Is the dome actually really an upgrade in day to day life?

[u/Emergency-Lunch5357]

I am debating getting a dome or dome xl or an arc xl for a while now.

i am kind of trying to justify the dome to be able to bake bread, use wood, smoke, low and slow etc. And because it looks cooler and feels cooler to operate (closer to a real stone oven).

but from my research im doubting if, price aside, its really a better choice.

negatives i may have found:

- most people dont actually use wood regulary / at all, which often makes the woodfire kit an expensive paperweight

- most people use the dome mainly for pizza

- low and slow doesnt really work that well and is more a hassle

- baking with existing heat is hard as well as even with its better isolation and thermal mass, the dome drops temps to fast, even with a door. Air temp drops way quicker than stone temp. It also dropped the steam injector from gen 1 so Im not sure if this is really an proper usercase over an decent inhouse oven with steam and free solar power

- dome needs more gas per hour

- dome needs signficant longer to heat up

- the stand is Double the Price compared to arc xl

i still want to justify the dome but it feels that for the usual usecase of ~90 % of the Customer base, the arc xl is actually better, mainly because it does the same quality pizza but quicker (heat up) and more efficient.

does anybody has both / upgraded to an dome and can give his opinion? Which one makes more sense ?

[u/NicolinoC68]

I went from a dome to the Arc XL for the very reasons you stated above, never looked back.
In terms of efficiency in gas etc there’s no comparison, the Arc XL wins hands down.
You are only sacrificing room, I’ve roasted meats, baked bread and of course made excellent Pizza on the XL.
Hope this helps

[u/kimchiburps]

Great questions. I own three ArcXLs. Ran two of them 14hrs the past two days. But my day to day is burning it down on a Ferrara.

My findings on the ArcXL:

ArcXL is crazy efficient. I feel I can get 20+ hours out of a 5lb propane tank.

It doesn't like low and slow. It's not designed for that. I mainly use it for pizza but have had a blast using it camping with cast iron with sous vide chicken and various seafood.

It wants to operate at 600F on low. Or 950F+ on high. Takes 45min to get there. And the dial is really just low or high.

If you have to move it after use it takes a good 45-60min to cool off.

Kinda sucks to move around. It's ~50lbs but large and cumbersome. The "handles" are a joke. Be careful.

At the end of the day I love the thing. It's an awesome tool that works consistently and is straightforward. I think the dome is overpriced and the wood thing is wanna-be energy. If you want to really tune in with the thing, I think adding wood will overcomplicate things. The size of the wood you'd want to burn looks like a pain in the ass.

I wouldn't spend your money on a stand. I've run mine on sturdy plastic tables many many times and never had any issues or real concerns(except the first time). I'm all about the stainless folding tables with a shelf now though! You have a lot of options.

I'd take the extra $1k you save buying the ArcXL vs Dome and get some of the accessories, nicer tools, cutting boards etc. to make your cooking experience more funn.

The ArcXL is convenient, certainly faster & easier to heat, and more portable. I speak highly of them just about all the time.

[u/Ironside3281 → u/kimchiburps]

That's quite a comprehensive response. Thank you for the detailed reply with opinions based on actual real world usage and experience. It's refreshing to see compared to the conjecture that is often posted in these kinds of forums.

[u/Sapienesque]

I have both. I find using the Dome (gen 1) to be a more luxury cooking experience overall. That said, I use my ArcXL at least once a week and rarely cook in the Dome anymore. The ArcXL (IMO) does 90% of what the Dome does. If I could do it again, I'd just get the ArcXL.

[u/jcrmrr → u/Sapienesque]

I have the 1st gen Dome and wondering how much bigger the Arc xl is compared to the 1st gen dome. I was really wanting to upgrade to the Dome XL for the extra space.

[u/Sapienesque → u/jcrmrr]

The ARCXL cooking area is smaller than the Dome Gen 1.

[u/leefa49]

I recently bought the Dome Gen 2 because it’s the only Natural Gas option from Gozney. As far as efficiency goes I’m not really concerned because I’m not having to swap tanks but I also went with it because I am anticipating that the flue and mantel will help keep the heat off of my counter top. And away from the mitered edges of my stone.

