Ooni has never failed to amaze its customers with its exceptional pizza ovens. Ooni has recently launched the Ooni Koda 16 and we are left wondering if it is any better than the original Koda.
Ooni Koda 16 is not too different from the Ooni Koda but it does have added features that make it even more amazing.
So, which one is the better pizza oven?
Both ovens have the same design. A stylish, portable, and minimalistic design that catches the eye at first glance.
The only difference you will see just by looking at the ovens is the size.
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However, if you dive deeper, you will see that there are some real changes in the Ooni Koda 16 that can change the way you have been cooking pizzas.
If you are thinking of buying either oven, then I suggest that you read on as this review will provide comparisons between the two.
Design– Ooni Koda 16 vs Ooni Koda 12
The Ooni Koda and Ooni Koda 16 are very similar in design. The sleek, black shell lets you know that it is from Ooni.
Well, aside from the brand name in the front of the ovens, you know that only Ooni produces these ovens with a minimalistic design and beauty.
You still get the tripod foldable legs and built-in ignitions. Both of these features are perfect for portability. The foldable legs make the already-small pizza ovens, even smaller.
Ooni Koda has its ignition and temperature control on the back of the oven.
As for the Ooni Koda 16, the ignition/temperature control is placed on the side.
The gas compartment in the Ooni Koda 16 is slightly larger so it was designed and placed underneath the oven. That is where you will find the gas hose and gas regulator.
The Ooni Koda does not have a bulky compartment for the gas attachment as you just need the gas hose to be installed at the bottom of the oven.
The baking stone of the ovens is made out of cordierite stone and you would find that both the pizza ovens heat the stone evenly.
Although the front of the stone might be less heated up than the back
The only difference is the width where the Ooni Koda can only cook 12-inch pizzas and the Ooni Koda 16 has enough space for 16-inch pizzas, hence the name.
Features– Ooni Koda 16 vs Ooni Koda 12
In this section, you will find the main differences and some similarities between the Ooni Koda 16 and Ooni Koda.
The first one is the burners. For Ooni Koda, the burners inside the oven produce a line of flames at the back of the interior of the oven.
This allows the small space to heat up fast and distribute the heat evenly.
As for the Ooni Koda 16, the flames are designed to have an L-shaped output. Since the pizza oven is large, the L-shaped flames help in raising the temperature faster.
You can easily control your desired temperature with a knob. The knob on both pizza ovens serves as the automatic ignition and the temperature controller as well.
The foldable legs of these ovens are great for transportation.
They fold up to the body and they are virtually invisible.
So just imagine, with the sleek design of the ovens, and their foldable legs, it will look like you are carrying a turtle shell.
The Ooni Koda weighs just over 20 pounds so you would not find it hard to carry it around at all.
The Ooni Koda 16, however, weighs over 40 pounds. That is heavy but you can still carry it in short distances.
The heaviest part of the ovens is their baking stones.
Since they are made out of cordierite, a mineral found in igneous rocks is perfect for retaining heat but they are not that light.
The Ooni Koda 16 is also heavy since the shell was added with 20-millimeter thick fiber insulation.
It helps in retaining heat and it proves to be very useful.
The Ooni Koda has adopted the patented Flamekeeper technology of Ooni so there is no need for a door to keep the heat inside the oven.
See, the opening of the ovens is designed just to fit a pizza and a pizza peel at once.
You will notice a slight slouching design right before the opening of the ovens.
That is what makes the ovens great in retaining heat.
The flames burst upwards and the Flamekeeper technology does its job to keep the heat needed inside the ovens.
The Ooni Koda does not have the patented Flamekeeper technology but it can still retain heat perfectly.
The shell of the ovens is made out of ceramic powder-coated steel that gives them their matte look and the silver cast-aluminum front adds on the beauty of the ovens.
Both ovens are gas-fueled and cannot be used with other fuels such as wood or charcoal.
Both of them are available for propane gas tanks for now.
The Ooni Koda can perform well with a one-pound propane gas tank but you need to buy a separate adapter for that.
The Ooni Koda 16 is said to have a conversion kit so the users can switch from propane to natural gas.
The release of the conversion kit is said to be a couple of months after the oven itself is released later in April 2020. So we will be expecting that conversion kit in the summer of 2020.
Performance– Ooni Koda 16 vs Ooni Koda 12
The ideal temperature for making an authentic Neapolitan pizza is 932 degrees Fahrenheit or 500 degrees Celsius.
