Koda 16 – Gas-Powered Pizza Oven

Ooni Koda 16 Gas Pizza Oven. 40cm Baking Surface, 500 Degrees in 20 Minutes, Pizza in 60 Seconds.

Ooni Koda 16 is a propane-powered outdoor pizza oven from the Scottish brand Ooni. Not an electric oven for the kitchen, not a grill attachment, not a multi-fuel oven for wood or charcoal.

Ooni Koda 16 is Ooni's large gas pizza oven with a 16-inch baking surface — 40 centimeters, measured by the diameter of the cordierite pizza stone. When you place the Koda 16 on your garden table, connect the propane gas bottle, and turn the knob, the L-shaped burner at the back wall shoots a semi-circular flame over the stone. After about twenty minutes, an infrared thermometer shows 450 to 500 degrees Celsius on the stone surface. A pizza with a 30-centimeter diameter takes about sixty seconds in this oven — long enough for the base to brown, short enough for the tomato sauce not to overcook and the mozzarella not to become stringy.

The 16-inch baking surface and the L-shaped burner

The Koda 16 is the largest model in the Koda range and the oven Ooni designed for households with more than two eaters. The 40-centimeter baking surface is enough to bake an entire family-sized pizza at once — or two smaller pizzas side-by-side, which doubles throughput when you have guests. The burner runs in an L-shape along the back wall and the right side wall. The flame heats not only the ceiling but also the stone surface evenly, right up to the front edge. This eliminates the classic "pizza must be in the back half" problem of many simpler gas ovens.

Control is via a single dial, and ignition is by piezo spark. No app, no display, no Bluetooth pairing. This is also the first limitation of this oven: anyone looking for a digitally controlled device with programmable temperature profiles will find the Koda 16's simplicity to be a lack of precision. The temperature is best checked with an infrared thermometer, which Ooni offers as its own accessory.

From turning it on to the first pizza

The Koda 16 comes pre-assembled. Unfold four foldable legs, screw the regulator onto the propane gas bottle, press the button, ignite. The stone needs at least twenty minutes of preheating time for a Neapolitan pizza. Shorter is possible, but then the base will only brown at the edges, remaining pale in the middle.

From experience: Never place the first pizza in the middle of the oven, but close to the side burner wall. From there, it gets top heat while the base browns. After forty seconds, turn the pizza quarter by quarter with a perforated pizza peel. Many Ooni owners use a round turning peel (a "pizza turning peel"), which we carry as a 14-inch perforated pizza peel in our assortment. After a total of sixty to ninety seconds, the pizza is ready.

Second limitation: The Koda 16 is an outdoor appliance. Propane combustion generates heat and exhaust gases that should not be in enclosed spaces. Terrace, garden, balcony with an open roof — yes. Kitchen, party tent, garden shed — no. If you want to bake pizza indoors, stick to an electric oven (such as the Ooni Volt). The Koda 16 is perfectly suitable for winter outdoor use, as long as the gas regulator is suitable for cold temperatures.

Ooni — From Edinburgh to a Pizza Brand

Ooni was founded in Edinburgh in 2012 by Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland. The first oven was the Uuni 2, a wood pellet-powered oven, funded via Kickstarter. The company — then still under the name Uuni — had a single goal: to make authentic Neapolitan pizza possible in the garden or on the terrace, without replicating a pizzaiolo's brick oven. From this founding idea, today's product range has developed: gas, wood, pellet, and electric ovens, plus peels, stones, and accessories.

Within this range, the Koda 16 is the large gas variant. Gas, because it heats up faster and is more stably controllable than wood. Sixteen inches, because fourteen inches is not enough for a family of four once everyone gets their own pizza. The characteristic design with the inclined stainless steel hood and the open stone pizza mouth is now so well known among Ooni owners that the oven is recognized even without a logo.

The Family Format in the Ooni Range

In the Koda range, the 16 sits between the compact Koda 12 and the 24-inch giant Koda 2 Max. For four to six eaters, the 16 is the safe size. If you only bake pizza for two, you don't need it — a 12 is enough and saves space. If you regularly host evenings with eight or more guests, check out the Koda 2 Max.

Suitable accessories for the Koda 16 include the Koda 16 cover for rain and dust and the Ooni Modular Table Large as a base. If you no longer want to knead dough by hand, the Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer is the right preparer. As a gift for someone who seriously wants to bake pizza, the Koda 16 is the oven that can grow with them for a long time — from the first Neapolitan attempt to the third homemade overnight dough fermentation.

A pizza oven for anyone who prefers to pull six pizzas out of the oven themselves on a Saturday evening rather than having them delivered.