Where do you Turn to Upgrade Your Portable Pizza Oven?

Pizza oven owners are getting left behind by the barbecuing fraternity, who are now increasingly upgrading their BBQ equipment to achieve more sophistication and capability in cooking.   And the reason?  Mainly because pizza oven owners have not followed suit and upgraded their metal box pizza ovens to a wood-fired oven that can cook virtually anything.

John Lewis has reported a 100% increase in sales of its premium barbecue range over the past 12 months, whilst BBQ manufacturer Weber has also signalled that its premium models are flying out of the door.[i]

Gastronomy is the order of the day, particularly thanks to more chefs cooking with fire, but how does a portable pizza oven owner upgrade their woodfired pizza oven, without getting their fingers burned?

How do you find a good woodfired pizza oven?

This is the key question.  Sometimes in life, people shout too loud and that has certainly been the case with a large number of so-called pizza oven manufacturers, who have flooded the market with what are undoubtedly bigger pizza ovens than the portable variety, but very often sub-standard ones.

Component parts used in some of these pizza ovens have been sadly lacking, whether they have been parts actually designed for use in storage heaters, or micro-mesh inserted into the dome of the pizza oven.  The latter has simply expanded and contracted under heating and cooling, leading concrete around it to crumble.

The difficulty in sourcing a top quality woodfired pizza oven

The issue with the majority of woodfired pizza ovens around today is that they have been designed to try to ape something that cannot be matched or improved.  Their manufacturers actually know that.  The oven they all aspire to be is our own Orchard Ovens-supplied Valoriani oven, made lovingly in Tuscany by artisans who have been plying their trade in refractory clay products for generations.

Valoriani does not use second-rate materials.  It does not deviate from the optimal design it created after the Second World War, which delivers exactly the right airflow for first-class cooking of food.  It does not compromise on build quality, whether that is in the depth of the floor and dome or the level of insulation built into each oven.  It is the only manufacturer that makes both oven floor and dome in house, keeping high levels of control over the production process.  For Valoriani, each oven is a labour of love, not a pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheapish product.  Having said that, many of the sub-standard ovens are certainly not cheap.

Why poor pizza ovens catch homeowners out

When you aim for mass market, you can get in front of consumers easily. The chances are that those who have upgraded from a portable oven have fallen into the trap of purchasing one of these bigger ovens, because it has been visible.  The probability, however, is that it has let them down remarkably quickly, making its purchase a waste of money.  So where do their friends or family turn, if they are unaware of the ‘king of clay’ – the Valoriani oven?  The answer is ‘nowhere’.  They are stuck with the restrictions imposed on their culinary ambition by a portable pizza oven.

Therein lies the issue for the pizza oven market, where we are not seeing the upgrading behaviour seen with barbecues.  People just do not seem to know where to turn to get the proper, authentic pizza oven that they see on their holidays in Italy and other Mediterranean countries.  There is a reason why Valoriani sells ovens worldwide and why top chefs and celebrities only buy Valoriani.  Because it’s the best in class and because they know that.

Of course some chefs might endorse something else but when it comes to what they are cooking with in private, you will usually see the V for Valoriani in evidence.

Homeowners who chose a quality wood-fired pizza oven

Don’t imagine, however, that these A-listers are alone.  Orchard Ovens has loyal advocates for its Valoriani ovens amongst everyday homeowners across Britain and beyond.  These people have not had to ditch or swap their ovens since they first got them, with some of them cooking in their authentic Valoriani Tuscan woodfired ovens for 20 years now.  They simply love their Valoriani wood-fired ovens and would not dream of changing them.  That says everything.  These customers provide the social proof that tells us that our Valoriani garden (or indoor pizza ovens), once purchased, are a fantastic investment and well worth every penny.

So, the upgrade behaviour in pizza ovens may not have occurred yet, but those who do want a better woodfired oven that can cook way more than pizza, do have somewhere to turn, and a woodfired oven brand at their disposal which they can trust implicitly.  

They just have to call Orchard Ovens, on 07743 847647 and put a Valoriani at the centre of their life, their socialising and their family memories.  They won’t be let down and their garden oven parties will be elevated to a whole new level.

[i] https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jun/19/luxury-barbecue-outdoor-cooking-uk-summer

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Editors notes

Orchard Ovens is the domestic and commercial pizza oven supplier in the UK of Valoriani, based in Reggello, Tuscany - the manufacturer of Italy's hugely respected Valoriani pizza ovens, known as the Maserati of pizza ovens and the kings of clay. These ovens are made from superb refractory clay - cotto clay - found in the family's quarry and unique, thanks to having just the right alumina. This allows Valoriani ovens to heat up quickly and retain heat superbly, bring huge advantages to homeowners, as well as restaurant owners, hotels, pubs, mobile caterers, pizzerias, takeaways and more.

Orchard Ovens supplies some of Britain's best-known restaurants and chefs, whilst it is also a specialist creator of outdoor kitchens and wood-fired oven builds for the rich and famous, as well as everyday homeowners wishing to add value to their home and enjoy an outdoor lifestyle to the full.