(Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment in a series about opening a mobile pizzeria by Jason Cipriani, co-owner of Sips & Pies. You can read the other articles here.)

Last week, I discussed selecting the right style of pizza for your business and why I chose Neapolitan-style. With that decision out of the way, what I expected to be an easy choice turned out to be one of the most difficult of this entire process: deciding which oven to use.

Multiple factors that complicated the oven selection, but ultimately my own indecisiveness was the biggest issue my wife and I had to overcome.

Too Much Power

As you may recall from a previous column, my “aha! moment” to open a mobile pizzeria came after I reviewed a portable electric pizza oven. I wanted to use that same portable electric oven due to its simplicity and ability to provide a consistent temperature. Being versatile enough for Detroit or Neapolitan styles also was incredibly appealing.

I figured we could use two of them – maybe three – to handle multiple orders, and we’d have no problem keeping up with demand. At $1,000 per oven, I didn’t mind investing in a few of them, because the overall cost wasn’t that much, all things considered.

Then, I started looking into the power requirements of multiple portable electric ovens, and I knew I was chasing a dream that just wasn’t feasible in a mobile setting. Each portable oven runs at up to 1,600 Watts. Multiply that times three ovens (maybe more?),  and the power requirements start to get restrictive. Granted, there are plenty of gas-powered generators that could do the job, but they’re pricey, loud and smelly.

Not to mention, since the beginning, I’ve been dead set on not dealing with a traditional gas-powered generator. I wanted a power station or a series of battery packs to power our setup. And when you start pricing a battery solution to run three ovens for several hours, it adds up fast. Sticker shock is real.

Portable Gas Pizza Ovens, Then?

Once I ruled out electric ovens, I quickly focused on portable, gas-powered ovens. A propane oven with a temperature knob allowed me to fine-tune the temperature with minimal effort, leading to a more consistent end product for the customer. The overall investment in several portable gas ovens would be about $2,000 for three 16-inch ovens, making them even more attractive.

I scoured the internet for examples of mobile pizzerias using portable ovens – usually several at once – and reached out to as many of them as I could. I’d always ask the same questions about meeting demand with the small ovens. Some replied, stating it could be an issue on really busy days, but overall they said it had been a non-issue as they learned the nuances of load balancing.

I’ll dive into more detail about my experience with health and fire department regulations and guidance about these ovens in a future column, but one roadblock we ran into when trying to use these non-commercial-certified ovens in a commercial setting was that neither agency could agree on what was allowed. The health department would tell us to do one thing, and the fire department would come back and say, “No, you can’t do that, but do this instead. …” I’ll bet you can guess what the health department would say in return. Rinse and repeat.

We could have jumped through multiple hoops to make both departments happy and use portable gas ovens – and for a long time, I was dead-set on doing just that. I couldn’t make myself commit to it, however. Yes, we could make work, but it always felt like we were settling.

Wood-fired Pizza Ovens

From Day One of planning a pizzeria, using a wood-fired oven was a nonstarter for me. I didn’t want to have to source wood – let alone split it before every service. I didn’t want to have to manage a fire while also managing pizzas in the oven.

As I researched various setups and ovens, I fell victim to confirmation bias at every turn, only picking out the downsides to using a wood-fired oven.

In July 2024, I attended Wood Fired University, and it turned my entire journey upside down – for the better.

When I arrived at Wood Fired University in Denver, I made it clear to the staff that I wasn’t there to learn about their trailers or ovens, I just wanted to learn more about running a mobile pizzeria. I had my mind made up about using a propane oven, and that was that.

I remember rolling my eyes on the first day as Chef Tommy Garnick walked us through the history of wood fire ovens, touting the romantic benefits as a selling point. But as the class progressed and I was able to go hands-on with the ovens, learning more about the nuances (both good and bad), I started to feel skeptical romanticism.

On the last day of school, we paired off into teams, each one of us running a catering event, serving dozens of pizzas. By the end of it all, I was sold.

Managing a fire wasn’t as much work as I had built it up to be in my mind. There was plenty of space to bake multiple pizzas at the same time, and the learning curve wasn’t that steep – as evidenced by a bunch of rookies at the school serving dozens of pizzas after just a four-day crash course.

Next, it was time to start looking for a truck or trailer that could accommodate a wood-fired oven.

JASON CIPRIANI is the owner of Sips & Pies, a mobile wood-fired pizzeria serving Neapolitan-inspired pizza, in Colorado.