Soot, semolina and 62kg of steel: how I chased the perfect pizza

Slice of the action … behind the scenes of our pizza oven tests. Photograph: Rachel Ogden/The GuardianView image in fullscreenSlice of the action …

behind the scenes of our pizza oven tests. Photograph: Rachel Ogden/The GuardianSoot, semolina and 62kg of steel: how I chased the perfect pizzaOur reviewer’s quest for the best pizza oven was no picnic. Plus, Jess Cartner-Morley’s July essentials and running backpacks, tested Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox?

Sign up hereIn improv, actors are taught to say yes and figure out the details as they go. I felt a similar way about reviewing pizza ovens. Say yes!

And work out the logistics later.Never mind that my garden is full of obstacles. Never mind that there are steps everywhere, and that the wooden decking is so dry and prone to scorching.

All easily overlooked when contemplating the delights of homemade pizza. I mean, who doesn’t like pizza? A Eurobeat-style German pop song called We Like Pizza says it best.

This was the thinking that led me to review seven of the best pizza ovens in my small outdoor space. As I was testing in colder months, and had to keep them safe from freezing rain showers and blustery wind over several weeks, they all lived in my office between tests. It made reaching my desk an obstacle course worthy of Gladiators.

A mixture of soot, flour and semolina littered the floor, while I squeezed around stands, held my breath as I brushed past precariously perched ovens, and inevitably tripped over discarded accessories.Of course, this wasn’t my first brush with working while appliances occupy every scrap of space – my office has simultaneously housed 13 toasters, 13 kettles, 10 juicers, and many, many air fryers. But it is the first time I’ve felt truly surrounded.

Pizza ovens are big. Awkward. Heavy.

When you get seven of them in an office, it really does start to block out the daylight.A heavyweight contenderView image in fullscreen‘Compact, efficient and robust’: the Gozney Arc Lite. Photograph: Rachel Ogden/The GuardianSpeaking of weight, while I was prepared for some heavy lifting – it’s not my first pizza oven rodeo – the heft of some astonished me.

The largest, the Gozney Dome, came in at 62kg, meaning I had to rope in my other half to help me lift it out of the box using straps and on to its stand. I later noticed it was recommended as a four-person lift, so I am grateful to the pizza oven gods that it didn’t crush us both.After much testing, munching, a little burning, and only a few facefuls of eye-watering smoke, a clear winner emerged in the form of another Gozney: the Arc Lite.

Compact, efficient and robust, it offered almost everything you’d want in a pizza oven. It’s less of an investment than some, but for those who aren’t quite ready to spend that much, I selected ProCook’s outdoor pizza oven as the best budget buy: under £200, and its stone even rotates for perfectly cooked crusts.Before I knew it, it was time for them to depart.

Some returned to their makers while the rest were donated to London’s Community Kitchen, a grassroots organisation that tackles food insecurity and waste, runs community spaces, food trucks and other initiatives to support people who don’t have access to good, nutritious food (we also donated some of the BBQs we tested).There is a tangible sense of lightness when seven large objects leave your space. Although, actually, it’s six, as I’m continuing to test the Gozney Arc Lite over the next year to assess its long-term use.

Fortunately, it only takes up a corner of my office, but it does have the ability to make me crave a margherita with a single glance. Because for most of us, whether it’s afternoon or evening, one thing is always true: We Like Pizza.This week’s picks Your swimwear is probably made from plastic.

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Monica HorridgeDeputy editor, the FilterIn case you missed it …View image in fullscreenZoë Phillimore has been busy testing for our roundup of the best water bottles throughout the recent heatwaves, and has now tested 53. New additions include a Ninja bottle that promises to keep fiz