Authentic Pizza Ovens Maximus Prime Pizza Oven Cover

Description

The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is the Authentic Pizza Ovens Maximus Prime cover, the one APO makes for its large portable oven, the Maximus Prime: 39 inches wide, 31 high, 39 deep, cut to the Prime's body with the chimney and cap lifted off. It is a heavy duty pizza oven cover in PVC backed polyester, black, with a drawstring hem, an APO logo patch, and a zip storage bag, and it is the one accessory the Prime's warranty requires.

Order it with the oven and it rides free on the same delivery. On its own it ships by parcel at the rate shown at checkout. Either way a Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is the cheapest part of owning a wood fired oven that lives outdoors, and the part that decides whether the oven still looks right in five years.

This page covers what the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover fits and what it does not, why it is 31 inches tall on a 44 inch oven, how it goes on over a cart, a counter, or a truck mount, what the fabric is made of, which of APO's four covers matches which oven, and how to care for it. If you own the smaller Maximus Mobile, its cover is a different product on its own page: the Maximus Mobile cover.

What the Cover Is and What It Fits

The Red Prime above sits on a stone wall base in a mountain garden, the same oven that appears on our Prime product page, and its cover is on because the fire is out. That is the whole job of a Maximus Prime pizza oven cover: the oven works in the open, and between fires it stays dry, out of the sun, and clear of leaves and birds. The cover does nothing while you cook and everything the rest of the week.

It fits one oven. The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is a large pizza oven cover patterned to the Prime's 39 inch base plate and dome, so it drops straight over the body and pulls tight at the hem with no bunching at the corners and no gap at the front. It does not fit the 27.5 inch Maximus Mobile, which has its own cover, or APO's brick domes, which are taller and rounder and have two covers of their own. If you have a Prime, this is the cover; for anything else from APO, the table below points you to the right one.

APO calls it the cover for Prime pizza ovens and prints exactly that on the woven label, which matters because the wrong cover is the most common cover mistake. A cover that is too big pools water and lets wind under the hem; one that is too small leaves the stone front bare. A large pizza oven cover cut for the Prime does neither.

Why It Is 31 Inches Tall on a 44 Inch Oven

The Prime stands 44.5 inches with its chimney and cap fitted and 30.3 inches without them, and the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is 31 inches tall. That is not a misprint. The stainless flue and cap lift off the Prime in a few seconds, leaving a short collar on the dome, and the cover is shaped to sit over that collar, as on the block base oven above. Chimney off, cover on, cord pulled: that is APO's instruction, and it is the routine after every fire.

There is a reason the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is built that way rather than as a tall sleeve up a 14 inch pipe. A cover that reaches the top of the chimney cap is a sail. Wind catches it, lifts it, and works at the hem until it is off the oven. The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover keeps its top low and close to the dome, so the wind has nothing to grab, and the drawstring at the bottom holds the rest. The flue and cap spend the night in the storage bag or on the cart shelf and go back on before the next fire.

The same logic is why it is shaped, not a box. A square cover on a dome leaves pockets where water sits. The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover follows the curve of the body, sheds water off the back and sides, and dries fast once the rain stops. Look at the block base photo again: the cover is wet at the back and the front is already dry.

Why the Prime Needs One

The Prime is stainless steel inside, aluminum outside, and cast stone at the front, and none of that rusts. So why does APO make a cover a condition of the warranty? Because the parts that are not metal are the parts weather reaches. The refractory tile floor absorbs water. Water in a tile that freezes, or meets a 400°C fire before it has left, spalls the tile. The cast stone front does the same on a smaller scale, and a hairline crack that was cosmetic opens up over winters of soaking and freezing.

Then there is the sun, and it is the reason every outdoor pizza oven cover earns its price. The Prime's skin is powder coated aluminum, and the Red in particular is a paint, not a dye in the metal. Ultraviolet light fades paint, and on a bright patio the EPA UV Index runs high most days from spring to fall, which is why a red car left outside goes pink on the roof. A Maximus Prime pizza oven cover between fires is the difference between a Red Prime that still looks red at year five and one that has faded to salmon on top and stayed red on the sides.

And there is the ordinary business of living outdoors. Leaves and seed pods collect in the chimney collar and the door holes. Birds find the mouth of an oven with the door off. Sap from an overhanging tree sets on the cast stone. Pollen sits on everything. The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover stops all of that at the fabric, and a wipe with a damp cloth clears the cover in a minute, where the same mess on the oven takes an hour and does not all come off.

Fitting It on a Cart, a Counter, or a Truck

The Prime has no legs, so what it sits on decides how a Maximus Prime pizza oven cover finishes at the bottom. On APO's Prime cart, or on a homemade cart like the one above, the oven's base plate sits proud of the top and the cover's hem drops below the plate, so the drawstring pulls tight under the oven and the cover cannot lift. That is the cleanest fit there is, and it is the one most owners have.

