Big, Beautiful, Backyard Beast: Breeo ‘Live Fire’ Pizza Oven Review

I might be the last person alive not aboard the backyard pizza oven phenomenon. It seems like everyone has their own setup to bake homemade pies these days, and big outdoor brands have jumped on it, too. Ooni built a reputation on portable (if not backpack-light) pizza ovens for campers, and the smokeless fire kingpin, Solo Stove, followed suit with its own Pi Fire oven.

So, when Breeo reached out to see if I wanted to test drive its Live Fire Oven, which attaches to the brand’s smokeless fire pits, I had to question two things: Had I already missed the craze? And what was Breeo bringing to the pizza party the competition didn’t? Figuring I had to answer “yes” to the first question to understand the second, I jumped on the trend.

Just in time for my Super Bowl party, the Live Fire oven arrived and showed off what Breeo had to offer. Where Ooni and Solo Stove present portable, relatively unassuming options, Breeo’s pizza oven stands as a truly robust backyard centerpiece. Standing more than 3 feet tall and spanning more than 2.5 feet in diameter, the Live Fire looks the most like a proper pizza-making machine.

But how did it perform? I baked about a half-dozen pizzas over 2 days — and gathered the opinions of assembled Super Bowl fanatics to find out.

In short: If you’re part of the Breeo ecosystem — or haven’t already invested in a backyard fire pit — the Live Fire is a beautiful, functional, well-made addition to your backyard. It’s no small investment, but for those who enjoy outdoor cooking and pizza-making, the Live Fire is solidly built and churns out piping hot, crispy-melty goodness reliably. It takes some practice and it’s not highly portable, but it’s worth considering if you’re keen to own a backyard fire pit.

Breeo Live Fire Pizza Oven Review

Specs / Features

The beauty of the Live Fire is that it’s a companion to a standard Breeo Fire Pit. And not just one bespoke fire pit, but a variety of the brand’s offerings. This means you can enjoy your fire and cook with it, too — when you just want to sit around a fire pit, you can lift and remove the Live Fire oven.

So, before you get cooking, you’ll need to make sure you have a Luxeve, X24, or X30 model fire pit (adapter necessary for X30). I also strongly recommend you have a means of elevating the fire pit off the ground — Breeo offers a Base if you don’t have a safe setup of your own.

Once you have the basics squared away, the Live Fire can be yours. It comes in one size (19 inches high and x 27.5-inch diameter) and two finishes — Corten steel or stainless. They’re the same price and specs, but the Corten develops a weathered patina as it ages.

I tested the Corten steel model with the X24 fire pit. The setup was idiot-proof: Set the X24 atop the base, and then lift the Live Fire onto the X24. You will feel it seat properly. At 76 pounds, the oven isn’t light, but it’s still manageably heavy. I lifted it solo, but the handles on either side mean it’s a breeze to move with two people.

Once that’s done, all that’s left is to place the two included pizza stones into the oven. These sit neatly in place, side-by-side.

Accessories

In addition to the setup companion items above, Breeo also sells a variety of pizza-making accessories individually or as a bundle. These include a serving board, peel, and pizza rocker (for cutting).

Combined, they make a pretty nice setup, but all that’s strictly necessary is the peel. If you don’t buy one through Breeo, you’ll need to source one to properly handle and cook your pizzas.

Breeo Pizza Oven Testing: How It Works

If you can make a campfire, you can fire up this oven. You don’t make any fire in the oven itself — all the fire takes place in the fire pit below the oven. Honestly, I opted to set the oven aside and build a sustained fire, as it allowed much easier access to get everything going. Then when the fire built up enough, I popped the oven back into place.

A thermometer on the oven shows the temp; the oven’s design includes a heat-bypass lever to provide some control to retain or evacuate through the chimney. A sliding tab on the front of the oven controls airflow through the chimney. Be careful — this metal tab can get hot!

Once the fire is rolling and the heat is where you want it — I recommend 600 degrees at least — you can slide a pizza onto the stones. As a handy guide, the gauge explicitly outlines the ideal “pizza zone” range. The temperature gauge goes up to 1,000 degrees, and I did pin it in testing.

