Stuff Gadget Guide - UK - Issue 5 (2022-01)

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TESTED SAGE SMART OVEN PIZZAIOLO

GOOD

MEH

EVIL

Gorgeous

retro

design

Simple,

idiot-proof

controls

Ye p,

400°C...

indoors

Costs

more than

your oven

Authentic

pizza in two

minutes

[ Words

Chris Haslam

]

Outdoor pizza ovens are great, but Britain is cold

and wet... so Sage has designed an indoor cooker

that promises stone-baked sizzlers in two minutes

You can argue over crust

thickness, fruit-based toppings

and the merits of semolina flour

all you want, but the fact is, pizza

is great. Making your own can be

fun too, so it’s little wonder Google

searches for ‘pizza ovens’ have

quadrupled in the last year.

But not everyone wants to go

outside to stone-bake flatbread

every time they hear the call of

the wild (rocket); so while the

likes of Ooni and Gozney make

awesome al-fresco cookers (see

panel opposite), what we really

want is to make a passable ‘real’

pizza in the kitchen.

Enter the Sage Smart Oven

Pizzaiolo, a powerful indoor pizza

oven promising restaurant-quality

thin and crispy, wood-fired-style

and even deep-pan deliciousness

without any danger of burning

the house down.

It’s a serious-looking device,

with robust controls and a solid

double-glazed door. But it’s the

taste that really matters – time

to get a slice of the action.

£700 / stuff.tv/Pizzaiolo

A matter of crust

80

And so it glows

Capable of 400°C, it delivers

wood-fired heat minus the wood

in under two minutes. That’s

terrifyingly hot. A combination

of conductive, convective and

radiant tech crisps bases and

bubbles mozzarella, with a top

halo ring producing the classic

leopard-spotted crust (2).

New York state of rind

Not all pizzas need searing

temperatures, so things can

be adjusted to cook deep-pan,

New York-style, thin and crispy,

wood-fired, and even frozen (3).

A clever magnetic chart fits over

the controls to help guide your

style, including how dark you’d

like your base.

Uptown grill

Sage’s stainless steel cooker

comes with a traditional pizza

stone and a clever non-stick

deep-pan dish with a removable

handle. There’s also a nicely

designed all-metal pizza peel.

It’s a great-looking appliance

with retro vibes that can be kept

at hand on a kitchen worktop (1).

Chef skills

still needed,

though