This article complements our big pizza oven group test. You can find an overview of all the models we tested here: Pizza oven group test – Burnhard TONY, Gozney Tread and Ooni Koda 2.
Weight: 21.5 kg | Price: €499 | Manufacturer’s website
Bigger, hotter, more convenient?
The name leaves little room for ambiguity: the Fat TONY is the TONY’s big brother. But Burnhard haven’t simply scaled up their familiar gas pizza oven in every direction. Alongside the bigger cooking chamber, there’s also considerably more tech dedicated to temperature control. And that turns out to be one of the biggest differences in everyday use.
With the smaller TONY, you had to learn how to “read” the oven and, when in doubt, check the temperature of the stone with an infrared thermometer. The Fat TONY gives you a lot more guidance. Alongside a temperature sensor inside the cooking chamber, it features a second sensor directly beneath the centre of the pizza stone. The digital display shows the chamber temperature as an exact value. For the stone, however, it uses a bar graph that moves into the respective “Classic” or “Napolitana” target range as the temperature rises. The Fat TONY doesn’t display an exact temperature for the stone, which is why we continued to use an infrared thermometer for our comparative measurements.
At the push of a button, you can switch between the target ranges for classic and Neapolitan pizza. This is far more than a gimmick for nerds: for Pizza Napoletana, the stone needs to reach around 450 °C, while classic pizza requires considerably less heat. Especially when you’re just getting started, this takes the guesswork out of whether the oven might already be infernally hot while the stone underneath still isn’t ready for its big moment.
Heat-up time and flame pattern
Like the smaller TONY, the Fat TONY relies on an L-shaped flame that runs along the left side and rear of the cooking chamber. So, the basic principle remains unchanged: the flame wraps around the pizza from two sides while keeping the crust clearly in view. The larger cooking chamber doesn’t change that. The Fat TONY therefore retains one of the features that already impressed us about its smaller sibling when it came to even baking.
If you want to bake Pizza Napoletana, you’ll need a little patience. With the supplied heat shield fitted, the Fat TONY is already hot enough for classic pizza after around 10 minutes. The Neapolitan premier league takes a little longer: after 19 minutes and 40 seconds, the bar graph on the display had reached the target range for Pizza Napoletana. We used an infrared thermometer to check how hot the stone actually was at this point. The details are shown in the table.
| Heat-up time | Cooking chamber according to display | Stone, measured with IR thermometer |
|---|---|---|
| 0 min | 23 °C | 20 °C |
| 5 min | 393 °C | 294 °C |
| 10 min | 556 °C | 425 °C |
| 15 min | 616 °C | 507 °C |
| 20 min | 647 °C | 525 °C |
The comparison with the smaller TONY is interesting. In our group test, it reached the crucial 450 °C in under 15 minutes, which makes it the sprinter of the family. The Fat TONY trades some of that no-nonsense simplicity for more space and, above all, more control. If your main priority is simply getting pizza into the oven as quickly as possible, the smaller sibling still makes a compelling case. But if you want to know when not only the cooking chamber but also the stone is ready, the Fat TONY gives you significantly better information.
Important: our measurements were taken with the supplied heat shield fitted. Without it, heat-up time increases by around ten minutes in our experience. A practical detail is the rail on the side of the oven, which lets you hang up the still-hot shield after removing it. The solution isn’t quite perfect, though: the shield warps slightly under intense heat, meaning you have to adapt your hanging technique a little over time. No big deal, just one of those little quirks you master automatically after a few pizza nights.
The Burnhard Fat TONY in review
When it comes to baking, the Fat TONY plays its most obvious trump card: it’s fat. In the best possible way. The larger cooking chamber and wider opening give you more room to manoeuvre with the pizza peel and turning peel. The smaller TONY’s more compact dimensions mean you have to aim and manoeuvre a little more precisely. The Fat TONY leaves more room for corrections. Newcomers and experienced pizza fans alike benefit from this. And, as a bonus, the additional space simply lets you make larger pizzas.
The extra space is particularly noticeable when turning the pizza. If it doesn’t land exactly where you intended when launching it into the oven, it doesn’t immediately turn into a logistical crisis. It’s easier to reach, easier to turn, and the larger opening gives you a better view of both the dough and crust. That might sound like a minor detail, but with baking times sometimes well below two minutes, it’s actually quite relevant. Pizza, after all, doesn’t wait for you while you recalibrate your fine motor skills.
However, the large cooking chamber also has a downside, however. Every pizza you put in draws energy from the stone. We therefore recommend giving the Fat TONY a few minutes between pizzas, ideally with the heat shield fitted, so the stone can get back up to temperature. This effect seemed more pronounced than with the smaller pizza ovens in our group test and was more reminiscent of the similarly sized Gozney Arc XL. Poor temperature stability when baking pizzas in rapid succession was one of its weaknesses, too. The Ooni Koda 2 represents the opposite extreme: it maintained a particularly consistent temperature between several pizzas. So if you’re genuinely aiming for Neapolitan assembly-line production, the Ooni is the better choice.