Depending on your toppings, be mindful of how hot you go — the heat bypass is your friend. Too hot, and you scorch your crust without melting your cheese; too low, and you never quite get the crispy crust you want. As Grandma used to say, “Eff around and find out.”

Live Fire Pizza Oven Impressions

Whether you’ve made wood-fired pizza before or not, I’m confident you’ll enjoy making pizza with Breeo’s Live Fire. It’s pretty damn easy to set up — especially with two people — and use. Any issues you have with the outcome are most likely going to stem from learning how thick your crust should be, at what temp you need the oven, and what toppings you have.

That said, there are some definite pros and cons to the Live Fire system that will affect your choice to buy.

Pros

Let’s start with the pros. Compared to the other options in the outdoor/backyard space (Ooni and Solo Stove), the Live Fire is the most robust option I’ve seen. It’s both visually appealing and capable in terms of temperatures the oven can reach and your ability to adjust them.

Plus, the 7/8-inch pizza stones help maintain a consistent, even temperature as your flames fluctuate. What’s more, the heat bypass provides a level of heat control that’s nice compared to a standard pizza oven, which requires more attention to fuel and flame control.

You’ll still want to monitor how much flame and wood you feed into your fire pit to get the best pizza possible, but the bypass affords some wiggle room.

Cons

There are a few issues I’ll list as “cons,” although the Live Fire is an overall solid product, and my experience using it was positive. But here are some things to consider.

First, loading and starting a fire does not require you to remove the oven, but I found that getting a fire going is much easier if you do. This adds a step and, as noted, is much easier with two people.

Second, as much as I appreciate the chimney bypass, that sucker gets hot! And when it heats up, the sliding lever can get sticky — expanding with heat and accumulating carbon. So, make sure you have heat-resistant gloves if you’re going to touch it — or any part of the oven — if it’s been over flames. In other words, treat it like an actual oven.

Finally, as I noted in my review of the Traeger Flatrock Grill, the Live Fire does not come with a cover. I tested the oven in mid-February in Minnesota. And while 2024 has proven a mild winter, the oven did endure some wintery mix and even weathered an unexpected snowstorm that dumped 5 inches overnight.

I raised my concern with Breeo, and one of the brand’s reps told me not to worry; the oven (like all Breeo products) is designed to live outside. What’s more, according to Breeo, the Corten-finish oven I received is a weathering steel that is supposed to take on a patina/rust appearance over time. This process actually protects the steel from degradation and eliminates the need for painting.

While that offers peace of mind for the overall integrity of the exterior, I also believe a cover can be nice so you don’t wind up with rain or melty slush inside the oven or fire pit, as that can be a nuisance.

Live Fire Pizza Oven Review: Conclusions

As the Super Bowl played on, I slung pizza after pizza onto the dining room platter. The results were mixed, as I learned how long was too long (and not long enough), and how many ingredients were too many. If you want to avoid this trial-and-error period (and some grocery expenses), read up on backyard pizza oven recipes.

But once I got the hang of it and kept the oven where I wanted it, I was kicking out some damn fine pies! And I’ve made a few more since. The Live Fire pizza oven is very simple to operate, yet extremely fun to use. You don’t have to have any prior experience with pizza or pizza ovens to get cooking.

It is an investment — the oven alone is $850, and a fire pit to fuel it is another $600 or so. And if you go for the whole bundle, you’ll spend around $2,000. You can make pizza for a lot less than that — Solo Stove and Ooni both have options well below that price.

However, the Breeo is a big, burly, beautiful pizza oven. Short of making one out of terracotta, brick, and soapstone yourself, it’s the most impressive setup I’ve seen. And those won’t double as a fun fire pit hangout!

I also know that $2,000 is well in the ballpark of other backyard cooking contraptions, so I think it’s priced more like a permanent fixture than a portable companion. And in that role, the Live Fire adds a fun, social centerpiece to the backyard cooking experience.