Chicago Brick Oven 750 Review

Chicago Brick Oven has emerged as one of the top manufacturers of bespoke pizza ovens.  They manufacture in the USA and their most popular product is a ready-to-finish outdoor kit that can be installed with custom finishes to match your outdoor kitchen.

But they are far from a one trick pony and offer plenty of other great products.  Here's our complete review of Chicago Brick Oven pizza ovens to help you decide if they're right for you.

Made with a cutting edge refractory cement composite, CBO ovens are meticulously designed to reduce heat up time and distribute scorching heat to your pies - whether you're using a wood fired CBO oven or one of their gas fueled cookers.

A Quick Look at CBO's Product Lines:

• DIY/Ready-to-finish pizza oven kits: Available in 3 sizes, and as a wood fired or wood/gas combo oven, these kits come with a pizza oven shell and installation kit that is ready for you (or your contractor) to install with a custom finish.
• Countertop pizza ovens: Available in 2 sizes and as a wood fired or wood/gas hybrid, CBO's countertop ovens are designed to crank out pizzas on top of an existing countertop surface.
• Freestanding pizza ovens: If you want an oven that stands alone on a freestanding cart, CBO has you covered with wood fired and hybrid options that are mounted on a cart.
• Portable pizza oven trailer: CBO's most popular sized oven can be bought mounted to a custom trailer that can be taken on the go!  It's available in 3 colors but can also be custom painted to support your company or favorite team!

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Chicago Brick Oven 750 Features

The very first brick ovens were invented in Ancient Egypt. Back then the main features were the fire and the stone. Obviously, we've come a long way since then and brick ovens have advanced — None more so than the Chicago Brick Oven 750. 

The "750" part of the name refers to the size. CBO has a "500" oven and a "1000" oven size.  The CBO 750 is the most popular size and can comfortably cook 2 12" pizza pies at a time.

In terms of features, this oven is a market leader. Here are just some of the Chicago Brick Oven 750's features and uses. 

Ideal Oven Shape

The Chicago Brick Oven 750 utilizes the best shape for the oven in order to retain and distribute as much heat as it can. It's ergonomically designed with the ability to fit into any kitchen space.

The dome shape is the magic ingredient here, helping to achieve quick heat up times, leading to the tastiest pizzas you’ve ever tasted in your life.

Temperature Control

If you're getting a hybrid gas pizza oven, setting your temperature is as simple as turning a dial.  It's that easy!

Even the wood fired ovens from CBO are easy to control temperature. There's a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to knowing how much wood you need to burn to achieve your ideal temperature, but after a few cooks you'll get the hang of it with no problem.

Convection Heating System

The radiant and convection heating system (known as CBO's FlameRoll™ technology) works by circulating hot air throughout the oven.

This helps distribute the heat evenly across the entire oven and provide a versatile cooking vessel that can be used to cook and bake many types of foods!

Cooking Area Size

The cooking area size is an essential consideration when shopping around for a brick oven, or any oven for that matter, but you’ll be happy to hear that the Chicago Brick Oven 750's cooking surface is 38" x 28" for a total of 1,064 square inches on the cook top.

Realistically, it's enough to comfortable fit 2 12" pizzas at a time and maybe squeeze a third in if you really know how to handle your pizza peel.

Cooking Surface Quality

This feature makes the Chicago Brick Oven 750 ideal for making pizza. Not only does it have a larger surface area, but the cook surface is made of high quality refractory ceramics. This gives you ultimate support and a perfect surface to crisp up your pizza crusts.

Cleaning

As far as bespoke pizza ovens go, the CBO 750 is pretty easy to clean by design - but they also come with a cleaning brush to make sure you have the right tools for the job.

Long Life

The life expectancy of a Chicago Brick Oven is significantly longer than that of some of its peers. With proper installation and care, your oven could easily last you for generations.

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Chicago Brick Oven 750 DIY Kit Review

We're going to kick things off with a closer look at CBO's most popular product, the Chicago Brick Oven 750 DIY/ready-to-finish pizza oven kit.

Here's what comes in the kit:

• Oven dome
• 3-piece hearth
• Arch
• Door
• Installation kit (anchor plate, insulating board & blanket, steel plate, and mortar)
• Accessory kit (pizza peel, brush, and infrared thermometer gun)

The 750 Built-in DIY Pizza Oven Kit is a little different from your traditional ovens because it comes with instructions for building, rather than pre-built.