Operation and everyday convenience
This is where the Fat TONY distinguishes itself most clearly from its smaller sibling. Build quality, controls and overall feel were already major strengths of the TONY, and the Fat TONY doesn’t disappoint either. The controls feel high quality, the construction is reassuringly solid, and nothing suggests that Burnhard decided to start cutting corners on their bigger model.
The real convenience gain, though, is the new digital display, which gives you clear feedback on when the stone is ready for classic or Neapolitan pizza. That is a big step forward in everyday use, since a cavity roaring with heat is no guarantee the stone has caught up.
The wider opening also improves your view into the cooking chamber. You can see more quickly how the crust and base are developing and spend less time prodding around with the turning peel. Combined with the extra space, this makes for a more relaxed baking experience than with the compact TONY. The smaller sibling remains the charming workhorse; the Fat TONY simply takes a little more work off your hands.
The bigger format doesn’t do much to solve the rather low working height, though. On a normal table, the Fat TONY still sits a little too low, depending on your own height. If you bake regularly, it’s worth giving it a suitably tall and stable base.
Price, accessories and equipment
The Fat TONY costs €499, almost exactly twice as much as the smaller TONY at €249. But it’s not just the oven that grows. Alongside the usual equipment in the form of the pizza stone and gas hose, the standard package also includes the thermometer and digital display, as well as the heat shield and its handle.
You shouldn’t look at the Fat TONY’s price in isolation. Much of the smaller TONY’s appeal is the sheer amount of pizza oven it delivers for a comparatively modest outlay, and the Fat TONY asks a hefty €250 on top. That extra buys several components the smaller model either omits or charges separately for, so whether the bigger cooking chamber and added convenience are worth it depends above all on how often you bake and how large a crowd you feed.
To actually get started, the main things you’ll still need alongside gas are a pizza peel and turning peel. Burnhard offer both for the Fat TONY as a two-piece set for €59.90, slightly cheaper than buying them separately. If you then want to add something a little more martial to your toolbox, there’s the pizza rocker cutter for €34.90, complete with a 35.5 cm blade and solid acacia-wood handle. It doesn’t just divide a large pizza in a single motion. In a pinch, you could probably debark an entire beech tree with it.
Who is the Burnhard Fat TONY really for?
The smaller TONY remains the obvious choice for anyone with limited space, anyone looking to enter the world of pizza ovens on a manageable budget, or anyone who only hosts the occasional pizza night. It heats up extremely quickly, is robust and focuses on the essentials. Especially on a balcony, less oven can simply be more.
The Fat TONY, on the other hand, is aimed at those who bake more often, have more space available and will actually make use of the added convenience. Families, larger groups and anyone with greater pizza ambitions benefit from the roomier cooking chamber, larger pizzas and more relaxed handling. Above all, the information on when the stone is ready removes a lot of the guesswork from the baking process.
That doesn’t automatically make the Fat TONY the better TONY. Instead, it’s the more comfortable and more grown-up interpretation of the same basic idea. If you have the space and bake pizza regularly, you’ll quickly learn to appreciate the extra capacity. If, on the other hand, you want something compact, fast and as affordable as possible, don’t let the “Fat” in the name intimidate you: the smaller TONY still makes a damn compelling case.
Conclusion
The Fat TONY is more than a pumped-up TONY. The generously sized cooking chamber, better visibility and more precise temperature control make baking more convenient, and Burnhard have managed all this without cutting corners on build quality. In return, the Fat TONY takes up more space and needs a little time to recover its heat when baking pizzas in succession. Anyone regularly baking for family and friends gets a strong overall package. If you want something compact, affordable and ready to go as quickly as possible, the smaller TONY is the better choice. Size isn’t everything, after all, even if the Fat TONY would probably disagree.
Tops
- Temperature control for cooking chamber and pizza stone
- Generous cooking chamber with relaxed handling
- Excellent build quality and haptics
Flops
- Temperature drop when baking several pizzas in rapid succession
- Large footprint
- Heat shield warps slightly under intense heat
More info at burnhard.com
Words: Jonny Grapentin Photos: Tim Eckermann
About the Author
Jonny Grapentin
Jonny Grapentin is an editor at 41 Publishing for E-MOUNTAINBIKE and DOWNTOWN. His background as a publisher in digital education explains his didactically grounded approach. He is responsible for "The MIRROR" column, focusing on development logic and the long-term relevance of products beyond launch cycles. His expertise lies in evaluating technological innovation and everyday utility, which he demonstrates in his numerous product tests. Whether it’s kids' bikes, pizza ovens, or espresso machines, he consistently tests innovations for real-world value, and critically questions market trends.
