Gozney Tread review: a premium portable pizza oven for travellers

Welcome to T3's review of the new Gozney Tread portable gas-fired pizza oven. While Ooni can arguably lay claim to bringing outdoor pizza baking to the masses (in 2012 to be precise), Gozney can equally assert entitlement to having helped revolutionise the professional pizza oven industry, specifically the myriad of artisan pizza van enterprises we all know and love. Both companies excel at producing easy-to-use pizza ovens but Gozney is generally considered a cut above when it comes to the quality of materials used and the excellent level of fit and finish the company applies to all its products.

Take the brand new 12” gas-fired Gozney Tread oven I'm reviewing today. Aside from being portable for camping, beach, picnic, balcony and patio use, the Tread screams quality from the moment you first clap eyes on it. And the same goes for the myriad of optional accessories available for it.

Gozney sent us the full accessory pack for this oven and as soon as we placed the main unit on its optional four-legged stand, the first thing that sprung to mind were the tripod aliens in HG Wells’ iconic War of the Worlds. Will the Gozney Tread take over the planet and, perhaps more importantly, garner a lofty spot in our guide to the best pizza ovens? Guess we’ll have to fire it up, bung in a pizza and see what happens.

Gozney Tread review: price and availability

The Gozney Tread is available in the UK from 11th March 2025, direct from Gozney and priced at £499.99. Alternatively try Banbury-based ProSmoke, BBQ World and Stoves Are Us, where the Tread retails at the same price. You can be sure that other select retailers like John Lewis & Partners will also be adding it to their stock.

Gozney Tread review: package and assembly

I received the full monty from Gozney and that included the oven itself (£499.99) plus the Tread Venture Stand (£199.99), the handy Tread Venture Bag (£89.99), the Tread Mantel (£79.99) which is basically an extended shelf that slides on to the front lip of the oven, the Tread Roof Rack (£89.99) with separate Roof Rack Server (£24.99) for preparing ingredients on the go, and most essential of all, a short-handled Venture Placement Peel (£79.99) and Venture Turning Peel (£59.99).

Now you’re probably wondering what all that amounts to in terms of cost so I’ve done the math for you and it’s a grand total of £624.93 – just for the accessories. To be honest, you don’t really need most of these accessories to enjoy a damn fine pizza on the Tread though I will say that the Venture Stand gives it stature and versatility when no tables are around, the Venture Bag makes it much easier to carry a distance and the Mantel provides more real estate when launching and turning the pizza. Otherwise you can make do with any 12” pizza peel to complete a ready-to-bake package.

Assembly was pretty pain free and involved nothing more than fitting the supplied stand attachment to the base of the oven and clipping in the regulator hose which, you’ll be thrilled to know, comes out of the box fully assembled with the hose already connected to the regulator. Next open out the four legs of the stand, extend them to one of two positions – camp chair height and chest height – and, using the two sturdy handles, hoist the oven on to the stand’s connector which can swivel a full 360˚ so you can easily position the oven opening away from any wind. This is a major bonus because wind is the pizza oven’s arch nemesis, especially if it’s a gas-fired model with no oven door, like we have here.

Gozney Tread review: design and features

Gozney was founded by CEO Tom Gozney, a former rehab patient whose life was transformed the moment he tasted the results from his first ever self-built pizza oven. Fast forward nine years and the Gozney pizza oven empire has grown to include six sterling domestic pizza ovens along with heaven knows how many full-scale professional ovens for the commercial pizza-baking industry. Indeed, some of his domestic ovens – the hugely popular Roccbox, for instance – are usually the first port of call for any burgeoning artisan pizza maker.

The Tread is Gozney’s first ever portable model and that’s saying something because most of the Gozney models I’ve reviewed in the past have been to heavy to carry even a few metres; most notably the elephantine-like Dome for which I had to enlist the help of neighbours just to put it on its stand. But that’s the thing with Gozney ovens – there’s no skimping on lightweight materials when it comes to build quality and specifically insulation.

The Gozney Tread thankfully weighs a much more svelte 13.5kg (29.7Ib) which even old spindleshanks here can handle. However, I would say that it’s ultimately a two-person lift if heading from car to the beach or picnic spot. And if you’ve also bought the Tread Venture Stand, you may need a third pair of hands to transport that too. Nevertheless, for home use or car camping, you will have zero hassles moving this one about.