However, this means you can build the oven to fit in your kitchen based on your own design plans and aesthetic.

This is a good choice if you want something custom built but not too expensive. It's not bargain bin pricing, but compared to what you'd pay for a full custom pizza oven set up, it's a great value pick.

The kit includes everything you or your contractor will need to install the oven itself. All you need to do is follow the instructions carefully and finish the exterior of the oven with material of your choice.

You can choose between two options for the fuel type. The 750 DIY oven kit is available in a wood fire or hybrid option. 

The hybrid and wood fire options only differ in their capacity to use or not use gas as a fuel source. A wood fire will use a traditional wood fire to create the heat while a hybrid option can use gas in addition to wood as a fuel source.

The oven and cooking surface themselves are the same regardless of whether it's a wood fire or hybrid 750 oven.

Pros

• Great value - compared to what you'd pay for a completely custom pizza oven, the DIY kit is more affordable while delivering an excellent product
• The high heat capacity and convection style cooking allows pizzas and other foods to cook very quickly
• Generous capacity - this oven can easily cook two 12" pizzas at a time
• Comes with everything you or your contractor need to install, including a bonus accessories package
• Easy to clean

Cons

• Unless you are very handy, you'll need to hire a contractor to help with installation
• It's quite heavy and bulky, meaning you only get to install it once.  It's very hard to undo an installation

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Final Verdict

The Chicago Brick Oven 750 offers a lot of value. It's a strong, reliable oven that will serve you for many years to come. If you're looking for a reliable, long-term investment, then this is the best option available. It's excellent at cooking food quickly and evenly

If you're looking for a commercial grade pizza oven that's great for home but not a permanent installation, there are some other options in the CBO 750 size that may be a better fit for you.

Chicago Brick Oven 750 Countertop

The countertop version of the Chicago Brick Oven similarly has a cooking surface of 38x28 inches, or 1,064 square inches.

CBO has added an exterior hood (available in copper vein, silver vein, & solar black) that looks beautiful and will stand the test of time.

One great thing about Chicago Brick Oven's 750 countertop ovens is that they're certified to UL and NSF4 Standards for safe indoor and outdoor use. That means this oven can be used inside your home or restaurant if that's what you desire.

 

If you're looking for a mid sized bespoke pizza oven, then this may be the right choice for you. It's small enough to fit into most kitchens without taking up too much room yet large enough to cook dozens of pizzas per hour.

As mentioned earlier, there are many options available for customization. You can choose between a wood fire or a hybrid option for CBO's countertop 750. 

This pizza oven is very easy to install. It comes pre-assembled and has an accessory package included. The accessory package includes things like a pizza peel, a cleaning brush, and an infrared thermometer gun.

Chicago Brick Oven 750 Freestanding Models

 

The Chicago Brick Oven 750 is probably one of the strongest pizza oven models on the market. It doesn't just look good either. It's built to last.

It's also available on a freestanding cart, that can be configured with or without wheels.  It's a great option if you don't want to go through the trouble of installing a counter specifically for your oven.

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Final Thoughts

Chicago Brick Ovens are the leaders in wood-fired ovens. And they're completely homegrown. Made in the US and transported all over the world, there's a reason they're the market leaders in wood-fire ovens.

They've been around since the 1950s and have continued to innovate throughout the years.

They're known for making high-quality products at high prices. Their products come with warranties and customer service support. As long as you buy from authorized dealers, you'll get great value for your money.

Part of the reason why their brick ovens are so expensive, going for thousands of dollars minimum, is because they take pride in quality. They know how important it is to provide top-notch products.

That's why they spend so much time on research and development. They want to ensure that every product they sell is of the highest quality possible.

The quality clearly comes through with the Chicago Brick Oven 750. The CBO 750 is one of the most popular models. It's the largest model and is able to cook food quickly as well as thoroughly.

That's what makes it perfect for commercial properties like restaurants. But don't be put off if you're looking for a more residential brick oven. 

Chicago Brick Oven has other available models so you can find the right one to suit your needs. 

So whether you're looking for a commercial-sized pizza oven, a residential-sized pizza oven, or even a countertop model, Chicago Brick Ovens will meet your expectations. They've got everything you need to create delicious pizzas.