I spent a month eating virtually nothing but pizza to test the Gozney Arc XL — here’s the outcome

Tom's Guide Verdict The Gozney Arc XL might not be the endgame pizza oven like its older sibling, the Dome. However, for most people, this is the only pizza oven they’ll need. It features a large 16-inch opening and stone, so you can cook bigger pies and feed more people per pizza. It’s easy to operate, beautifully made and the gas fueling leads to stable temperatures and consistent cooks pizza-to-pizza. My only issues with it are that it’s quite pricey and that the stone is much trickier to remove than Ooni ovens, which makes cleaning after failed launches a pain. Pros +Space for 16-inch pizzas +Easy to use +Beautifully made and styled +Stable gas fueling +Suits home or small commercial Cons -Pricey -Stone tricky to remove Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate. Jump To: Specs Price & availability Design Accessories Performance Storage & maintenance Verdict The Gozney Arc XL is all the pizza oven most people will ever need. As you might’ve guessed from the name, it’s the larger variant of the Gozney Arc, which we’ve also reviewed and loved.The Arc XL sits below Gozney’s Dome / Dome XL (Gen 2), which are enormous and can fit multiple pizzas on their dual stones. The Arc XL is intended for those without the enormous amounts of space and cash it takes to get to a Dome. Nevertheless, the Arc XL should be plenty for most home pizzaioli, and even small-time commercial ventures.Running on gas, it offers high heat and stable temperatures, plus it’s easy to use thanks to the digital display and simple controls. It’s beautifully styled and made, and will be a complement to any patio or pizza shelter.Latest Videos FromTom's GuideIt isn’t perfect. The elephant in the room is the Arc XL’s high price. Gozney also makes its stones quite tricky to remove versus Ooni, which is a problem if you get the front of the stone (which doesn’t get very hot) messy.But could this be the best outdoor pizza oven for you? Probably! Read my full Gozney Arc XL review to find out more.Gozney Arc XL review: Specs Swipe to scroll horizontally Price $999 / £799 Size 20.9 x 24.8 x 13.5 inches (530 x 629x 342mm) Weight 58.5lbs (26.5kg) Capacity 1x 16-inch pizza Internal dimensions 16.8 x 20.3 x 6.8 inches (427 x 517 x 173mm) Mouth opening 16.8 x 3.6 inches (427 x 95mm) Stone 0.8-inch/20mm cordierite Max temperature 932F / 500C Fuel types Propane Gozney Arc XL review: Price & availability (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)The Gozney Arc XL isn’t cheap, costing $999 / £799, which is a sizable $300 / £200 more than the 14-inch standard Arc. Other than the extra 2-inch capacity, the ovens are pretty much the same, so it’ll just depend on how much larger pizzas mean to you.Personally, I love cooking larger pies. It’s trickier, so more of a challenge, but when you get it right you can feed more people easily, so the XL will be better if you plan on cooking for multiple guests regularly.Tom's Guide: Direct to Your InboxGet instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.The Arc XL’s main rival is the Ooni Koda 16, which cooks 16-inch pizzas, runs on gas and undercuts the Gozney by a healthy margin, costing $599 / £499. The Koda is lighter, uses Ooni’s folding leg system for easier storage, and features an L-shaped burner for wider flame dispersion and less rotating required during cooking. We awarded the Koda 16 our full five stars, and you can probably now see why — for the money, it’s difficult to beat.Gozney Arc XL review: Design (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)The Gozney Arc XL looks beautiful, employing Gozney’s typically slick, neo-retro aesthetic. It looks straight out of a trendy London pizzeria, which is the point. It’s beautifully made and finished, with a high level of attention to detail, and feels built to last.I wouldn’t say it’s any better or worse than an Ooni in this respect, so which manufacturer you pick will depend on whether you want the more luxurious styling of Gozney, or the more futuristic look of Ooni. That is unless you’re a commercial user — if you’ve got a pizza van or small kitchen to kit out, I think the round shape and flat base of the Gozney is more versatile than the Ooni Karu 16, with its oblong shape and tall legs.The Arc XL is a behemoth, though, measuring 20.9 x 24.8 x 13.5 inches and weighing nearly 60 pounds, so you’ll want a second person on hand to help you set up. My wife