Pizza is not truly Italian pizza unless it is baked in Forno a legna, which is a wood-fired oven. In order to create a great tasting pizza pie, it is significant to understand that there are two different types of wood pizza ovens. There are black ovens and white ovens.

Simply put, the black pizza oven is heated by wood, and the white pizza oven by a fuel product, but the differences are a bit more complex than that. Black ovens receive their heat by wood that is placed into a chamber with the Italian pie cooking beside the wood. Some chefs prefer to bake the pizza in the chamber after the fire has burnt out and the coals have been swept out. White ovens, on the other hand, receive their heat from a firebox that vents into the oven, leaving the oven smoke free and soot free. The finished pie will not have any of the smoky flavors the black oven provides due to the pie baking in one chamber and the oven fueled in another. Customarily, the wood pizza oven is a masonry oven, yet some are built of brick, cast iron, clay adobe or steel.

Cooking with a wood pizza oven is not for the amateur chef who is new to the art of Italian pie making. This oven is for master chefs who have the skill and expertise to create the perfect oven-baked pizza crust. These chefs recognize the heat of the oven depends on the number of pies cooking at one time, how often the oven is losing its heat and knowledge o all the working details of the oven. Many wood ovens are fueled by using flavorful wood like apple, alder, maple and oak.

Choosing a wood-fired pizza oven can be an experience for homeowners and restaurateurs alike. There are a variety of different designs and styles and even build-your-own kits. Even the most well-informed individual can have difficulty deciding on black ovens or white ovens, which material to use to construct the oven, the design and whether to have an outdoor oven or go with an indoor oven. Knowing and understanding the complexities of true Italian pizza baking as well as the oven design itself will ensure the creation of a perfect pizza product.