A History of Wood-Gas Ovens
Presented by Forno Bravo
Wood-fired brick ovens and pizza have been with us since the dawn of civilization. Both have been discovered in the excavations of virtually every ancient civilization, with the brick oven reaching its modern form in ancient Rome. The brick ovens uncovered in ancient Pompeii are in wonderful shape, and could start baking today with only minor renovations.
The different cooking requirements between a commercial bakery and pizzeria or homeowner created a split in brick oven design in the 18th century. The French, or Scottish, oven, also known as a White Oven, features a low barrel vault, rectangular footprint and separate firing chamber below the cooking chamber. These ovens are efficient at cooking large volumes of bread and are still used throughout Europe.
The prefabricated refractory pizza oven was created in Italy around the turn of the century, and it took off in Italy in the 1970s, with a renaissance of brick oven cooking. Following the modernization of Italy in the aftermath of the second world war, and acceptance of the electric “American Oven”, a large number of families began rediscovering the pleasure of wood-fired cooking and the recipes and techniques that their grandparents passed down to them.
The next development in pizza oven design appeared in the 1990s, with the creation of modern refractory and insulating materials. These high-tech composites reduce oven heat-up time from 2-3 hours to about 45 minutes and have excellent heat holding characteristics.
The final step in the evolution came with the mainstream use of modern ceramic insulation, which made pizza oven installation faster, easier and less expensive that ever before.
Today, the pizza industry in the United States and Worldwide is still as competitive as ever, and Marana Forni and Forno Bravo are two of the leading Wood-Gas Oven Manufacturers in the world for producing authentically cooked Napoletana pizza.
|
Marana Forni – Made in Italy
Marana Forni was established in the 1980’s by Ferdinando Marana who understood the market need for an oven capable of cooking pizzas not only efficiently but without manual intervention by turning and lifting pizzas from their cooking surface. This was how RotoForno® SU&GIU® Marana came about to meet the needs of pizza chefs. The company began producing and selling wood, gas, pellet and combo-fired ovens for baking pizza and foods in general. The company today is synonymous all over the world with prestige, quality and innovation.
Today Marana Forni features the Marana Napule a Wood & Gas Fired professional oven certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, as well as the Marana Forni RotoForno SU&GIU.
The Marana Forni RotoForno SU&GIU rotates not only clockwise and counter clockwise, but also is patented with a technology that allows this oven to lift both up and down allowing for an optimal cooking surgace regardless of the product. This oven has been widely beloved by chefs and pizzaiolos looking to bake not only authentic Napoletana Pizza but also breads, grilled vegetable, meats and fish.
|
Forno Bravo- Proudly Made in the U.S.A
Forno Bravo was founded in 2003 and has quickly grown to become a global leader in manufacturing both wood and gas-fired pizza ovens and outdoor fireplaces for homeowners, pizzerias and restaurants.
Unlike other U.S. manufacturers who import or use a premix refractory material, