I did a lot of research about pizza ovens at the end of last year as I wanted to buy my other half one for Christmas. As he's a bit of a pizza connoisseur I wanted to make sure that I got the best pizza oven for him, but there's a lot to choose from.

When I started doing my research on pizza ovens, I had no idea of all the choices, I just assumed that a pizza oven cooked a pizza. I had no idea about duel, lower and upper settings, or timers, or what kind of pizzas certain pizza ovens can cook, or that some pizza ovens cook more than just pizza.

It turned out that Amazon was my friend in the research of pizza ovens. We have been the very impressed owners of one since Christmas and there's no way I'd bother to put a pizza in the regular oven ever again. As the months have passed, the flavour just keeps on getting better!

When I started looking to buy a pizza oven the first thing that I had to consider was the size. We live in a small apartment and kitchen space is very limited. I wanted a pizza oven that would cook a 12" pizza as we cheat and buy large Pizza Express Margherita's and then add our extra toppings of choice. Something round and not much bigger than a 12" diameter was the perfect size for us.

When I started to read Amazon reviews there was a lot of conflicting advice. I even doubted whether or not I should actually purchase a pizza oven after a while, as there was so many differing views on almost every product.

In the end I actually purchased a pizza oven that had no reviews, but one that looked safe, sounded like it would cook a pizza perfectly and actually looked quite stylish. I wasn't too bothered about how it looked when I set out researching pizza ovens, but in the end it did affect my choice.

Things to consider:

• How much space do you have?
• What kind of pizza will you be cooking, homemade, pre-baked or frozen?
• Do you want a stone base or a non stick one?
• Does it need to match other kitchen appliances?
• Do you want it to cook more than just pizza?
  

• Every pizza that has been cooked in it has been delicious, we've cooked at least 20
• You can cook the pizza exactly how you want with the duel, lower and upper heat settings
• There's a 30 minute timer on it
• A fresh pizza is cooked in 10 minutes
• There's a window on the lid that lets you see how the pizza is cooking
• It looks quite sleek and doesn't take up too much room
• It has the ability to cook other things
• It cooks all kinds of pizza
  

The reason that I bought my other half a pizza oven was first and foremost that he eats a lot of pizza! We have a fan oven, and despite the numerous attempts and experiments of placement, timing and temperature of trying to cook a perfect pizza, they never turned out quite right. Either the base was under cooked and a bit soggy, or it was over done and the toppings not cooked enough.

Aside from the fact that I thought it would make a great gift and gadget for a pizza lover, I also hoped that it would cook a pizza to perfection. I've not been disappointed.

Anyone who loves pizza would benefit from having a pizza oven because the difference is amazing. We've had pizza's at home that have looked and tasted better than any take-out chains. If you eat pizza on a regular basis, it's a really great appliance to have because it's cooks fast, is easy to clean and overall, it cooks the pizza perfectly to your individual taste.

For some reason though, it's become a bit like a barbeque. I'm not really allowed near it, it's a man's job cooking a pizza apparently!

• If you are adding your own toppings or additional ones to a shop bought pizza, don't pile them too high as it could touch the heating element and burn. We've done this!
• If you have a stone base, make sure that you flour it lightly so the pizza doesn't stick.
• Make sure that you use a pizza peel so you don't get burnt.
• You'll need to experiement with timings and settings at first.We've decided on 6 minutes duel heating and 4 minutes lower for a fresh pizza.
  
• Allow the oven to cool before handling.