What is a “modern” Italian wood-fired oven?
A modern Italian pizza oven is constructed using high-tech refractory materials, pre-cast oven pieces and space-age insulators. The refractory materials are designed to efficiently reach and hold 800ºF and are made from discrete, engineered components, not natural clay. The pre-cast pieces are made using forms to achieve the perfect oven shape, rather than individual bricks. Woven ceramic blanket and compressed calcium-silicate board insulation are many times more efficient than traditional materials used in the site-built ovens found in Naples, including sand, clay and tufa. The result is that Forno Bravo commercial ovens easily hold the 800ºF necessary to bake Pizza Napoletana, while using less fuel and requiring less effort by the pizzaiolo.