Available in two colours – olive green and black – the handsome-looking Tread measures 41.8cm (16.5”) in width, 48.4cm (19.1”) in depth and 32cm (12.6”) in height while its internal dimensions sport a width of 31cm (12.2”), a depth of 38cm (15”) and a height of 15cm (5.9”). But all you really need to know is that it will fit a full-width 12-inch with a smidge of space to spare.

Gozney states that the Tread’s 41cm x 31cm cordierite pizza stone can be easily removed but it’s so firmly positioned that the only way I can see to remove it for cleaning is to unscrew the four small Allen key bolts holding the front steel lip in place. Normally a pizza oven will have a hole beneath the stone to poke a finger through to release it but this model is so well insulated under the stone that there is no way to include a finger hole. Nevertheless, this can also be considered a good thing because it means that the Tread can be placed on a wooden table – it has four rubber feet.

Many gas-fired pizza ovens have their controllers situated at the rear of the oven which makes it difficult to see the flame while you’re adjusting it. Conversely, the Tread has its battery-powered ignition-cum-flame controller positioned on the right hand side so it’s very easy to see what you’re doing. In warmer weather the oven should reach 450˚C in about 20 minutes and because the stone isn’t quite as thick as Gozney’s premium models, it will cool down quicker for transport.

The downside is that you may need to pause for a few minutes between pizzas to allow the stone to reheat properly. Thankfully there’s a temperature gauge on the right with a sweet spot in the green centre section but I would always advise also using a laser thermometer to check the stone’s true temperature.

The Tread’s gas burner is positioned to the left and the not the rear like so many other models. Not only does the flame itself overlap the entire pizza base for even cooking of ingredients but it also provides a much clearer view of the edge of the crust nearest the flame which can so easily burn without you realising it. Top marks for this.

Gozney Tread review: performance

I fired this oven up on a really cold, breezy day so didn’t hold out much hope of it reaching the magic 400˚C+ within the 20 minutes stated by Gozney. In the end, I’d say it took about 30 minutes to reach 405˚C and that’s not too shabby considering that there is no oven door to keep the heat in. Incidentally, I consider 400˚C more than enough oomph for baking pizza at home, especially if you’re not very good at stretching the dough to a thin enough consistency. It means the base is given a decent chance to cook through.

Now I’m the first to admit that a) I’m not a good dough maker and b) I just can’t be bothered. So I ordered in some of my absolutely favourite pre-made frozen dough balls direct for the Gozney website (£25.95 for 12 balls). These dough balls are made using Peddling Pizzas’ recipe and they are deliciously airy with just the right amount of salt for a world-class bite.

After proofing the dough for a couple of hours, I performed the stretching routine, turned the gas down to minimum and launched the pizza off the excellent Gozney perforated pizza peel. I then kept an eye on it at all times while giving it an occasional turn. I’d say it was in the oven for about 110 seconds before I detected the first signs of burning and pulled it out. What a result and just what I was looking for.

Aside from the perfectly cooked mozzarella and pepperoni, it’s the circle of mountainous and extremely light and airy crust that truly impressed. And when I peeked beneath to look at the base, it was simply perfect, with just the right level of baking to produce decent crisp and a dusty light, greyish brown appearance. I then made a second one for my brother and it came out just as well with no panic attacks involved and no burning of the hand. I call that a 5-star result.

Of course, any pizza oven will also cook other foods like fish, seared steaks and vegetables, so if that is your wont, then fire away. Just be sure to place any foodstuffs on a cast-iron skillet and not on the stone itself or you’ll have a sticky mess on your hands.

Gozney Tread review: verdict

It’s true to say that most of the gas-fired pizza ovens we’ve reviewed in T3’s guide to the best pizza ovens have performed extremely well. But this one pips many to the post by dint of its ease of use, build quality and its ability to heat up quickly and efficiently. Yes, it’s more expensive to buy than some others on the market but then again, the propensity of accessories available help give this model extra versatility whether it’s being used at home, on a balcony, at a campsite or down on the beach.