was on vacation so I had no choice but to set the Arc XL up on my own, and very nearly put my back out getting it unboxed and onto the stand. (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)Colossal weight aside, setting the Arc XL up is very easy — you just remove the packaging and padding; pull the stone forward a fraction of an inch; put the metal flame guard in place; and put batteries (supplied) in the thermometer and digital dial. There’s a helpful quick start guide included to cover all this.I was ready for the burn-in after about 10 minutes — burning in is something you must do with most pizza ovens before you can make pizza — although it actually took me around 5 days because I couldn't find any fuel in my area (it was peak summer).Fuel (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)The Arc XL runs on propane gas. You can theoretically use butane, too, although Gozney doesn’t recommend it, and butane is less likely to work in colder temperatures. My Arc XL was supplied with a clip-on regulator for the patio gas canisters we get here in the U.K.Something I love about multi-fuel ovens is that, if you’re out of gas, you can simply use wood or charcoal. It’s worth considering a multi-fuel oven like the Gozney Dome or Ooni Karu 2 Pro if you’d rather have that extra flexibility.The Arc XL is fairly fuel-efficient and Gozney says a 28lb / 13kg canister should last around 30 hours. You’ll need as much efficiency as you can get, as the only way to easily clean the Arc XL is by burning it for three hours, which sucks, as I’ll touch on later.Gozney Arc XL review: Accessories (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)Something many don’t understand before they buy their first pizza oven is that you need accessories. You can’t make a pizza without at least a launching peel and a turning peel. I tested Gozney’s 16-inch Pro Placement peel ($109) and Balance Turning peel ($89) and would highly recommend them both. Although, if you’re just starting out or are on a tight budget, you can find cheaper alternatives at Amazon, which will work just fine.I would also recommend you buy an infrared thermometer for measuring stone temperature (the temperature on the Arc XL only measures ambient temperature, which won’t tell you precisely when the stone is ready for cooking). The Gozney infrared thermometer gun costs $49, which is similar to Ooni’s pricing. (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)Gozney also sells a variety of other accessories that I found exceptionally useful. Firstly, there’s the $49 dough tray, which I absolutely love. This tray features a thermometer to show you which type of proof (cold, warm, etc) your ambient conditions will result in, allowing you to tailor proof times. It also shows you when conditions are too warm, and features a bulk fermenting tray and a silicone insert for six dough balls (for up to 14-inch pizzas).I’m also a huge fan of the Arc XL mantel ($119), which gives you a couple of inches of surface outside the oven mouth — enough space to safely turn food or leave your pizza to rest for a moment without burning while you find a board for it. And Gozney's $39 heat resistant gloves, which can stand up to 950F / 500C heat.I also tested the Gozney Pizza Cutter ($44). My wife hated pizza cutters and always refused to use our other ones (choosing a knife or scissors instead). The Gozney cutter has converted her — thanks to its weight and sharp blade, it's much more stable and effective than cheaper cutters.Gozney Arc XL review: Performance (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)The Gozney Arc XL performs like a professional pizza oven. The stone heats up to 750F / 400C in around 15-20 minutes, which is hot enough for Neapolitan-style pizza. Alternatively, you can cook other styles of pizza before then — low’n’slow pizzas like NY-style.The thermometer gauge on the front of the oven is very useful to give you an idea of ambient temperatures, which dictate how quickly the upper sections of your pizza will cook (although the cooking of your toppings will also be affected by the size and intensity of the gas flame). (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)Annoyingly, the temperature gauge turns itself off after a while — on a few occasions I turned back to the gauge while cooking to check temperatures, only to find it switched off. I get that this is to save battery, but it’s really annoying.The Arc XL is very predictable thanks to running on gas, and