Presto Pizzazz Plus Review

It's tough to define the Pizzazz Plus as a pizza “oven.” An electrically heated pizza tin cooks the crust as it rotates underneath a second heating element that cooks the toppings. This convenient, indoor option requires no preheating, but don't expect to achieve artisan-quality pizza with this price-point alternative. While it will cook a fresh pizza up to 12", it is equally designed to cook pre-made frozen foods, like chicken nuggets and pizza rolls.

Cooking Performance

The Pizzazz offers ease and convenience at the cost of quality pizza. The electric elements require no preheating — you can stretch out dough onto the nonstick, 12" pizza tin, top with ingredients, and start baking your pizza in a matter of minutes. The tin is dimpled to improve the reheating of frozen pizzas, but it's easy to end up with a soggy bottom due to condensation.

Although this appliance requires no preheating, expect bake times much longer than the suggested 12 minutes — we regularly had to add 4-8 more minutes, using just the lower unit to get the crust to bake through. Even with the added baking time, we were continually unimpressed with the quality of the pizza. It isn't altogether bad for those who enjoy soft crust pizzas, but you will have to navigate switching between the upper and lower heating units to keep the cheese from burning.

Output Power

A primary issue with the Pizzazz Plus that undoubtedly relates directly to pizza quality is that the two cooking units heat at different temperatures. While the pizza tin maintains a consistent 350°F, the upper unit works closer to 500°F. Initially, we were impressed with how quickly this appliance baked a fresh pizza, only to lift it from the tray to find that the crust was still very undercooked.

The fact that this is an entirely open-air oven means that your pizza is at the whim of only these two heating coils. To its benefit, the rotating pizza tin's design does a nice job of keeping the top baked evenly. A thoughtful safety feature — more for the safety of your pizza than your kitchen — requires the tray to be in the correct position before the heating elements turn on. For the forgetful among us, this ensures that it won't just overcook one-eighth of your pizza while the rest remains in its original, raw state.

Control

Even though there is no way to adjust the power output of the heating coils on the Pizzazz, you can at least choose between using just the upper heating coil, the lower heating unit for the tray, or both. This feature provides a certain level of control over how each portion of your pizza bakes — if you hope to achieve any level of crispy crust for fresh-dough pizzas, we suggest pre-baking the bottom crust before turning on the upper heating unit.

But even after an additional 6 minutes using only the lower element — half the amount of time the manufacturer suggests for total cooking time — it is difficult to achieve much more than a soft, only slightly toasted crust. For an oven based on convenience, it takes a fair number of attempts to dial in the baking process and timing.

Ease of Use

At this point, you may have noticed that we haven't yet referred to the Presto Pizzazz as a “pizza oven.” While it may achieve the same goal of a cooked pizza, it is difficult to argue that this appliance is playing the same game as the other pizza ovens included in this review. However, it is incredibly user-friendly and would make a fine addition to “hot-plate” style kitchens that have no other baking units to speak of.

We consider the Pizzazz to be the "Easy Bake Oven'' option — it is electric, super easy to set up, and safe and simple enough for even a child to operate. Only the nonstick baking tin needs to be washed and wiped dry when you are finished. One of the biggest disappointments relative to versatility is that it isn't really designed to keep pizzas warm either because the timer runs out after only 20 minutes.

Should You Buy the Presto Pizzazz Plus?

The Presto Pizzazz Plus is convenient and purposefully designed to bake frozen pizzas and other convenience foods. It is an affordable, easy-to-use option for those with minimal space and the inability to cook outdoors. But at this price point, just don't expect to produce the same quality of pizza that some of the other true ovens offer. We recommend it to those who don't have a full kitchen and need a temporary appliance to make simple meals, but in the end, it doesn't compare to any of the best pizza ovens we tested.

What Other Pizza Ovens Should You Consider?

The price point is undoubtedly the draw for this appliance — it lists at nearly one-fifth of the cost of most of the ovens included in this review. It is also one of the few electric options suitable for indoor use, particularly when no type of oven is available. However, if you hope to grow your culinary skills or make drool-worthy pizzas, you may want to look elsewhere. The NerdChef 3/8" Steel Stone is a pizza accessory that you can use to elevate your home oven pizzas without spending a fortune or having to store an additional kitchen appliance. If you want a standalone option, the BakerStone Original is a top-rated option at a more-than-fair price.