Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven Review: At-Home Oven Tested

In This Review
Performance | Quality | Design | Value | Usability | Maintenance | Setup | Specs | Product Evolution | Comparison | FAQs

Performance Summary

At Modern Castle we test 5 different factors that impact the performance, build quality, and usability of the Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven.

Chef Nathan has cooked using pizza stones, DIY brick ovens, propane ovens, and now 2 versions of Cru wood-fired ovens. He has had many years as an at-home amateur pizza maker and bread baker.

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The Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven is fantastic for cooking. Not only did it produce great pizza and chicken, but the process was uniquely enjoyable. From an objective standpoint we care about time to preheat the oven, time it can cook pizza, and how even the resulting cook is.

Preheating

Preheating is always going to be a little varied when it comes to a wood fire oven. It depends on how many wood stakes you throw in, their size, how fast the whole thing catches fire, how you feed it over time, etc..

That being said, across the multiple times we preheated this oven, it was able to reach a decent pizza cooking temperature at around 20-25 minutes with proper technique. It’s not just about getting the overall temperature to 800 degrees, but the stones need to properly reach around 500.

For a wood fired oven, this is a good time. Though, as we’ll discuss later, more attention needs to be paid to the fire than I’d prefer. So there is a little room for improvement.

Cook times

The goal for classic Neapolitan-style pizzas is to be cooked in 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Authentic brick oven pizza recommends a of temperature of 800°F – 900°F. Of course, you’ll need a pizza turner to rotate the pizza at the appropriate times to ensure each side is cooked properly.

It is important to use the half door when cooking. We cooked pizzas without it for better visibility and when we attached it later the difference was clear.

With proper preheating, the Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven was able to cook multiple pizzas in under 2 minutes. The pizza in this video took only 106 seconds.

Evenness

Of course, you could cook the crust to near-burning while the inside stays doughy, or you could singe your toppings before the crust gets to that golden, puffy state. This is honestly a big problem that I have with the propane pizza oven that I use at home.

The Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven produced some of the most evenly cooked pizzas that I’ve ever made.

A big help was the built-in thermometer so I can make adjustments on the fly. Another huge benefit of the 32 G2 is the half-door that allows for a superior rolling of heat throughout the oven.

Grilling

We also tested how well this oven could cook using a portable grill provided by Cru. The grill in their store is perfect for sliding over coals/fire. We used store-bought chicken, brushed a little oil on it, and cooked them directly over the fire.

The built-in thermometer was convenient in helping gauge how to manage the fire so as to properly cook the chicken. This is where some basic grilling experience comes into play. You need to inspect and flip meat over fire like this. The handles on the grill and its weight distribution made it easy to pull out while keeping in the oven.

The results were fantastic. There was a satisfying char to the chicken and a delightful smokey flavor.

The whole experience required some trial and error with maintaining the fire and watching the temperature of the oven and stone. Overall, I found the cooking performance of the Cru 32 G2 to be excellent with little room for improvement.

I found the overall build of the Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven to be of excellent quality. We did experience a few issues with individual parts, but these had minimal impact on the functionality of the oven.

The oven is comprised of the following parts:

Part	Build Quality
Overall	Excellent
Dome	Very Good
Base	Exceptional
Chimney	Very Good
Stones	Exceptional
Half Door	Very Good
Full Door	Excellent
Thermometer	Good

First and foremost, the machining process that each steel part goes through is cut with fine precision. They are 304 stainless steel with ceramic fiber insulation. Altogether it weighs 50 lbs. and feels extremely durable.

My only gripe is that some corners and edges are a bit sharp. For example, the dome put a small indent in my table as I put it down at a slight angle and the handles could be rounded off to make it a bit more ergonomic.

The most important aspects of quality pertain to the insulation of the oven and the heat retention of the bricks / pizza stones. I think the bricks / stones themselves are fantastic. They maintain heat at a balanced proportion to the rest of the oven allowing for even cooking.

However, the insulation of the oven leaves a little to be desired. I felt that the attention on the fire needed to maintain proper oven temperature was a bit more than I was used to from other wood ovens. The Cru Champion, for example, was a noticeable improvement in this regard.

The two doors looked great right out of the box. Although, there was some discoloration after the door was exposed to high heats. Again, this did not affect functionality, but it was a shame to ruin the amazing, clean finish it originally had.

Finally, the thermometer worked extremely well with one issue. At some point the inside cooked on a layer of soot or something that made seeing it difficult, though not impossible. It’s very possible that I let the fire get a little too hot and it was due to user error.

In any case, Cru immediately shipped us out a replacement thermometer, which simply slots into place.

The Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven is designed to be portable and versatile while maintaining an authentic pizza oven performance.

Its most distinct design elements include:

• Large opening
• 2 top handles
• Removable top
• 2 pizza stones
• Built-in thermometer

That large opening is the biggest differentiator from other ovens. It’s wide enough to fit a 15” diameter pizza but also tall enough to use a grill inside. You can also fit pots and taller dishes to slow-roast larger meals. Additionally, that taller height also makes cooking big loaves of bread viable, as it has the space to bake.

Finally, the tall design makes building good wood fires and all aspects of the cooking process easier with the extra room to work in.

The tradeoff is that heat can escape from the bigger opening. That is why they designed a half door to close the opening enough to allow for proper heat movement, but open enough for airflow. It is a clever solution, but the door is notably thinner than the walls of the dome.

The removable top means that you can fully clean the dome and stones from soot and ash with ease. The top handles are another nice addition that is not necessary but improves the experience of transporting the oven.

I appreciate the efficiency of the design that minimizes fragile or moving parts as much as possible. The stones breaking from mistreatment is the biggest threat to its longevity, and those can be replaced easily enough.

