Ooni Koda 16 is the only gas-fueled pizza oven from Ooni that can cook 16 inches big Neapolitan pizzas in it. This Ooni Koda 16 review is about if the pizza oven is worth it.
Ooni Pizza oven is known to cook pizzas in under 60 seconds and the same goes for Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven.
In this thorough Ooni Koda 16 review, you would learn about all the features that make this pizza oven stand out from others produced by Ooni and if you should buy this pizza oven or not.
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Ooni Koda 16 is slightly different from the ovens on Ooni’s gas-powered oven line, and it boasts unique features that you cannot find in other ovens.
Imagine a larger version of the original Ooni Koda with a powerful, innovative flame system, a great baking stone, and a larger cooking area.
The main difference that you will find between the Ooni Koda and Ooni Koda 16 is the size. There are major differences in the design and the quality of cooking done by the pizza ovens.
As you may have already guessed by the product’s name, it can cook pizzas up to 16 inches.
Table of Contents
What comes out of the box?
So, here is a list of the items that you are going to get when you order the Ooni Koda 16:
1. Of course, the oven itself, one Ooni Koda 16 pizza oven.
2. One stone baking board
3. One Ooni Koda 16 Manual and Essential Guide that includes tips and recipes
4. One propane gas tank regulator and hose.
What stayed with the Ooni Koda 16?
Design
If you are not into the design then you can skip to the next section where we talk more about the features and how it cooks Neapolitan pizzas within 60 seconds.
One thing very familiar with Ooni’s pizza ovens is the sleek design. The Ooni Koda 16 comes with an amazing sleek silver finish along with hints of black on the pizza oven.
The roof is ceramic fiber-insulated, powder-coated steel which is perfect for outdoor cooking. The cast-aluminum front also adds to the beauty of this oven.
RELATED- Ooni Koda 12 vs 16
The coated shell protects from alternating sunlight and rain. The oven is weather-resistant, so you do not have to worry about cooking outdoors.
The fiber-insulated interior makes the oven great for heat retaining capability. The oven is insulated all around the shell with up to 20 millimeters of ceramic.
That means that all the heat stays inside the oven, giving it an amazing heat retention capability.
The gas controls and ignition are on the side of the oven. Attached is the hose and gas regulator for the U.S. release of the oven.
Ooni says that you buy it separately when you are in the U.K. because of the differences in gas attachments.
You can cook so many different recipes in this oven which includes sourdough bread, casserole, steak, and other recipes.
Features of Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven
Ooni Koda 16 weighs only 40.1 pounds or 18.2 kilograms, so you can move it around easily.
I know 18.2 kgs is still heavy, but for an outdoor pizza oven with such amazing features, the Koda 16 is relatively light and portable.
You can take it along with you on camping trips or even picnics and enjoy cooking outdoors with this pizza oven.
It still keeps the foldable legs from both Ooni Karu and the original Ooni Koda design, perfect for transport and compactibility.
A bit on the dimensions of the oven- the width of the oven is around 23.6 inches. Add the flame, the insulation, and the shell, and you get at least 17 inches of cooking area, which means you can easily fit 16-inch pizzas.
There is a 15-millimeter baking board made out of cordierite and was stone-baked to attain maximum heat retention and durability.
The built-in gas ignition and the gas controller are both condensed to a single knob. You just push the knob in and then turn it until it clicks, meaning it has ignited.
There is nothing special about the knob. You can just use it to ignite and control the flames.
So if you feel like your pizza is burning, you can easily control the knob and lower the heat.
The gas terminal attachment is at the bottom of the oven. In the Ooni Koda, this feature is on the rear part of the oven, and I liked it better then.
But I understand that you need to balance the weight with this size of the Ooni Koda 16, so putting the gas attachment underneath is a practical thing.
Just like the Ooni Koda, this oven has a compact design that is perfect for small storage. The oven is heavy weight but you can carry it around making it somewhat portable.
The natural gas conversion kit will be available in the following couple of months as well. So, for now, we need to stick to the propane gas.
