KettlePizza Pro 22 Kit Review

The KettlePizza Pro 22 Kit is a great pizza oven kit if you want to enjoy the taste of your favorite pizza anywhere, whether in your backyard at home or on your next vacation while camping out. There’s plenty to like about this kit and we’re excited to reveal just why it’s one of our favorite ovens. While not perfect, it’s definitely a great option for outdoor cooking.

Pros & Cons

The KettlePizza Pro is a relatively affordable and top-quality durable pizza oven kit that features everything you need to enjoy the great taste of your favorite pizza, particularly if you enjoy wood-fired pizza.

Design and Build Quality

The KettlePizza Pro 22 is designed for installation on top of a kettle grill. The kit comes with all of the accessories needed for cooking wood-fired pizzas right at home or on the go when you travel with your grill. The kit comes with variety of features, including:

• Insert for charcoal grills
• Pro grate
• Aluminum cooking pan and peel
• Tombstone

These options allow you to choose to cook on a stone or pan, both of which we tried. The insert included with our model is only designed to work with 22.5″ charcoal grills, but other kits are available for different sizes ranging from 18.5″ to the 22.5″ model based on your preferences.

You also have the option of getting inserts for a gas grill if you don’t use a kettle grill. You can also use the pro grate in lieu of the grate included with the grill to improve refueling efficiency, and the grate also features an elevated firebox that allows for hotter temperatures in the dome.

The tombstone that’s included features rounded edges and measures 15.7″ x 14.5″. It’s made of durable cordierite, which is the ideal material used to build pizza stones. The thickness of the stone also enables it to retain more heat while making it easier to remove and place the pizza.

Stainless Steel Hardware

The extension or sleeve is made of 304 stainless steel, and all of the hardware and stand-offs are also made with stainless steel. The wooden handles are untreated and unstained, however. These materials make for a solid kit, though it’s not particularly heavy-duty.

All told, the combination of materials included with this kit will allow you to cook faster, with easy refueling using the side-access openings.

Setup for the KettlePizza Pro 22

The Pro 22 model is very easy to set up in a couple of simple steps:

1. The first step for setting it up will be to use a couple of wing nuts to form and lock the aluminum ring, which shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.
2. After that, you’ll need to assemble the pro grate and firebox.

Performing these steps doesn’t take much effort since everything is already put together for the most part; it’s just a matter of fitting the pieces together. Keep in mind that the pro grate is the heaviest piece and could break if you drop or mishandle it.

Once you’ve assembled the KettlePizza Pro, you can remove the grate from the grill, replace it with the new piece, and start it up.

For best results, consider using a chimney for the charcoal, which will make it easier to flip and form that u-shape behind the grill. For other pizza cooking accessories, see our favorite picks here. Once you’ve prepped the charcoal, you can place some wood blocks on the charcoal and replace the pro grate. You can also add some wood chips to the firebox at the back of the grill.

The oven should then heat to over 500 degrees Fahrenheit, at which point you should be able to start cooking pizzas. Make sure you give the stone some time to heat up to evenly cook the pizza crust. You can then remove the pizza and enjoy it in no time.

How the Kit Works w/ High Heat

The key is experimenting to determine which settings work best to give you optimal results. Determine the right heat level, the thickness of the crust and toppings, and the amount of time needed for cooking. Remember that to cook the best wood-fire oven pizza, the appropriate temperature will be above 700 degrees in many instances. Another thing to note; the bi-dial temperature reader on your grill lid is not to be trusted. For this, we recommend purchasing a Type K pizza oven thermometer.

Appropriate Temperature

At these high temperatures, it shouldn’t take more than around 5 minutes to cook your pizza. However, you will need to make sure that the oven is refueled when needed and that the pizza is rotated once every half-minute to a minute to keep the pizza evenly cooked. It doesn’t hurt to have a little trial and error before you figure out which settings will yield the best results.

You have a choice between using the included stone or pan, depending on your cooking preferences. While the pan is easier to use and can help keep the pizza from sliding off of the peel when laying down the dough, but the stone will make for a crisper crust because of its superior heat retention and distribution. So, for less hassle, use the pan. For a crisper pizza, use the stone.

Issues We Had with the Kit

As we’ve mentioned, this kit does have some downsides, but they’re relatively minimal considering the kit’s performance and setup are impressive for the most part.

The first issue we had was that there wasn’t really a clear guide as to which settings can give you the best results when cooking using the kit and your existing oven. We had to toy around with the settings a little to figure out what worked just right. This can be a bit annoying to some who may not want to spend a lot of time working with the oven or wasting resources on inadequately cooked pizza, but you shouldn’t have to work too hard to determine which settings are best. See our recipe for making dough designed for a pizza oven.

The other problem we saw with this kit was the discoloration that’s produced as soon as you use the kit for the first time. The 304 stainless steel may be durable and hold up well, but it won’t look as pristine once you use the kit as the smoke discolors it. As long as you don’t mind if the visual aesthetics of your grill are a little tarnished, this shouldn’t be a big problem. Otherwise, this kit looks and works great.

Thankfully, there weren’t any other issues we saw.

The overall construction of this kit is designed to hold up for years of use and should help you get the most from your existing kettle grill. The fact that you can choose between different models based on your specifications also makes this a great option if the Pro 22 isn’t the right fit.