Aside from cosmetic blemishes, I don’t see any reason it couldn’t last a lifetime. All and all, the design elements are innovative and convenient while not appearing to compromise high-quality cooking performance.

The value of this Cru oven is a bit tricky to place. As of writing this review, the price is just under $800.

In recent years, the market has been inundated with inexpensive home pizza ovens starting as low as $200. These are usually small (10” pizzas), gas-powered, and aren’t really attempting the “authentic wood fire” experience.

Then you have the top-tier, large-sized, and truly authentic pizza ovens that can easily go for $2000 or more.

All that being said, the Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven is firmly in the mid to upper tier in terms of size, quality, and performance. So a price of $800 feels more than fair.

Then you can factor in its versatility which allows for baking, grilling, and roasting. Most pizza ovens will claim you can cook all sorts of other foods in them, but, in my experience, it was more effort than it was worth trying anything but pizza.

Even many of those $2000+ ovens aren’t designed tall enough to cook anything but pizza and panned dishes.

Finally, as we mentioned earlier, this oven can last you a lifetime. In the end, the value of the 32 G2 Pizza Oven is great for what it offers – versatility, fantastic pizza cooking, and a heavy-duty construction that can last a lifetime.

When operating the Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven, you will need to consider the necessities, accessories and maintenance.

The main necessity is your fuel type. You will need a supply of untreated wood kindling and / or logs to use the oven. I grew up camping so chopping logs to make kindling is part of the fun for me. Charcoal is another type of fuel usable in the Cru 32 G2.

It is also necessary to learn the proper way to build, lit, and maintain a fire without harmful chemicals. Multiple methods exist, you just need to ensure there is enough space for oxygen to flow.

To make full use of the oven, you will need a lot of accessories such as:

• Pizza peel and/or launcher
• Pizza tuner
• Ash scrapers
• BBQ gloves
• Ash brush
• Thermometer gun to measure the stone
• and more

All of this can be fun for some but tedious for others. I personally love a hobby that offers lots of accessories to improve it, and that’s certainly true here.

Maintenance

As far as maintenance is concerned, there are only a few things to consider:

• Removing soot buildup from the dome with a wet sponge or cloth
• Clearing ash once stones are cool
• Brushing or wiping fine ash residue off of brick/stone

Important note: never wash pizza brick/stone with a substantial amount of water. If you do, do not use the oven until it is dry (up to 24 hours). This is how you risk cracking your pizza stones.

Setup

The unboxing and setup for the Cru 32 G2 oven would be 5 – 10 minutes if it weren’t for the detailed film that envelops each steel piece. Nonetheless, it is a simple process with little opportunity for mistakes.

It took a surprisingly long amount of time to peel every piece from the dome, base, and two doors. Not only is there a ton of this film, but it is really stuck on there so you won’t get more than a few inches before it tears.

Little pieces will be stuck in corners and anywhere materials meet. I’d recommend unscrewing the handle from the doors to remove those pieces or else they will stay hidden underneath until they get cooked.

None of this was a huge problem, but it did increase setup time dramatically. Without the film, you simply need to:

• Place the stones along the grooves of the base
• Wipe the stones with a slightly damp cloth to remove coating of dust or powder
• Attach the dome in holes of the base
• Attach the chimney to the top of the dome

After that you’re ready to build your fire and preheat.

One final note: as should be obvious, use a surface that is able to resist high heat. Our heat gun measured approximately 200°F directly under the oven. So I’d caution against any plastic folding tables.

Specifications

The following table details the product specifications according to the manufacturer.

Specifications
Fuel Type	Wood or Charcoal
Manufacturer	Cru
Model	32 G2
Opening Height	11.9″ (30.2 cm)
Max Pizza Size	15″ (38.1 cm)
Total Depth	22″ (55.9 cm)
Total Width	20″ (50.8 cm)
Total Height	17″ (43.18 cm)
Weight	52 lbs.
Surface Clearance	1.5″ (3.81 cm)
Max Temperature	900°
Portable	Yes
Grill Accessible	Yes
Removable Top	Yes
Warranty	3 years
Price	Check Price

Product Evolution

The Cru 32 G2 model of pizza oven can be seen as an upgraded version of another model that Cru sells. The Cru 30 model pizza oven is similar in terms of shape and design with a few notable differences.

Most importantly the Cru 32 is larger and able to cook pizzas up to 15”, whereas the Cru 30 can only fit 12” pizzas. The chimney on the Cru 32 is smaller and its dome comes with handles, making transport more feasible.

The smaller model also has a thinner single pizza brick / stone, whereas the 32 model has two. This makes them less likely to break.

The Cru 30 is the entry-level pizza oven offering from Cru and it’s clear that the Cru 32 Oven is designed to be more versatile and portable.

How does Cru 32 G2 Pizza Oven compare?

To other wood fire ovens, I believe the Cru 32 performs better at cooking pizzas than cheaper models or DIY ovens I’ve used. Though, there is some room for improvement.

The top offering from Cru, the Cru Champion Oven, is that improvement. It easily beats every metric of performance compared to the 32 model.

However, when compared against a popular model of propane powered oven, the Cru 32 G2 has notable advantages. The evenness of the cook and overall cook quality was a full class above, in my opinion. It’s also more fun, if you are looking for a more involved cooking experience.

So of course it should be said that a propane fueled oven is going to be easier and more convenient. You don’t have to build and maintain a fire; simply flip 2 knobs and wait 15 minutes. Objectively, preheating takes a bit longer on the Cru 32 G2 compared to the propane oven.

Overall, it’s all about what experience you’re after as a cooking hobbyist or pizza maker.

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