Oh, and my favorite feature? The L-shape flame emissions technology is so practical. See, the L-shaped flames ensure that the oven heats up in no time with this big oven.
How well does Ooni Koda 16 perform?
So, finally, the review comes down to this-
Well, for a quick answer, it is nothing short of amazing.
The Ooni Koda 16 has a more powerful burner with L-shaped flames. It allows heat to spread evenly in the oven, and it cooks pizzas quickly.
This is the major advantage of this new pizza oven. It is large, and it comes with an L shape burner that heats the oven quickly to a high temperature that is ideal for cooking pizzas.
Within 20 to 30 minutes after igniting the oven, the Ooni Koda 16 can reach 932 degrees Fahrenheit or 500 degrees Celsius, perfect for an authentic Neapolitan pizza.
With this much power, the Ooni Koda 16 can cook a large 16-inch pizza in less than a minute.
If you are still wondering why the L-shaped flames, it is because of its large capacity. If there was only a single rear burner, then the pizza will not cook evenly.
See, the L-shaped flames let you cook anything evenly. There is not much need to turn the pizza now and then.
The 15-millimeter thick cordierite baking stone that comes with the Ooni Koda 16 is perfect for retaining heat.
It is a wide 17-inch stone that makes sure that you can fit the largest pizza of dimension 16 inche of dough and cooks it evenly.
So, since the Ooni Koda 16 is only compatible with propane gas initially, we also have the natural gas conversion kit.
At this point where I updated the Ooni Koda 16 review, the natural gas conversion kit for the Ooni Koda 16 is available.
Cooking with the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven
After igniting the oven, you can cook your pizza in 20 minutes.
Ooni Koda 16 is known to cook the best Neapolitan pizzas with the perfect leopard spotting.
You should be careful as there are many times I almost burned my pizza cooking inside the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven.
If used my easy Neapolitan pizza dough recipe to get the best-tasting pizza dough ready and once I was done with that, I made my pizza sauce within 5 minutes and used fresh homemade mozzarella cheese.
This is the perfect combination in my opinion and cooking this on the Ooni Koda 16 within 60 seconds is definitely a treat.
With the oven reaching the required heat to cook a Neapolitan pizza in just a few minutes, the pizza cooks perfectly within 60 seconds or less.
I find it amazing that the fire inside the Ooni Koda 16 can heat a large oven in no time. The insulation is amazing as well.
The shell of the oven has insulated fiber-coated ceramics. It is an oven with an added thermal mass that keeps the heat inside the oven.
The original Ooni Koda has flames from the back that transfer to the entirety of the oven.
Ooni has kept that design with the Ooni Koda 16, so heat from the back of the oven distributes evenly upwards, and with the help of the flames on the side, the even heat stands out.
The pizzas cooked inside this oven cook evenly with the cordierite baking board.
The baking stone is great as it leaves no unevenly cooked dough, resulting in a crispy pizza crust.
The heat-retaining ability of the stone is excellent as it cooks through a thick dough with no burn marks.
Flamekeeper Technology of the Ooni Karu is in the Ooni Koda 16 too, so the heat stays inside even without a door.
I also love this oven because you can cook anything you want, from chicken, steaks, vegetables, bread, anything at all. It can cook dense food, and you can control the heat to avoid burns.
Questions about the Ooni Koda 16 answered by Ooni
1. How much propane gas does the Ooni Koda 16 consume?
Answer: The Ooni Koda 16 can consume around 500-550 grams of propane gas per hour. This means that you can use small propane gas tanks with the help of the conversion kit.
2. Is it okay to use wood or charcoal as fuel?
Answer: No. The Ooni Koda 16 only uses propane gas and natural gas. The natural gas conversion kit is available on Ooni Website and you can get it there.
Since you can easily attach it to a propane gas tank, this oven is very easy to set up, and once you connect it with the fuel source, you can get it going and use it right out of the box.
3. Can you cook with the Ooni Koda indoors?
Answer: No. The Ooni Koda is for outdoor use. Although there is a compact space for the emissions, it still uses up much gas to be harmful if used indoors.
