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History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens

You are here: Home » History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens

History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens

 and the creation of the Authentic Oven

Early ovens

The earliest ovens were found in central Europe, and dated to 29,000 BC. They were used to cook mammoth and often had a roasting and boiling pit within the structure. In the Ukraine from 20,000BC they used pits with hot coals covered in ashes. The food was wrapped in leaves and set on top, then covered in earth. Today, many communities still use cooking pits such as the Maori when they cook a traditional Hangi. Culinary historians credit the Greeks for developing bread making into an art. Front loaded bread ovens were developed in ancient Greece. The Greeks also created a wide variety of dough, loaf shapes and styles of serving bread with other foods. Baking soon developed as a trade as bread increasingly was prepared outside the family home by specifically trained workers to be sold to the public. This is one of the oldest forms of professional food processing.

History of Pizza Ovens

History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens 1

A wood fried oven is a type of masonry oven.

Masonry ovens consist of a baking chamber made from fireproof brick, concrete, stone or clay. Wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century. Some modern masonry ovens are fired with natural gas as the heat source but many still use the traditional fire, as does our Authentic wood-fired oven.

History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens 2

Types of wood-fired ovens

There are two types of wood fired ovens: ‘black ovens’ and ‘white ovens’. Black ovens are heated by burning wood in a chamber and the food is cooked alongside the fire while it is still going or in the heated chamber after the fire coals have been swept away. A white oven is heated by transfer from a separate combustion chamber and flue-gas path, and therefore the oven remains white or clean from ash. All wood fired ovens regardless of what materials they are made out of will consist of a floor (hearth), a dome and an entry (oven opening).

How they work

Unlike modern household ovens that provide a nearly constant cooking temperature, a black oven (wood-fired oven, cooking with a fire or ash) is typically heated once during the firing stage. After the embers are moved to the sides and back of oven, the oven gradually cools over a period of hours or even days! A well insulated oven such as the Authentic Oven will stay at consistent high temperatures many hours after heating. The mass of the oven acts as a ‘thermal battery’, which slowly releases heat over time. This retained heat can be used to cook batches of bread, pizza, roasts, casseroles, bbq meat etc. Food such as pizzas and bread can be cooking directly on the ovens hearth; alternatively oven-baking dishes can be placed into the oven. The heat retained will decrease over time so foods requiring different temperatures for cooking can be placed inside as the temperature drops to suit the type of cooking required. Authentic Oven also stocks infrared thermometers, which are fantastic for checking the temperature of the oven before and during cooking.

The age of the pizza

Although the word ‘pizza’ was documented the first time in 976 in Gaeta and successively in different parts of Central and South Italy, the history of the dish itself is not very well documented. Foods similar to pizza have been prepared since the Neolithic age. Records of people adding other ingredients to bread to make it more flavoursome can be found throughout ancient history.

In the 16th century in Naples a Galette flat bread was referred to as a pizza. A dish of the poor people, it was sold in the street and not considered a kitchen recipe for a long time. In 1843, Alexandre Dumus, Pere described the diversity of pizza toppings. An oft-recounted story tells that in June 1889, to honor the Queen Consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan pizza maker, created the ‘Margherita pizza’, which was garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil to represent the colours of the Italian flag.

Pizza is now a type of bread and tomato dish, often served with cheese. However until the late 19th century the dish was actually sweet, not savoury, and earlier versions which were savoury more resembled the flatbread, as we know it now.

The dish continued to gain popularity and soon pizza became a tourist attraction as visitors to Naples ventured into the poorer areas of the city to try the local specialty. Pizza first made its appearance in the United States in the late 19th century with the arrival of Italian immigrants. Since then the traditional dish has become so popular it can be found on many restaurant menus and also from popular chain outlets.

