Ooni Pro VS Ooni Karu 16

Ooni Karu 16 takes pizza ovens to a whole new level.

The Ooni Pro oven was all about offering a versatile outdoor cooking experience that produced a great product with every cook. As we continue to chase our ultimate pizzaiolo goals, we knew we needed to make an oven that took us closer toward that dream.

After listening, learning and experimenting for hours – we feel like we’ve created a worthy successor: please welcome the Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven to the Ooni family. The Karu 16 offers the important fuel flexibility we’ve come to expect from a Karu oven, along with advanced technology. Say hello to the next generation of versatile outdoor cooking.

Heat up any way you like.
Just like the Ooni Pro, our latest arrival offers a choice of heat sources. For a subtle wood-fired flavour, you can use wood or charcoal straight out of the box. The Ooni Karu 16 offers a wider fuel hatch which makes it easier to get into the rear fuel tray. Keep your cooking fire well maintained with larger solid fuel pieces and easier fuel tray access. Or, for a maintenance-free cooking experience, go for the gas option with the Ooni Gas Burner (sold separately).

Feel the heat in less time.
The Ooni Karu 16 only takes 15 minutes to reach the ideal temperature of 950°F / 500°C. That’s five minutes faster than Ooni Pro – which helps sync that prep time of stretching and topping your pizza while the oven preheats. Once you hit top temperatures, you’ll still be able to enjoy a sizzling stone-baked pizza in just 60 seconds.

Go large with your pizzas.
Now it’s even easier to share your favorite creations with more family and friends. The Ooni Karu 16 has a single over 40cm (16") baking stone design as opposed to the Ooni Pro’s multiple piece design. This reimagining combined with the Karu 16’s taller internal height creates a larger cooking area ideal for pizzas up to 16″ in diameter. It also boasts a 15mm thick cordierite baking stone, which helps retain heat and recharges quickly.

Tough on the outside.
The Ooni Karu 16 oven is made from carbon steel with a high temperature-resistant powder-coated finish. Compared to the Ooni Pro’s brushed stainless steel, it offers improved insulation and helps keep the heat inside the oven. This specially designed finish also makes the Ooni Karu 16 more weather-resistant than the Ooni Pro, meaning a properly covered Ooni Karu 16 is better able to withstand the elements.

See what’s going on inside.
There’s nothing better than watching freshly-made pizza bubble away as it cooks. See clearly into the Ooni Karu 16 thanks to the new full-glass oven door design with ViewFlame™ technology that reduces soot build up. The hinged door design on the Karu 16 drops down when opened, making it easier to get inside the oven and get your peel under some delicious pizza.

Built-in temperature monitoring.
Monitoring the temperature of the oven is all important when launching and cooking pizza. The Ooni Pro relied solely on the use of an infrared thermometer to monitor baking stone temperature. To help monitor the internal temperature, the Karu 16 comes with a digital temperature display mounted on the oven body that measures the ambient temperature of the oven in F and C. When paired with an infrared thermometer for monitoring baking stone temperature, this provides precise temperature readings of the air in the oven as well as the stone and makes it easier to ensure successful launching and an ideal cook from above and below.

Streamlined airflow control.
The right ventilation can help you stay in control of the temperature. The Ooni Pro oven did this through a chimney and ceiling baffle. The Ooni Karu 16 has vents in the same locations, but by rethinking the mechanisms of the internal ceiling vent, we’ve found a way to increase airflow control while simplifying the interaction. This gives you even more versatility with cooking temperatures – letting you experiment with, for instance, lower oven temperatures and recipes that require slower cooking.

Certified by the people who invented pizza.
Don’t just take our word for it that the Ooni Karu 16 is the most advanced pizza oven on the market. When the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana used a Karu 16 to make Neapolitan pizza, they invented a new category of certification to recognise it: Recommended for Domestic Use. And as the acclaimed international authority on true Neapolitan pizza, they would know.

Hungry for more?
To find out more about the highly-advanced Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven, head to the product page.