasonable to start a dedicated thread to this beauty? I know there is a thread dedicated to pizza making and I know there is a dedicated Pizza Making site that has a thread for this oven.

We just purchased this and it would be great to see / learn what experiences others have on LTHF. The Pizza Making site has a lot of "pros" and the existing thread here, while very interesting, is quite a mixed bag.

Just a thought but I would love to share my experiences with this oven and see / hear what others are doing with it.

I'm in, if you like. I've had one since last October and love it. Been making a lot of pan pizzas lately. Here is one from today - toasted walnut, balsamic onion marmalade, blue cheese focaccia.

Looks fantastic Bill SFNM! Your
testimonials on the oven (Pizza Making forum) convinced me to finally pull the trigger on this. Did you use the manual setting(s) for this one? How long and what temp did you use? We did a couple last night but it will be a few more attempts before I'm willing to post pictures of the results...

Always love to read/see you post!

Thank you, Jaholbrook. Manual settings:

8-10 minutes
Deck 700F
Top 450F
Top control even
Pan size 11"
Dough weight 375g

After the obligatory explorations into Neapolitan and New York styles with this oven, I have become fascinated with how it excels for pan pizzas: focaccia, Detroit, Sicilian, Grandma, etc. Blasting the bottom of the pan with high heat to get a golden, crispy, tender crust while gently cooking the toppings at a much lower temp has resulted in some really memorable results. I'm looking forward to seeing your pizzas.

I'm glad to see this thread started because I'm intrigued by the Breville pizza oven and I have some relatives who are too.

If you've both been following this on pizzamaking.com, you've probably seen the recent Serious Eats video review of the Breville pizza oven; if not, I'll post the link.

And this oven does a remarkable job of roasting vegetables at 750F: carrots, potatoes, cauliflower - but especially mushrooms and eggplant. And try roasting some tomatillos, onions, garlic, and chiles for a killer salsa verde.

Other than pizza, you mention roasting vegetables. Can this replace my toaster oven for everything? Can I make toast? I use my toaster oven all the time (also a breville) but dont want to give up the counter space to have both. It looks like there is no direct element heating underneath, but is there above? I would need to flip things but I usually do that anyway in my toaster oven. Is there enough height inside to use a pan to cook anything thicker than pizza? The Alton in me is worried about buying a unitasker, which is one of the main criticisms I see online.

Thanks, Will

Will, it is not exactly a unitasker, but it definitely is not designed to replace your toaster oven. There is one large element beneath the deck and two elements (outer and inner) above. There is very little clearance between the deck and the top elements (one of the reasons this oven is able to nail the delicate balance required for Neapolitan pizzas). But in such close quarters, small differences in distance from the food to the elements have an outsized effect. Anything too close to the upper elements can burn quickly.

I recommend it for all kinds of pizzas, vegetables (and fruits - did some caramelized peaches today!). It also does a great job of reheating pizzas. You could use it for other things, but it might be a stretch.