CuiZen PIZ-4012 Pizza Box Oven

I usually don't mention stuff I buy, but this seems worth a quick note. I saw this advertised and thought it might be the solution for the uneven temperatures of my oven, so I bought one. When it arrived I put it on top of the stove and first tried a thin crust Red Barron pizza. I wasn't sure how hot it got or how long it took to cook, so I used the minimum time it said for thin crust pizza. It came out very nice, tho just a bit under cooked. The next day I tried a thick rising crust DiGiorno pizza, the thickest one I could find. This time I actually used the average time for this type of pizza and it came out perfect, cooked just right with a brown crispy crust ( something you can't get in a microwave pizza ) and all the cheese melted and the other ingredients nice and hot. One of the good things about this is you don't have to thaw the pizza or preheat the cooker, just put the frozen pizza on the non-stick pan, set the temperature to COOK, and set the timer to thin crust, normal, or rising crust, and the pizza comes out fine. It is kind of expensive if you do have a working oven that has a good temperature control, but even with that, this requires no pre heating the oven and, given how small it is, it uses a lot less electricity. Plus it runs on 110 v instead of 220 v so that's better too. The only bad thing about it is it only cooks a 12 inch or smaller pizza. Not a problem for me since I can't even eat a whole 12 inch pizza at one setting, but if that's all you need then this works great. And, as another reviewer pointed out, the first time I used mine it had a grinding sound as the pan scrapped the side of the metal box. The next pizza I just made sure it was centered and no grinding sound. After using it, would I buy it again? Sure, since here in the South I don't like to turn the oven on in the Summer since it cranks out so much heat. This pizza cooker puts out a lot less heat and doesn't appreciably heat up the kitchen at all. And, with the difference in electricity use between this and the oven, it should pay for itself in a few years. ********************* UPDATE 10-01-15 ************************* After having and using the oven for a while, I found that it does a good job of cooking pretty much anything under two inches tall. I've cooked loaded potato skins, mozzarella sticks, and tater tots, all of which came out fine by just using the time indicated on the bag for oven cooking. All in all, one of my favorite kitchen tools. Still glad I bought it.

Good: -It works really well. I have used it to cook both a frozen and a home made pizza; both turned out really good. The crust turned out crisper than on a traditional oven for both. -Price: I paid 49 dollars for it. -It cooks the pizza faster and no preheating. -Aesthetics: It's cute. Bad: -The recipe book is really just a list of combinations of different pizza toppings. It's not worth the paper it's printed on. I do not really care, though. -It can be a little difficult to pick up the pizza pan from the oven after it has cooked when wearing gloves. -The oven only has three labeled settings: Minimal, keep warm, and cook. The instructions basically say to turn the knob to cook. You do not have control over the temperature, though it may be possible. I did not burn anything and nothing came out undercooked so it worked well. For the price, it's perfect. Other: It definitely cooks pizzas better than my conventional oven. I also wonder if you could cook a giant cookie in it. I will add that I definitely think some of those other reviews are fakes, but the oven worked really well for what I wanted.

Ok, I've had mine since May 2015 and I use it at least once a month. I originally bought one as a wedding gift for a friend and after I opened the box to wrap it, I couldn't help myself, I had to try it. I tried it, I kept it and ordered another for my friends. I've since bought 5 of these for gifts, I love it that much. (and today's $45 price is great!) I found if I put in some aluminum foil in the pan, I can cook Fish n Chips, pizza bites, mozzarella sticks, chimichangas, Taquitos, shoot, I can cook most anything in this oven that I can cook in my convection microwave or big ole oven. (And less cleaning and less heat (the microwave in convection mode is pretty hot) As you can see by my pics, you can load up the 'za with a bunch of things, if you prop the lid with a WOOD spatula or some other FIRE SAFE type of device. The heating elements are at the hingepoint (back) of the oven and not in the front so using a WOOD spatula type of device to open the lid a bit (when it stops spinning, you've gone too high.) enables you to load up your pizza with your favorite toppings. Get this now, while it's at $45 they make a great Xmas present! EDIT: May 2019 - It's still running, Still working, Still creating yummy pizzas! EDIT: March 2023 - SAME OVEN, still running strong! But WTH is up with $375??? EDIT: October 2024 - no no cancel! Still rockin’ the Za! Not sure the issue but after looking it over, trying it and seeing it work, the next day we cooked a pizza w no issues! 14+ years of monthly service!

What a fun kitchen gadget! Works really well on frozen and fresh pizzas. You have to play around with the timing a bit, but that's not unusual. Only thing is the handle does get a bit warm to the touch, but, that's also not an insurmountable problem. (Definitely keep it out of reach of small grabby hands when in operation.) Overall, our household is very pleased with this item.

Product arrived damaged. Warped and horrible build quality. The sheet “metal” used for this product? Light weight and flimsy. The seams didn’t even line up! I also ended up requesting a replacement to give it another shot. Surprise surprise? Product arrived in the same condition as the first. In terms of use? Pizza cooks “decent” but for the other issues? Not worth it. Invest in an actual pizza oven for about 40 dollars more. You won’t regret it! As for this product? Useless.

Well, it was one of the less expensive options available so I was kind of worried it would be cheap and flimsy. And, while it's clearly made of less substantial materials than some other options, it's certainly not bad. I've been using it a few months now and haven't had any issues with it not turning or the timer breaking, as some others have posted. It does what it's supposed to do; it cooks frozen pizzas. That's all I wanted and that's what it does. Money well spent, in my opinion. Update: Well, I've had this thing for more than 3 years and it's still going strong. I have noticed one disadvantage this model has compared to others. Since this opens from the top, as opposed to having a tray that slides out like most other models, clearance can be an issue. This will not open all the way if placed under a standard cabinet (which have 18" clearance from the countertop). If you don't have counter space without a cabinet above, and don't want to constantly move it from storage to use it on your stovetop or something, this may not be for you. Still works for me just fine, but figured someone else could use the tip.

I love the design, and for the price it's a fine kitchen toy. It does a very decent job of heating or cooking pizza. The only drawback is that there's not a lot of headroom, so if you have a "bubbly" crust or some thick toppings, there will be charring.

They used to be cheap and now there expensive. Works great no matter the price.