Elevate your outdoor cooking this spring with Gozney’s Arc Lite

Since its founding in 2010, Gozney has steadily built a reputation for bringing restaurant-quality pizza making into the home, transforming how we approach outdoor cooking. With a focus on sleek design, durability and serious heat performance, Gozney ovens have become a staple for anyone looking to recreate authentic live-fire cooking outside.

Building on the success of their Arc and Arc XL models, the brand’s latest release – the Arc Lite – promises the same high-performance in a more compact, lightweight format. So, with this in mind, we put the new addition to the Gozney family through its paces to see if it really lives up to the hype. 

Design and setup

At first glance, the Arc Lite retains the brand’s sleek, minimalist aesthetic. Its curved shell and clean lines make it feel premium without appearing bulky, and at 12kg, it is noticeably lighter than many comparable outdoor pizza ovens on the market.

The compact design makes it particularly well suited to balconies, terraces and smaller outdoor spaces, offering a practical option for those who may not have room for a larger oven. Plus, its lighter build is ideal for those who want to take it along to garden gatherings or social occasions, where freshly made pizzas are guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.

Setup is refreshingly straightforward. The oven is designed to go from box to flame in minutes, with a simple gas connection and a front-facing dial that controls the flame. During testing, ignition was quick and intuitive, making it accessible even for those new to live-fire cooking.

Performance

Where the Arc Lite really proves its worth is in its heat performance. During testing, the oven took around 20 minutes to come up to temperature, reaching the intense heat of around 400-500°C required for authentic pizza cooking.

Monitoring the temperature is straightforward thanks to Gozney’s infrared thermometer, which helps ensure the stone reaches optimal heat. At these temperatures, pizzas cook incredibly quickly, often in as little as 60 seconds. 

Gozney’s signature lateral rolling flame wraps heat across the oven chamber, helping pizzas cook evenly while producing the leopard-spotted crust typical of traditional Neapolitan-style pizza. Meanwhile, the 12mm stone floor retains and distributes heat effectively between bakes, resulting in consistently crisp bases without the need for constant adjustments to cooking time or temperature.

Taste and flavour

Beyond its impressive cooking mechanics, the Arc Lite delivers where it matters most – flavour. The pizzas we produced were some of the most delicious we’ve ever had, easily rivalling any high-end restaurant, with blistered crusts and toppings cooked to perfection. Natural flavours of ingredients were beautifully enhanced, giving vegetables a smoky char and meats a seared finish. 

But the Arc Lite isn’t just limited to pizza. Its high, consistent heat makes it ideal for searing steaks, roasting seafood, or finishing vegetables and casseroles with a smoky edge. Its insulated body maintains stable temperatures throughout, delivering reliable results across a range of dishes. In short, you’re guaranteed big, restaurant-quality flavours every time.

For Tom Gozney, the brand’s founder and CEO, the appeal of the Arc Lite extends far beyond cooking itself. 

“Everyone deserves to experience cooking with real fire. That’s where Arc Lite comes in,” he explains. “It’s compact, powerful, and easy to use. You can place it on a balcony or take it to your mate’s, and it still kicks out the same flame and heat as our bigger ovens. What I love is how it changes the vibe when people get together. Suddenly everyone’s in it – topping and turning pizzas, having a laugh. That’s what Arc Lite is all about.”

The verdict

It may be the smallest of the trio, but as the saying goes, good things really do come in small packages. Compact yet powerful, the Arc Lite delivers the high-temperature performance Gozney is known for in a smaller, more accessible format.

Its combination of sleek design, ease of use, and serious cooking capability produces pizzas – and other dishes – that taste every bit as good as they look. At £349.99, it’s a worthwhile investment for anyone seeking restaurant-quality results without sacrificing space.

In short, the Arc Lite proves that when it comes to outdoor pizza ovens, Gozney operates firmly in Ferrari territory – delivering serious performance in a beautifully engineered package.

Alexandra Davis

For more information about Gozney and Arc Lite, visit their website.