You can somehow use it indoors if you have a large room with high ventilation that sucks the emissions directly out of the house.
But, it is still not recommended, so maybe use this oven on your patio or backyard for safety measures.
Ooni Koda 16 vs 12
If you do not have the budget and want to get a smaller portable version of the Ooni Koda 16 then you are going to enjoy the Ooni Koda 12.
I do have an Ooni Koda 12 review on this blog as well and I think it works as well as the Koda 16.
Ooni Koda 12 is cheaper, smaller and it is best for someone who either doesn’t want a pizza oven as large as the Koda 16 or just want to save some money.
Ooni Koda 12 is as good as the 16, just that it makes pizzas as big as 12 inches instead of the 16-inch large pizzas you can make in the Koda 16.
So comparing the Ooni Koda 16 vs 12, I think it all comes down to what size Ooni oven you want and how much are you willing to spend.
You can get the replacement stone for both the pizza ovens. The replacement stone for Ooni Koda 16 is going to be available on the Ooni official website.
The pizza stone’s replacement stone from Ooni is also available on thrid party store so you can check Amazon.
Cleaning the pizza oven is easy and make sure you get a cover for the oven if you leave it out. You can get a carry cover or simply cover it with a homemade cover, anything that works for you.
Final Thoughts
That is a definite yes! The Ooni Koda 16 is the latest release of Ooni from their propane gas-fueled ovens, and it is by far the most amazing.
With the L-shaped flames installed in the oven along with the Flamekeeper technology, it cooks amazing pizzas in no time at all.
The lack of a door in the Ooni Koda 16 allows you to see the pizza you are cooking and watch it to prevent any unnecessary circumstances from happening.
You can get a door from other websites but as of now Ooni does not sell separate doors for Koda 16 pizza oven.
But it has amazing heat retention and even distribution of heat, so you do not have to move the pizza around now and then.
You do not have to worry about the heat leaving the oven as it keeps the flames and the heat inside.
The Ooni Koda 16 also comes with a three-year warranty when bought from the website.
==> Check out the Ooni Koda 16 NOW!
The weight of this oven is a little much, but it is not a problem when transferring the oven. You can easily carry it on the back of your car, and you are good to go.
Ooni also went under high-grade commercial certification, so you do not have to worry about legal issues when using it to start your business of making amazing pizzas.
So make sure that you check this oven out and get in line as early as possible because there have been many people getting this oven.
Suppose you want to see how the Ooni Koda 16 compares with the rest of the Ooni Pizza ovens.
In that case, you might want to check out its comparison posts against Ooni Pro, Ooni Koda, and Ooni Fyra, Ooni Karu, and Roccbox Pizza Oven.
Related- Ooni Koda 16 vs Roccbox Pizza Oven
This is the first gas-powered oven by Ooni that can cook 16-inch pizzas, so make sure to try it out. Ooni usually goes out of stock so make sure you get the pizza oven when in stock.
Also, they barely have a sale, so there is no point in waiting for a sitewide sale. Just make sure you get the pizza oven when in stock.
They have a sale during blackfriday so you can wait till then and I send out newsletter when the sale begins, so make sure you sign up for our newsletter.
Ooni ships in USA, UK and european countriees. If you live in Canada or Australia then you can check out Amazon or some third party re-sellers.
I hope you found this helpful and if you have anything to add, you can leave a comment below! It helps our readers.
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Wow. Those pizzas look amazing. What a great product.
It seems like if the pizza cooks in 60 seconds, you would need to be keeping a very close eye on it.
Seems like a few seconds too long and you could burn it to the point where it’s no longer edible.
How long does it take to get the hang of perfecting the cooking time?
Oh Yes! You need to keep a very close eye on the pizzas cooking inside Ooni Koda 16 because they cook that fast.
You might want to turn it around just once and then the second time you would see its all ready and cooked evenly from all sides.
Ii am trying to install the natural gas conversion kit. On page 6 of the manual it illustrates how to unscrew and disconnect the two nozzle housings that are connected to the ejector tubes. There must be a trick because I cannot do it. The U-tube video fast forwards thru this and is no help. Can you help?