Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle review
Breeo Live-fire pizza oven bundle: Specs
Fuel type: Wood
Construction type: Two-piece (oven and fire pit)
Material: Corten steel and stainless steel
X24 fire pit diameter: 27.5 inches (outside)
Outdoor pizza ovens are enjoying a rather extensive moment in the spotlight. Gas-powered options heat up quickly and produce pizzas in under two minutes of cooking, turning any consumer into a pizza chef. But Breeo’s Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle offers a totally different experience, more geared toward true pizza enthusiasts and eager backyard entertainers. It’s part cooking process, part entertainment.
It will become the centerpiece of your patio, which is fortunate because the Breeo Smokeless Fire Pit that comes with the bundle offers versatility not only in heating and entertaining, but also in backyard cooking options. You can turn your smokeless fire pit into a complete outdoor kitchen if you want to, just by purchasing Breeo’s other cooking accessories.
It’s a fun and attractive system overall. But it’s not a quick, easy, set-it-and-forget-it pizza cooking option. You need to love the process to love this oven.
Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle review: Price and availability
The Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle I tested came with the X24 stove. This configuration costs $1,998. The X24 smokeless fire pit on its own costs $599. And the pizza oven on its own costs $850. If you prefer a larger stove, you can upgrade to the X30 with adapter, which costs $3,028.
Those prices reflect the Corten Steel build option. The stainless steel option costs $200 more.
You can purchase the Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle directly from Breeo, and if you prefer a buy now, pay later option, you can choose Klarna financing at checkout. Breeo lists a 2-3 week wait on shipping.
Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle review: Design
The pizza oven section of the bundle sits on top of Breeo’s standard X24 smokeless fire pit. It has handles on either side to make it easier to remove the pizza oven section, though it’s quite heavy (76 pounds, including the pizza stones). I was able to move it by myself, but it’s an awkward affair. You’re best off getting a friend to help you with this part of the process. By comparison, the Solo Stove Pi FIre is much lighter, so it can be easily carried by one person.
The oven has three total openings: a chimney that can be closed, the opening where you’ll throw in your pies, and a lower opening through which you can control the fire once the oven is placed on the fire pit. Opening and closing the chimney can help regulate temperature.
Within the pizza opening, you’ll place the included pizza stones. Breeo splits these into two pieces to make it easier to place them correctly. They’re quite thick to help improve heat dispersion, making for an even cooking surface. They’re flat at the back to allow heat to circulate from the back of the oven to the front.
Finally, there’s a built-in thermometer mounted on the outside of the pizza oven. It’s clearly labeled to indicate when the fire is hot enough for pizzas, too cool to cook, or so hot that you’ll burn it all to a crisp.
The smokeless fire pit is also quite heavy at 47 pounds, and it’s slightly more difficult to move around because it does not have handles. I moved it by grabbing the three-inch-wide rim. It’s a good idea to figure out where you want your fire pit and oven to live, move it there, and leave it.
That said, it’s important to consider the surface on which you’re placing the smokeless fire pit. The X24 throws off a lot of heat, enough that it can damage many surfaces or even cause a fire. Fortunately, the bundle includes a fire pit base that deflects some of that heat and opens up more options for placement. Still, you’ll want to avoid wooden or composite decks, or any other surfaces that can easily catch fire.
It gets super hot because of the double-wall construction and raised air vent that allows oxygen to flow freely. More oxygen means more efficient combustion. That airflow also allows flames to radiate through the double walls and out through vent holes higher on the stove interior. Breeo says this system makes their fires smokeless. There is no removable ash pan at the bottom, but the ash shovel (sold separately, $40) makes it easy to clean out the stove.
Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle review: Performance
The X24 oven got very hot very quickly. Breeo recommends putting the pizza oven aside until the fire works down to a bed of coals. That turned out to be good advice; I put the oven on while the flames were still ripping, and it ended up discoloring the lip of the pizza oven itself. But since I was cooking solo, it would have been difficult — and dangerous — to place the oven over the hot fire pit by myself. That’s certainly a drawback to the system, but not a dealbreaker.