History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens

Pizza 101

Today’s new and improved Authentic wood fired ovens

Authentic Oven Limited are passionate about creating quality wood fired ovens. They have incorporated all the best features of the traditional wood ovens using modern heat retaining materials.  Each oven is hand crafted from start to finish and can be custom designed to fit into your outdoor setting. Imagine being able to entertain with style and flare with your own outdoor wood-fired oven!

History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens 4 History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens 3

History of Wood Fired Pizza Ovens and the creation of Authentic Oven

Contact Details

Factory / Sales / Showroom
Ph: 64 7 5752873

OUR NEW ADDRESS

63 Paerangi place

Tauriko

Tauranga

 

Email: info@authenticoven.co.nz

Hours
7.00am – 4.00pm Monday-Friday

Weekends please call for an appointment.

We will be closing 12pm on Thursday 19th December 2019 and will re-open on Monday 20th January 2020.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season from the team at Authentic Oven

 

 

Quality tools

Pizza Peel, Ash Rake & Turning Tool Set

Contact Us

Why buy an Authentic Oven

The defining difference between an Authentic Oven and our competitor’s ovens is the compressed high alumina fire brick used. Compare Authentic Oven with the rest!
When you start looking at a pizza oven for your home you realise there are plenty of options around. Buying the correct oven for your needs is very easy with the correct supplier.Read More

Pizza Dough Recipe

Pizza Dough recipe
Here is the perfect Pizza Dough Recipe that works! We use this dough recipe every time and with great success. An easy reliable way to make pizza dough is to just follow these instructions. This pizza dough recipe is also freezable so you may want to freeze in portions to suit your needs.Read More

Testimonials

Anna and Gareth thank you for our lovely new oven. We have been lighting it every night for the past week and its not getting old! We have started with some of the recipes in the Alan Brown book already. The oven has done everything you said and more. Really impressed with the quality of your product and we look forward to many years with family and friends enjoying with us. Thank you so much I will send photos soon.

Duncan and Emma   

Hi Gareth,

I just wanted to thank you for your help in installing our new pizza oven today. I appreciate that it was a difficult install as we weren't able to use the hiab as we couldn't get the truck close to the plinth and with the step down barbeque area, a trolley was the only option left to us. Your guidance throughout was very professional and you went above and beyond in helping us complete our dream. Gail and I thank you very much for this.

Graham and Gail Bullock.

Graham Bullock   

To the guys and gal at Authentic Oven, thanks for our beautiful new outdoor oven. We love it! We replaced the homemade oven for one of yours because our homemade oven just didn't cut the mustard. What a difference! Your oven has exceeded our expectations and we have impressed family with some spectacular meals. Thanks

Jane & Will C   
Auckland   

Hi Gareth
We have been using our new oven over the past two weeks and just wanted you to let you know we have thoroughly enjoyed the whole process from when we first contacted you to our first firing of our new Authentic Oven. The oven does everything it has been advertised to do and looks fantastic in our living area. Great professional help from yourself and your staff.
Looking forward to using the oven when our family are over next week as they are just as excited as we are.

Pete will contact you next week re the flame grill as we are quite keen on that too;)

Your sincerely
Jacqueline & Peter

Jacqueline   
Auckland   

Gareth,
From buying to shifting into place to firing up to asking for advice it has been an absolute pleasure to deal with you. Your passion for wood fired ovens shows in the ovens craftsmanship and your service. The oven and table is a work of art which totally compliments our outdoor setting. And so far, cooking pizzas, roast vegetables, bread and cinnamon scrolls has been a blast. looking forward to a brisket soon! Thanks for all of your advice along the way. Jim, Papamoa

Jim   
Papamoa   

To the team at Authentic Oven. Thanks for great service and an amazing oven! You went the extra mile to help us make our backyard something special.

Anytime your in Auckland look us up.

Marv

M Davies   
Auckland   

Thank you Authentic Oven for your quality craftsmanship which has exceeded our expectations in every way. Chris and I are amazed with the new cooking experience we now enjoy! Family and friends are having as much fun as we are. Looking forward to the Sunday brunch and roast more than ever now. The oven has been easier than I expected to use and has added real value to our property.
Thanks Authentic Oven great service.