you have a high level of control over the flame size by twisting the control knob on the front.You’ll need to cook a few pizzas and get used to the temperature of the oven, and to get a feel for how to adjust your flame while cooking. Once you’ve got it down, though, you can cook a Neapolitan pizza in just a minute or two. Image 1 of 5 (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future) I cooked a variety of pizzas, from 12-inch through to 16-inch bases, in Neapolitan and NY styles. On several occasions, I cooked for groups of six. The Arc XL handled it all beautifully. Thanks to the large 16-inch stone, you can cook bigger pizzas to feed multiple people, so you don’t need to spend the entirety of a pizza party churning out 12-inch pies for each person.It’s very easy to burn larger 16-inch pies, as they sit so close to the flame. This means that you’ll want to turn them early, which can cause rips in the dough and an awful mess. This happened on a few occasions for me — to avoid this, ensure the stone is at least 750F / 400C before launching, so pizza bases cook very quickly. (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)I also cooked large garlic flatbreads, as well as sides like charred broccoli spears and caramelized roasted carrots. The stone also gets hot enough to sear steaks and meat, so it’s a highly versatile oven.Gozney Arc XL review: Storage & maintenanceMy one major gripe with the Arc XL is how difficult the stone is to remove. Without buying a removal kit, you’ll need to tip the oven on its side and support the stone out — a two-person job, which also involves removing the oven from any stand or base you have it fastened to. (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)This is infuriating if you make a mess. Gonzey’s advice is to burn the oven for 3 hours to clean it (wasting gas), which works, but only on the middle and rear of the stone. The front never gets hot enough to self-clean, so if you make a mess there when launching or removing a failed launch, you can’t clean it properly without a lot of hassle. You can scrape most mess off when cool, but not everything. And besides, food still gets stuck between the stone and the oven lip.I love that Ooni’s stones are much easier to remove, so you can take them out and properly clean them up. As I mentioned before, this also means you don’t need to waste hours of gas just to clean. Gozney should include a stone removal kit with every oven. (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)Gozney also recommends burning the oven for several hours to clean soot from the roof, which is just ridiculously wasteful. I just waited for it to cool and cleaned with a dry cloth. Maintenance is otherwise very simple — just wipe down the exterior parts when cool.Storage is as you’d expect for such a huge cooker: you’ll need a fair bit of space. I’d recommend Gozney’s Arc + Arc XL stand ($299), which features fold-away ledges, storage hooks, and wheels to move the oven to and from position. It’s also important to cover the oven and keep it safe from the elements — Gozney sells covers for this (including a cover that goes over the whole stand). (Image credit: Peter Wolinski / Future)The Gozney Arc XL is a fantastic pizza oven. With its large 16-inch stone, you can cook big pizzas for multiple people and simplify your pizza parties. It’s easy to use, beautiful to behold and built to last. And most importantly, it makes fantastic pizza.There are a couple of things to consider. First, it’s pricey — you can get the rival Ooni Karu 16 for much less money, which is better than the Arc XL in almost every way. Secondly, the stone is tricky to remove, which makes the Arc XL trickier to clean than Ooni ovens.If you’re willing to overlook those flaws, though, as I have, then I’ve no hesitation in recommending the Arc XL to small commercial and home pizzaioli. Senior Editor, Reviews & CamerasPeter is a Senior Editor at Tom's Guide, heading up the site's Reviews team and Cameras section. As a writer, he covers topics including tech, photography, gaming, hardware, motoring and food & drink. Outside of work, he's an avid photographer, specialising in architectural and portrait photography. When he's not snapping away on his beloved Fujifilm camera, he can usually be found telling everyone about his greyhounds, riding his motorcycle, squeezing as many FPS as possible out of PC games, and perfecting his espresso shots. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.