Compact pizza ovens for the backyard are nothing new. They’re, arguably, the most popular way to make pizza at home these days. As such, we frequently see new models pop up, each one bringing their own twist to try to stand out from the pack. The Burnhard Fat Tony is one of the more interesting new entrants into the category.
A gas-powered pizza oven, this one boasts impressively fast preheating times, allowing you to start cooking actual pizzas in as little as 20 minutes. No need to wait near an hour for the oven to reach those high heat levels that pizza requires – this thing lets you get there in pretty short order.
The Burnhard Fat Tony takes on the familiar shape of compact backyard pizza ovens, with a low height and deep cooking area to maximize the heat distribution. It’s equipped with an L-shaped burner located at the rear-left side of the cooking area, along with a 2cm-thick pizza stone for retaining high amounts of heat. A knob on the right side of the oven lets you adjust the flame size, while a digital readout in front lets you see temperature readings and other pertinent information.
To cook a pizza, you start by preheating the oven, so turn it on, turn up the gas, and put on the heat shield (which is, basically, a cover for the opening). Then, you go to the digital readout and use the buttons to choose what kind of pizza you’re making. Do note, they only offer two options, “Classic” and “Neapolitan,” but your choice will determine the temperatures the oven will try to hit before alerting you that it’s ready for cooking. Once it reaches desired temperatures, a ring on the outer edge of the readout will turn green, which signals it’s ready to start cranking out pizzas. According to the outfit, if you put the heat shield on, the oven should be able to hit 650 degrees Celsius (1200 degrees Fahrenheit) in around 20 minutes, which is pretty quick.
The Burnhard Fat Tony can cook a 13-inch pizza in around 90 seconds. Do note, they do require you to turn the pizza midway through to ensure each side cooks evenly, since the left-rear side of the oven will always be hotter because of the burner’s placement in that position. Other than, though, there’s really nothing else to do.
The readout, by the way, shows two temperature measurements – one for the ambient temperature on the upper right side of the oven and one for the pizza stone. Do note, you’ll need AA batteries to power the readout, so make sure it’s fitted with fresh batteries, if you don’t want to spend your cooking time guessing if the oven is ready. Do note, they recommend removing the digital readout when not in use (it’s detachable) to ensure it doesn’t get damaged from heavy rains and extreme cold temperatures.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Burnhard Fat Tony. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $409.