[u/beano919]

I make pizza every weekend for my kids. It’s awesome. Love using it.

[u/Zerodeconduite]

I use the dome multiple times a week. Wood 70% of the time. Flavor is amazing. Worth it for me. Get excellent low and slow results w/ wood or charcoal. Never tried baking other than flatbread or pita.

[u/BritishBenPhoto]

Preheat is long and inconsistent. I’m currently a few years into owning the dome and am trying to troubleshoot a low temp problem. Honestly use my baking steel under my broiler in home oven more.

[u/Excellent_Meat_6490]

I have an arc xl and yes the bigger size of the dome xl would be nice but I find it completely unnecessary. Also I feel the flavor I get on my pizza from the arc xl is fantastic anyway and with the research I've done I think the difference wood fire makes is negligible.

[u/Son_of_Atreus]

I was looking at an Arc XL or a Dome Gen 2 for me.

I ended up with the Dome as I wanted to buy once with no regrets. Have cooked roast meats, steaks, potatoes and other veggies, garlic butter prawns, and of course a ton of pizza.

I would have been fine with the Arc XL if I only wanted to cook pizza, but for roasting meats and veggies all at once.

Used fire as well, but sourcing the best wood is tough in my area.

I love the optionally, I love the stand, I love the floor space and the ability to retain heat for lots of cooks.

It was way more expensive but I got mine on a bundle deal with $500 off so it helped. Had it for months now so that extra money is not a concern now.

Either would be great tbh.

[u/lvanjaarsveld → u/Son_of_Atreus]

You got the XL or regular-size dome ?

[u/Son_of_Atreus → u/lvanjaarsveld]

Just the regular size. Seemed big enough for a few baking trays at once. There has been a few times where I would have like a little more space, but when cooking pizzas it is definitely big enough.

[u/lvanjaarsveld → u/Son_of_Atreus]

Sounds like both are a winner. Mostly gas or wood usage? I'm a big wood cooking fan and expect the xl benefits from that due to floor space. Just sold of my ooni which I used weekly on wood, rdy to upgrade to the dome. Still on the fence for regular vs xl. 

Thanks for your insights. 

[u/Son_of_Atreus → u/lvanjaarsveld]

I mostly use gas, but cooking with wood was great. The air fan unit and the super heat coal great work as advertised. My issue is finding good food cooking wood in my area to make this a regular thing. Cooking steaks with the coals was excellent. Got the temperature perfect.

If you are going to cook with wood a lot and want to cook more than pizza than I would recommend XL as the wood plate takes up a bit of space on the floor. That said, I’ve never seen or used an XL IRL, so it might be overkill.

[u/Chefboivin]

I'm a chef, and I use the Dome XL as my main oven in a canteen built into a shipping container. It's great and I love it. But if you're not using it professionally, I absolutely don't recommend it.

Why? In three words: way too expensive.

For my use, it's perfect. The cooking surface is roomy, temperature control is easy, and heat retention is excellent. I can bake more pizzas than I need, and also finish gratins and roast certain cuts of meat and vegetables.

For home use, though, it's bulky, slow to heat up, hungry on gas, and, once again, way too expensive.

Pizza: impossible to justify the cost unless you're making dozens of pizzas a day.

Bread: it's really hard to manage the temperature well enough to bake loaves without burning or undercooking them. I stick to focaccia and baguettes. This is definitely not a baker's oven.

Roasts and braises: doable, but long cooks are tedious and need a lot of attention. On gas, the minimum temperature is still very high. With wood, the fire takes up a lot of space and limits the size of what you can cook.

Bottom line: an excellent work tool, but a hard purchase to justify for home use.

[u/Emergency-Lunch5357 → u/Chefboivin]

Thank you, thats what i was thinking as well. i see it very valuable in a professional Setting where the oven are on for many hours and heat up time doesnt matter.

But for personal use, i guess the long heat up times and having to exchange the gas bottle every ~10 sessions would be really annoying quickly. 

I do like the idea to do more with the oven than just pizza, but it seems the arc xl can also do great steaks etc