The Ooni Koda 16 reaches that temperature in 15-20 minutes.
The Ooni Koda, on the other hand, only reaches 800 degrees Fahrenheit as its maximum temperature.
Although 800 degrees is short of the 932 degrees standard, it still cooks great pizzas in 60 to 90 seconds.
The Ooni Koda only needs 15 minutes for the whole oven to reach its maximum temperature and you can start cooking pizzas.
As for the Ooni Koda 16, it takes a little bit longer for the oven to heat up because of the size.
You can cook amazing pizzas in one minute or less after the Ooni Koda 16 reached 932 degrees.
The baking stones of the ovens are perfect for retaining heat.
They cook the bottom of pizzas evenly without any burn marks.
The heat from the stones radiates upwards enough to cook the pizza dough all the way through.
The flames from the ovens have the tendency to burn the pizza edges when you just leave them in one position.
To resolve this, you can either turn the flames down with the control knob or turn your pizza around every 20 seconds to distribute the heat evenly.
Turning the flames down will not affect the cooking capability of the ovens because they can both retain heat long enough for the pizza to cook.
Cooking in the ovens
The Ooni Koda 16 and Ooni Koda can be used right out of the box.
You just fold their legs out, connect the gas tank and you can start cooking in 20 minutes or less.
The ignition and temperature knob can be a little hard to turn if you have oil in your hands so you can turn the ovens first and then prepare the pizza while waiting for the ovens to heat up.
If you have a stored dough on the side, 20 minutes is more than enough to prepare a pizza.
If you love cooking outdoors, then these ovens are perfect for you.
The shell of these ovens is great for protection from natural elements.
Although they are not recommended to be left outside for a long time as they are still susceptible to rust.
You can literally cook a pizza within 60 seconds with both these pizza ovens and not just that you can cook multiple dishes inside this pizza oven.
I cook even my meals inside the oven and it foes make cooking extremely easy.
So, if you think you are just getting this for cooking pizzas then you are wrong.
You can cook almost anything you throw inside this pizza oven and it would come out perfect.
The cooking times are also less so if you are stressed after work and want a quick way to fix your hunger pangs then the Ooni Koda and Koda 16 are perfect.
You can easily fold the feet and put the oven in your car if you want to travel with it.
The ovens can also cook different recipes. You can roast chicken or sear your vegetables in them.
If you happen to notice some drippings and food remains on the oven, do not worry.
Cleaning the pizza oven is not that hard as well. When you spill food on the baking stone, you can just scrape the larger pieces with a spatula.
Just be careful not to scratch the stone too hard to avoid dents. After doing so, you can leave the smaller pieces to the ovens.
Just heat up the ovens again and then let it burn the remaining pieces of food.
Let the ovens cool down before putting them back to your storage area.
Ooni said that their ovens usually cool down one hour after use (depending on the outside temperature) so make sure to wait for them to cool down.
Ooni Koda 16 vs Ooni Koda 12– Better Pizza Oven
Ooni has been developing its pizza ovens since 2012.
They design the ovens to be portable and powerful as well. The Ooni Koda 16 and Ooni Koda are the perfect examples of portable and powerful pizza ovens.
They are small enough to be carried and powerful enough that they can match the temperature of brick ovens used in cooking Neapolitan pizzas.
==> Check out the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven
Ooni really upped their game with the L-shaped flame on the Ooni Koda 16.
It really does a great job of heating up a large oven.
The Ooni Koda is really good for transporting because it is small and lightweight.
The Ooni Koda is an excellent pizza oven for someone who just wants to make a decent 12-inch pizza.
The oven is smaller and portable like the Koda 16, so if you are not looking to make the huge pizzas with the Koda 16 then you are going to love the Ooni Koda Pizza Oven.
Either way, you are not going to be disappointed. If you have the extra money then you can go with Koda 16 as it gives you the cooking space to explore with more recipes.
Both the pizza ovens come with a three-year warranty when bought from their official website so make sure you check them out.
==> Check out Ooni Koda Pizza Oven
Ooni really listens to its customers and they keep improving their ovens based on what their customers want.
They have a lot of ovens that can cook that authentic pizza that you want so make sure to check those other ovens as well.
If you want to see how the Ooni Koda 16 compares with the rest of the Ooni Pizza ovens then you might want to check out its comparison posts against Ooni Pro, Ooni Fyra, Ooni Karu and Roccbox Pizza Oven.
Let us know which one of these ovens would you pick and if you have any experiences with them, then do share it with us in the comments below!
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