On an outdoor kitchen counter or a block base the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover cannot go under the plate, so the hem sits on the counter around the base of the oven, and the drawstring gathers it against the body. That is the block base fit shown earlier, and it works because the cover is cut close; there is not enough spare fabric for wind to get under. If the counter is exposed and the wind is a regular problem, a single bungee cord over the top from one side of the base to the other settles it, though few owners find they need one.

On a food truck or trailer the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover has a second job as a food truck pizza oven cover. APO says it also protects the oven during transport, and on a trailer that is most of the point: the oven rides covered between events with the chimney stowed, and the cover keeps road grime, rain, and sun off the stone front while the rig is parked. It is not a tie down and does not replace one; the oven must be secured to the counter with APO's modification before it travels, and the cover goes on over a secured oven.

The Fabric, the Patch, and the Storage Bag

The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is heavy duty polyester with a PVC backing, which is what any outdoor pizza oven cover worth buying is made of. The polyester is the outside, woven tight enough to shed water and stand up to sun; the PVC layer is bonded to the inside, which is what makes the cover waterproof rather than water resistant. Rain does not soak through, and a cover that does not soak through does not hold water against the oven. It is a black cover with a satin finish, which shows less dust than a matte one and wipes clean.

The Authentic Pizza Ovens logo patch, above, is sewn to the front panel and sits over the cast stone when the cover is on. The zip storage bag beside it comes with the cover and is worth keeping: it is where the folded cover lives while the oven is in use, and where the flue and cap can ride when the oven travels. A cover that is dropped on the ground while you cook picks up ash and grit that then sit against the oven all week; the bag is a one second habit that prevents it.

Two labels are sewn into the hem of the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover: a woven Cover Prime label and an Authentic Pizza Ovens tag. If a cover arrives without the Prime label, it is not this cover, and we would rather you check the label at delivery than find out the size is wrong at the first fitting. Folded, the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is about the size of a sofa cushion and weighs two pounds, so the bag rides in a cart drawer or on the cart shelf without getting in the way.

The Drawstring Hem

The hem of the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover carries a braided cord through a channel and a cord lock at the front, above. Pull the cord, press the lock, and the hem closes under the base plate on a cart or around the base of the oven on a counter. To take the cover off, press the lock, let the cord out, and lift; there are no clips to break and no straps to snag on the cart. The cord lock is the only hard part on the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover, and it is a spare parts item on any camping cord if it is ever lost.

The habit that makes the cover last is a simple one: cover a cold oven. Let the Prime cool fully after the last fire, which on a 400 pound oven with a tile floor is a couple of hours after the coals die, then lift the flue and cap, drop the cover over, and pull the cord. A cover put on a warm oven traps moisture from the cooling tiles and the cast stone against the body, and the PVC backing that keeps rain out keeps that moisture in. Cold oven, cover on, cord pulled, every time.

Which APO Cover Fits Which Oven

Authentic Pizza Ovens makes four covers, and each fits a family. The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is this one. The Maximus Mobile has its own smaller cover, and the brick domes share two sizes of a taller cover, Standard and XL, on one page: the brick pizza oven cover. The table sorts it out.

Two notes on the table. The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is the only one of the four that fits a Prime. The Mobile cover is 30 inches square and 38.5 tall, and it will not stretch over a 39 inch Prime, so do not order it for this oven; the Maximus Mobile and the Prime share a body design, not a size. And the brick oven covers are shaped for a round dome on a masonry base, not for the Prime's flat topped body on a cart, so an XL brick cover on a Prime pools water and hangs loose.

Care, Fading, and What to Expect

Care of a Maximus Prime pizza oven cover is a damp cloth. Wipe the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover down when it is dusty, rinse it with a hose if a bird has found it, and hang it to dry over the cart or a fence before it goes back in the bag. Do not machine wash it and do not put it in a dryer; heat and agitation break the PVC bond and the cover stops being waterproof. No detergents stronger than dish soap, no pressure washer, no bleach.

APO is honest about fading and so are we. The Maximus Prime pizza oven cover's fabric and black dye are fade resistant, and a cover that faded to gray would still be waterproof and still be doing its job, but no fabric left in full sun for years keeps its color completely. APO warrants the cover against fading for two years. In practice a Maximus Prime pizza oven cover on a shaded patio looks new for far longer than that, and one on a bare south facing deck in the desert will gray on top first. Either way the oven under it is what stays new, which is the point.

What wears a Maximus Prime pizza oven cover out is not weather, it is handling: dragging the hem over a rough counter edge, catching it on the corner of a cart shelf, or pulling the cord so hard the channel tears. Lift it on and off rather than dragging it, and the cover outlasts its warranty by a wide margin.

What to Order With It

If you are buying the oven, put the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover in the same cart as the Maximus Prime and it rides free on the oven's delivery; the oven clears our $750 free shipping threshold on its own, and the cover adds nothing to the freight. The five piece starter pack belongs on the same order for the same reason, since the peel in the crate launches and retrieves but does not turn, brush, or shovel.