Chris and Paula

Paula & Chris   
Auckland   

“We are very proud of our Authentic Pizza Oven, we wanted to create an atmosphere on our deck where we could all have fun making food creations and keeping warm on those sunny winter days and long summer nights. Gareth has delivered the perfect piece of engineered mastery that could be installed into an existing wall perfecting the area. Lots of family fun and friendly conversations over some great food delights for years to come” Thanks Gareth.

Tim Harcombe

Tim Harcombe   

Hello Gareth and Anna,

Thank you so much for the wonderful work on the oven, it looks perfect in the courtyard, we had a small delay with the courier but it all worked out in the end, is it possible to paint on the back of the oven and what would be the best paint? If you could get back to me on that would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Beth & Mark

Beth & Mark   
Matamata   

Hey Gareth,
Cheers for the pizza oven, it's looking great in the garden mate, any advice on curing meats with different woods mate? Any way love the work, yourself and the Welsh guy, Barry? well done, you've certainly pleased the lady feel free to pop over sometime for a warm meal,

All the best lads,
Nate

Nathaniel   
Pyes Pa   

Hi Guys,

We fired up the pizza oven yesterday and had pizzas for dinner... We are very happy with the oven, it worked perfectly and looks great, thank you again for all your help.

Some pictures are attached.

Kind Regards

Greg.

Greg   
Te Awamutu   

Hi Gareth
Just wanted to say a big thanks for all your efforts with our project! Our staff and myself are happy with the final result and thanks for sticking it out. The result is fantastic with the quality and performance you promised.
The oven has been running now for three months solid and the punters returning for more. We just cracked 200 in one evening which is many more than our historic oven. See you in three months when you finally get a break:)

PR

Paul R   
Christchurch   

Hi guys, We just wanted to say a huge thank you for the awesome oven and also the installation. We really appreciated you taking the time to come over and see if our property was suitable. I was surprised you could get the oven over the fence! Sarah also wanted to tell you she has perfected bread making the next morning! Amazing-Cheers
Clint and Sarah, Rotorua

Sarah   

Dear Anna and Gareth,
Thank you so much for all your time spent with us. We are so happy with our new oven and cant wait to invite people over and cook in it. I will have to email you some new recipes after I have created them.
Jo, Mount Maunganui

Jo   
Mount Maunganui   

Hi Authentic Oven-
We had our first dinner party last night and it was a huge success. It was so easy making pizza with the oven as everyone did their own thing, even the kids were having a go. Thank you so much for all your great ideas and the time you spent creating our perfect outdoor area. We love it!
Mary, Auckland

Mary   

Hi Gareth and Anna
Just wanted to thank you again for the amazing oven, we love it! We had friends over in the weekend and cooked a roast lamb and vegetables, it was so good and we had lots of fun watching it cook. They want to buy one now too! We will send you some photos for the website.
Kind Regards
Jane and Rob, Tauranga

Jane & Rob   

“Hi Gareth, The pizza oven looks great and nice job on the final touches. The builder would like your details so you should hear from him soon also. We used it once before we went away and the whole trip all I could think about was getting home to cook something. Ill ring you in regards to smoking the fish the neighbour has just brought some over, I didn’t realize he brought one of your ovens while we were away. Do you sell the Manuka smoking disks he used? Chat soon mate and thanks once again”

Jan & Allan   
Christchurch   

“ I have to say a big thank you for making our Christmas so memorable! We are so glad we got rid of the old Barbeque and upgraded to an Authentic wood fired pizza oven. Your team at Authentic Oven has been so delightful to deal with and the whole experience has been a success. In a short period of time we have mastered pizza dough, roasted virtually everything and now Murray is smoking fish. We are looking forward to winter evenings huddled around the oven! Thanks so much guys, well done”.

Murray   
Auckland   

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