Gozney Arc Lite Review

Design and features

• Compact for easier storage
• Fits up to 12in pizza
• 32.5cm-wide mouth

At first glance, Gozney’s Arc Lite looks like other Arc pizza ovens, but sized down. It features the same gas-powered lateral flame that rolls across the roof above the cordierite stone to help it reach up to 500°C, the same sleek matt exterior finish, and it’s a similar shape to the Arc and the best-selling Arc XL.

There are some subtle, and not so subtle differences though. The first you’ll notice is there’s no digital display showing the cooking temperature – meaning an infrared thermometer is an essential for exacting pizza makers.

The control dial is colour-coded: its high flame red zone is best for preheating and cooking Neapolitan-style thin base pizzas, while the blue low flame zone is suited to slower-cooked New York-style pie or thick toppings – but without a thermometer, it’s a case of getting used to heat-up and cooldown times.

Other differences are more to do with the size. For example, there’s a slimmer stone floor (1.2cm compared to the Arc and Arc XL’s 2cm), and the maximum pizza size is 12-inches rather than the 14- and 16-inch pizzas of the larger models. The oven’s mouth size is naturally more compact at 8.5 x 32.5cm – meaning that if you’re moving from this from a bigger oven, or trying an oven for the first time, you might find it more of a challenge to launch pizza and retrieve it. However, overall, the smaller size isn’t too much of a compromise when the benefits are considered. The Arc Lite can be stored easily thanks to being less than 50cm deep, and is just light enough for a one-person carry (it has hand grips underneath too).

And, just like the other Arcs, its high heat setting doubles up as pyrolytic cleaning, turning food debris into ash that can be wiped away once cooled.

Performance

• Quick to set up
• Initial heat up can take 30 minutes +
• Fast cooking overall

The lack of an idea of what temperature the Arc Lite has reached is especially acute when heating up initially. While the oven is easy to set up – the patio gas connected quickly and the flame ignited for the first time – it’s hard to know when you’re ready to cook. The quick start guide recommended heating on high for 20 minutes; the included recipe book suggested 45 minutes. On a mild day in February, armed with an infrared thermometer about 30cm away, the oven on test wasn’t up to temperature after 20 minutes, with only the centre of the stone registering more than 400°C, the front lingered around 390°C.

After 33 minutes, the front registered as 430°C while the sides were still around 400°C, and I was able to start cooking. I began with a basic cheese-and-tomato margherita.

For consistency, and so it’s ready to go as soon as an oven is up to temperature, I use premade dough to test.

Once the pizza was in, it cooked incredibly quickly in about 90 seconds, bubbling the crust at the edges. The lateral flame is great for even heat across the top but the pizza still needed rotating a couple of times as it began to singe at a corner nearest the burner: launching a pizza accurately is an art form.

The pizza was almost perfectly cooked – although retrieving it fast enough can result in burnt edges – with leopard-spotted crust and well-browned cheese.

The next pizza had uncooked vegetables as the topping, so I reduced the dial to the blue zone and left it to cool down for 10 minutes.

While the edges of the stone reduced to 280°C (I was aiming for 245-260°C), the middle remained stubbornly hot at 365°C.

Once a little cooler, I added the veggie pizza and monitored its progress – without a thermometer, watching the pizza intently is the best way of ensuring minimal waste.

After three minutes, and some rotating, the edges began to burn, so I removed it. The tomato slices were well-cooked through, the pepper was soft but not charred, and the onion had started to caramelise, while the cheese was browned. Lower heat meant the crust rose but didn’t bubble the same way as at higher heat.

Next, I tried a salami and onion pizza to see how fatty meat fared.

I raised the temperature back into the red high flame zone but not as hot as for the margherita (about 410°C in the centre of the stone), so it would have more time to cook the onion through.

This took just over 2 minutes to bake, the onion caramelising well at the edges, and the meat just beginning to brown.

There was slight singing to the crust but overall, this was the most evenly cooked pizza.

Should you buy it?