If the oven is going on APO's Bello cart for the Prime, order the cart at the same time and the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover fits the cleanest way, under the base plate. If roast chicken is on the menu, the Prime rotisserie spit stores in the oven under the cover between uses. Everything else that lives with a wood fired oven is in our pizza oven accessories collection, and the full APO lineup is on our Authentic Pizza Ovens brand page.

Buying the Prime Cover From Crustify

Ordered with the oven, a Maximus Prime pizza oven cover ships in the oven's crate or alongside it on the same freight delivery, at no charge. Ordered alone, it is a two pound parcel and ships by ground at the rate shown at checkout. Lead times are confirmed when you order; the cover is a stocked item at the brand's Texas warehouse and normally ships within a few business days.

Check the woven label when it arrives. If anything is wrong with the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover or the fit, contact us before you use it, and we will sort it out with APO on your behalf. An unused cover in its bag can be returned within 14 days. Questions before you order, including whether your oven is a Prime or a Mobile if you inherited it, go straight to the owner by chat or email, and the pizza oven buying guide covers the rest of what goes into owning a wood fired oven. Or contact us directly.

The cover is a warranty condition on the Maximus Prime, not a suggestion. Order it with the oven and it ships free on the same delivery.

KEY FEATURES

• Authentic Pizza Ovens cover made for the Maximus Prime large portable pizza oven, Black or Red; the woven label reads Cover Prime
• 39 W x 31 H x 39 D, cut to the Prime's 39 inch base plate and dome with the flue and cap lifted off; sits over the chimney collar
• Heavy duty polyester outer with a bonded PVC backing: waterproof, not just water resistant, and it dries fast
• Drawstring hem with a cord lock: closes under the base plate on a cart, or around the base of the oven on a counter
• Authentic Pizza Ovens logo patch on the front panel; zip storage bag included for the folded cover and the stowed flue and cap
• Black, satin finish, about 2 lb; folds to cushion size
• Also protects the oven in transport on a food truck or trailer, over an oven that is already secured with APO's modification
• Wipe with a damp cloth and hang dry; never machine wash or tumble dry
• Fade resistant fabric; APO's fade warranty is limited to 2 years
• Meets the Prime's warranty condition that the oven is covered whenever it is not in use
• Does not fit the Maximus Mobile (30 x 38.5 x 30 cover) or the brick domes (Standard and XL covers)
• Ships free with the oven on the same freight delivery; parcel rate at checkout on its own

SPECIFICATIONS

INSTALLATION GUIDE & USER MANUAL

Before the first fit. Check the woven label in the hem reads Cover Prime. Unfold the cover and shake it out; a new cover holds its folds for a day or two and settles once it has been on the oven.

Covering. Let the oven cool completely, two hours or more after the last coals die. Lift the flue and cap off the collar and stow them in the storage bag, in the base, or on the cart shelf. Drop the cover over the dome from the back so the logo patch lands over the stone front. On a cart, work the hem below the base plate all the way round, then pull the cord and press the lock. On a counter, seat the hem around the base of the oven and pull the cord until the cover is snug against the body.

Uncovering. Press the cord lock and let the cord out, lift the cover off from the front, fold it, and put it in the bag before you light the fire. Fit the flue and cap. Never light the oven with the cover anywhere near the mouth, and never leave the cover on the cart shelf below the oven while it is running.

Wind. On a cart the drawstring under the base plate holds in any wind the oven itself will stand. On an exposed counter, one bungee cord over the top from base to base is enough.

Transport. On a truck or trailer, secure the oven to the counter first (APO's modification and tie downs), then cover it for the road with the flue and cap stowed. The cover is weather protection, not restraint.

Cleaning. Damp cloth for dust and pollen, a hose for anything worse, then hang to dry. No machine washing, no dryer, no strong detergents. Store it dry in the bag.

WARRANTY INFORMATION

Term. Authentic Pizza Ovens warrants the cover for the Maximus Prime against fading for two years from delivery to the original purchaser. The fabric and dye are fade resistant, and APO states plainly that no cover is completely fade proof after prolonged direct sun; loss of color does not affect the cover's waterproofing or durability, and the warranty covers fading that goes beyond normal weathering within the term.

Exclusions. Tears from handling, damage from wind on a cover that was not cinched, heat damage from a cover placed on a warm oven or near an open mouth, damage from machine washing, drying, bleach, or a pressure washer, and wear from dragging the hem over rough edges are outside the warranty. A cover used on any oven other than the Maximus Prime is outside it as well.

Oven warranty. The Prime's own three year structural warranty requires that the oven is protected from weather whenever it is not in use. Keeping this cover on between fires is how that condition is met, and an oven that was left uncovered is not covered.

Claims. Contact us first with photos and your order number. We handle the claim with APO on your behalf.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - FAQ'S

Your Questions Answered Before You Buy

The questions we get most often about the Maximus Prime pizza oven cover, answered straight. If yours is not here, chat or email goes to the owner and you will usually hear back the same day.