After Macte Ovens was launched at the beginning of 2022 and thus made the Effeuno pricing look a bit exaggerated (we reported ), Effeuno struck back at the end of 2022 with the Effeovens N3. Since the "cheap ovens" Macte Voyager and Effeovens N3 do not have the lower heating coil, they are also the only options for the Swiss standard sockets (max. 2.3 KW) and are therefore highly interesting for our market. Here you can find out what the Effeuno N3 and the Macte Voyager have in common and what distinguishes them.
Unboxing
Effeuno is a little better at packaging than Macte Ovens - but there is still a lot to learn from the packaging professionals at Pizzaparty and Ooni.
Our test oven (which we paid for ourselves, like all the ovens we test) came directly from Italy on a pallet with biscotto on top. After opening the box, you are greeted by a styrofoam hell like you would find in Macte and Chinese ovens (excluding Ooni).
The point also goes to Effeuno for the stainless steel protective film - while Macte radically riveted film in here (and only made exceptions for pizzaschaufel.ch for an additional charge, as we don't want to sell ovens that smell plastic when they generate heat), Effeuno lasers the film off at the factory and it is therefore easier to remove. Unfortunately, the lasering leaves small marks on the housing - but we think this is absolutely acceptable for this price range.
The Biscotto is supplied by Antonio Sorbo Srl - a stone that can unfortunately be described as mediocre at best. Large bumps, cement smudges (which can at least be easily brushed off with our brass brush ), inaccurate fit (1.8cm gap between wall and oven) and broken edges characterize the quality of Antonio Sorbo. Since Macteovens relies on the quality manufacturer Biscotto Saputo, this point goes unquestionably to the Voyager.
Update early 2024
Effeuno has now developed a new Biscotto that offers better processing and is also less likely to break. All of our Effeunos are delivered with this new Biscotto.
Warm up
There are rumors floating around online that say the Effeuno N3 doesn't even reach 450°, so we're particularly surprised by this point. We naturally burned the biscotto before this test (gentle drying of the stone at a slowly increasing temperature while regularly opening the oven door to prevent the biscotto from breaking).
After 10 minutes, the Effeuno N3 already reaches 340° Celsius, while the Macte Voyager only reaches 317°. This makes us confident that the N3 will also reach the right temperature without any problems.
After about 30 minutes, the temperatures of neither the Macte Voyager nor the Effeuno N3 increase noticeably. The Effeuno reaches 522°C - and thus about the same as a Macte Voyager (the Macte only reached 498° in these 30 minutes), although we have measured temperatures of over 550°C in further measurements on the N3 and the Voyager. There is no really big difference in temperature between the two ovens in various tests. The Effeuno feels like it heats up 2-3 minutes faster, but really only marginally.
Both ovens also get very hot on the outside; we measured about 150-200°C on the surface (inaccurate measurement due to the reflective surface).
Ultimately, there are no significant differences in temperature between N3 and Voyager, and the higher reading could well be due to the hanging heating coil. A draw, then.
Backtest
As always, the baking test uses arelatively classic Neapolitan dough recipe .
This time, things are a little less classic with the toppings. While the San Marzano and the Fior di Latte still find their way onto the pizza in every traditional Neapolitan pizzeria, the mushrooms are a little out of the ordinary.
Although the door design is virtually identical for the Macte Voyager and the N3 (according to Effeuno), the minim N3 bakes more evenly (possibly due to the hanging heating coil?).
What is a bit confusing is the position of the oven light, which is not in the middle, but this is not a problem.
In our opinion, the baking result is absolutely impressive for a first oven test - the cheap biscotto doesn't seem to have had a noticeable negative influence on the result.
Conclusion
While the Macte Ovens Voyager uses better materials that are processed worse, the Effeuno N3 uses cheaper materials that are processed much better (greetings from Northern Italy). The N3 has a noticeably higher proportion of plastic, and the rather unattractive feet alone speak for themselves. However, these plastic feet have two major advantages compared to a Macte Voyager: the oven is slightly higher (the height can even be adjusted by around 4 cm using a screw) and the baking process can therefore be monitored better and the controls are at the front and therefore always easily accessible.
For us, the Effeuno N3 is a bit like a Fiat Panda for the kitchen. Is it beautiful? Well, that's in the eye of the beholder, but form follows function has been taken into account right down to the last detail. Does it bake good pizzas? Definitely. Is it good value for money? Absolutely. Would a Nonna or Nonno ever give it away? Never!
Convinced? With the code PandaDellaCucina you can get the very affordable oven even cheaper.