Billed as the “world’s most portable pizza oven,” the Gozney Tread is an adventure-ready, ruggedized gas-powered beauty. It is the smallest of the hugely impressive Gozney range, and the second most affordable behind the original Roccbox. It joins an ever-evolving selection of home pizza ovens that have transformed our ability to cook proper pizza—we’re talking everything from Neapolitan, Chicago-style, New York and Sicilian—from the comfort of the backyard.

With the Tread, Gozney wants us to take our sourdough calzone on tour. Measuring 16.5″ x 19.1″ x 12.6″, it is undeniably compact for a fully featured pizza oven, and the two large handles make it easier (and cleaner) to move than most. The gas-only design can hit 932 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees Celsius) and has space for a 12-inch pie.

Can it compete with the best pizza ovens available, and at 29.7 pounds, is it really portable enough to take with you? I spent a few weeks both carb- and trunk-loading to find out.

Portable? Really?

For all the gorgeous marketing images of the Tread in the desert, on mountains and in remote locations, it’s worth noting that my review unit arrived on a full-sized wooden pallet. Admittedly Gozney did supply me with every conceivable extra, but it was still quite an eye-opening amount of gear for something billed as not just portable, but the “world’s most portable pizza oven.”

Photograph: Chris Haslam

29.7 pounds is roughly the same weight as an SUV tire or a typical three-year-old. While not back-breakingly heavy, nobody wants to spend all that long carrying something so awkward.

The pizza oven is an impressively compact unit, and ideal if you’re a tailgater whose idea of wilderness is the parking lot, but once you factor in the gas canister (they recommend a 5-11-kilogram tank), tripod stand, pizza peel, and all the other accoutrements needed to make pizza away from home, the real-world logistics start to mount.

Looking at the competition, the Ooni Koda 12 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is quite a bit lighter than the Tread at 20.4 pounds, but also larger, at 24.4 x 15.5 x 11.7 inches. That light weight is a consideration when you realize that reviews editor Adrienne So has strapped pizza ovens as big as the Ooni Karu 16 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) to paddleboards to take them out to islands in the middle lakes.

Ooni’s carry covers are also much cheaper than the Tread’s Venture Bag ($99) and the ovens come with legs, so you don’t need to take a stand. If you’re heading anywhere with uneven ground, however, the Gozney stand is much more versatile (more on that later).

Photograph: Chris Haslam