Bake Pizza in Minutes!
As a former New Yorker, I’m good to say that I know good pizza.
I’ll start out by saying that I was raised in an Italian family in New York, so I am a pizza connoisseur. In fact, Friday night has always been pizza night in our house.
However, with a continually growing extended family, one pizza pie is not enough anymore, so the cost of picking up multiple pizzas at our favorite pizzeria is ridiculously high.
The solution: Make our own delicious crispy crust pizzas with bubbling cheese at home. Even better, buy a designated indoor pizza oven that cooks pizza in minutes and allows each family member to select their favorite dough, sauce, and toppings.
Why I selected the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven CPZ-120
There were many indoor pizza ovens to choose from, so I did some in-person browsing in my local stores and comparison shopped online. The notoriety of the Cuisinart brand matched with the price, the product features, and the overall look, style, and size of the appliance, helped me make my decision to purchase the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven CPZ-120.
Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven is a Slice Above the Rest
If you’re wondering why we did not choose an outdoor pizza grill, we now live in Florida, so spending time cooking outdoors in the summer heat is brutal, and any traces of food left in an outdoor pizza oven will no doubt attract wildlife.
Enjoying fresh, homemade pizza is quick and easy at home with the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven. You have the option to make 12″ New York style pizzas, deep dish, and Detroit styles. A 12″ pizza is the perfect size to customize with as many toppings of your choice.
Using radiant heat, this pizza oven reaches 700°F, the recommended temperature to yield melted cheese and a crispy crust. The active cooling technology with internal fans cools the electronics and oven’s exterior during and after use.
What is Included With the Pizza Oven
In addition to the pizza oven, you also get the following:
:: 12.5″ pizza stone for delectably crispy crust
:: Enameled deep dish pan (12″Lx12″Wx1.5H”) for specialty pizzas
:: Foldable pizza peel for sliding pies in and out of the oven
Cuisinart Pizza Oven: Nothing But the Facts
Choose from three stylish color finishes to coordinate with your other kitchen appliances or add a splash of color. I selected the black matte color, so it doesn’t show fingerprints and other spots.
Choose from these stylish colors:
:: Stainless Steel
:: Black Matte
:: Red
Pizza oven features:
:: Cooks homemade pizza in minutes
:: Temperature range 350°F-700°F, ideal for different pizza styles
:: Indoor use with special radiant heat and cooling technology
:: Large 12.5″ square pizza stone
:: Easy to use controls
:: Countdown timer
:: Large viewing window with light allows viewing of cooking progress
:: Stone and crumb tray easily remove to clean
:: Cooking guide for quick reference and inspiration
:: Limited 3-year warranty
Pizza oven specifications:
:: Dimensions: 17.5″L x 19″W x 11″H
:: Power: 1800 Watts
:: Weight: 35lbs
Pros and Cons of the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven CPZ-120
The Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven has exceeded our expectations and there are many pros to this must-have item. It’s simple to operate and we have perfected achieving our favorite level of crispy crusts. The ability to bake homemade New York Style pizza in just minutes adds to its appeal. Using the included deep-dish pan to make Detroit-style pizzas takes about 15 minutes but so worth the extra minutes.
We have had so much fun watching the pizza bake through the viewing window. Slightly protective over our pizza creations, we take turns monitoring the cooking process without having to open the oven door. Rest assured, the built-in digital timer lets us know when the scheduled pizza time is complete.
The BIGGEST pro about owning a Cuisinart Indoor Pizza oven is for homes like mine, that have a family member with food allergies. By making homemade pizza, you remove the possibility of allergen cross contamination often found at restaurants.
Here are a few things to note. They are not necessarily cons … but things to keep in mind.
>> It takes a bit of time to preheat. So plan ahead to allow the oven to reach the ideal temperatures between 350°F-700°F – approximately 20 to 30 minutes.
>> It does make a sound during operation so it could be deemed a distraction. But it doesn’t really bother us.
>> Every now and then, a pizza baked in this oven cooks unevenly, so we are sure to arrange toppings evenly.
>> Placing the dough on the pizza peel takes some practice as does sliding the pizza off the peel and into the oven. We shared many laughs over our dough issues.
An Extra Perk When Entertaining Guests
Not only is this pizza oven a great way to serve hot, fresh, and creative pizzas anytime you crave pizza, but it’s also ideal for a “make your own pizza” party! Each person can design their own pizza with creative toppings and in a few minutes, each pizza will be ready to eat. Our dinner guests are so impressed with our homemade pizza that many have gone out and purchased their own Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven.
Is the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven CPZ-120 Cost Justified?
If you anticipate making homemade pizza at least once a week for the whole family or hosting regular pizza parties, it’s well worth spending the money on this appliance. This model falls in the mid-price range of competitor pizza ovens.
Consider this …
… the average cost of a regular eight slice cheese pizza with toppings from an authentic Italian restaurant cost $20.00 a pie! And what I mean by “authentic” is the real, family-owned establishments, NOT a Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, and other pizza franchises.
Let’s do some math. This item costs as low as $245 on sale … average price $349.95… and higher at some online sites. Working with the average price of $349.95 is the equivalent of buying ONLY 17 pizzas, yet you’ll be cooking hundreds of pizzas as this amazing appliance can be used for years to come. If you bake even two pizzas a week in the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven, that’s 104 pizzas in one year that would cost you $2080 in an Italian pizzeria!
Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven CPZ-120 Delivers Pizza Perfection
This pizza oven cooks delicious pizza, but it looks beautiful on our kitchen island, too. We use it so often that it didn’t make sense to store it away in a cabinet. And if you’re wondering, this pizza oven can yield tastier, crispier pizza than you can make in a standard kitchen oven. It consistently gives us delicious results.
A few last notes: When you first begin using the Cuisinart Pizza Oven, you may want to buy ready-made pizza dough. Even pizza experts would say that it takes some practice to perfect dough making.
As we perfected our homemade pizzas, we learned to purchase more healthy ingredients including the types of dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings. Whoever said that pizza wasn’t healthy did not make their own pizza at home with the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza oven.
Lastly, we still visit Anthonys, our favorite family-owned pizzeria in town, to visit the staff and purchase cannoli for dessert. Until Cuisinart creates a cannoli machine, we will still buy ours from the bakery at Anthony’s Italian restaurant.