As is the case with all smokeless fire pits I’ve tested, the Breeo X24 isn’t exactly smokeless, but it’s close. When the fire first starts, you can definitely expect some smoke. But once everything starts circulating through the walls of the stove, smoke is significantly reduced. It’s a cool system that makes it far more pleasant to hang out around the fire.
Once the fire has burned down a bit and the pizza oven has been placed on top, you’ll need to monitor the fire pretty much constantly to ensure consistent and sufficient heat. Let the pizza stone heat up, and keep it hot. That will ensure even cooking throughout your pizza. An infrared thermometer will save the day here.
Hardwoods are a good choice for maintaining heat. They burn more slowly, too, so you won’t have to constantly feed the fire. Small chunks of wood will serve you better than large ones, too. As you might have guessed, live-fire cooking requires a lot of attention, so if you’re looking for an easy pizza-cooking option, you’re better off with a gas-powered unit. I love the Ooni Koda 16 ($600) for just such occasions.
Once the pizza stone is hot, toss your pizza in. But don’t walk away; it’s going to cook very quickly because the cooking chamber is quite small. I was able to get a 16-inch pizza inside, and it cooked in about a minute. Rotate the pizza frequently to ensure even cooking on all sides. It’s quite easy to burn the crust if you’re not paying attention.
My first two pies came out great, though I think I could have gotten the pizza more evenly cooked with a bit more attention. The outsides of the pizza crisp up quickly and start turning black. The bottom cooked almost perfectly within a minute. I’m belaboring the point, but it’s so vital to get the pizza stone super hot before you put the pizza in.
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I loved the process of cooking the pizza, and I loved the results. I’m eager to try Breeo’s other outdoor cooking accessories. But keep in mind that you’ll need to babysit a fire when using this setup. I cooked my first pizzas on a 95-degree day here in Colorado, which wasn’t exactly pleasant weather for a fire.
Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle review: Accessories
The bundle includes the X-24 fire pit, pizza oven, Breeo Base, Pizza Peel, Pizza Rocker, and Serving Board. My test unit also came with a pair of grilling gloves, a fire poker, and an ash shovel.
The Breeo website lists an extensive variety of accessories, not just for the pizza oven, but also for each version of the smokeless fire pits it sells. The fire pits accept live-fire cooking attachments aside from the pizza oven, like searing plates, griddles, grills, and much more. You could very easily turn your fire pit into an outdoor kitchen.
On top of that, you can purchase fuel for your fires, and even patio furniture to go with your backyard setup. One final nice touch: Breeo lists free recipes on the website, so if you’re unsure of where to start with your live-fire cooking setup, just follow advice from the pros.
Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle review: The competition
The Gozney Dome is perhaps the most direct competitor to the Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle. At $2,000, the Gozney is close in price and size. But the Gozney offers multi-fuel options, which means you can cook your pizzas outdoors with wood, or outdoors or indoors (with proper ventilation) using propane gas.
There are other ovens that offer wood-fired fueling, though they tend to be quite large, professional ovens more suited for restaurant use. Some smaller options combine wood fuel and propane fuel, some at half the cost of the Breeo. But these units also tend to be smaller and less robust. The Breeo can handle a pizza up to 16 inches, while some other consumer options usually top out at 14 inches.
Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle review: Verdict
I love the Breeo Live-Fire Pizza Oven Bundle, not only for its adaptability and cooking accessories, but also for the finished product: wood-fired pizza that will wow my backyard guests. And I love the idea of adding other cooking accessories like a griddle to my backyard cooking arsenal. I can see building out a social gathering space around the Breeo setup.
If you have a Solo Stove, that company makes the Solo Pi Fire, which is a much lighter and less expensive option; the size of the pizzas you can make depends on the size of your fire pit. If you have the Ranger, you can make 12-inch pies, while the Yukon attachment lets you make 20-inch pizzas.
If you’re looking for an easy pizza solution, however, this isn’t it — check out our guide to the best outdoor pizza ovens for other options. You’ll want this oven if you want to really perfect your pies, and you love the process of cooking and tending to the fire. It’s almost a social centerpiece.
If you want something simpler that will still produce great pizzas, look into a propane-fueled oven like the Ooni Koda 16 or the Solo Stove Pi Prime. It’s a different cooking process altogether, but once you’re done cooking, just turn it off and walk away.
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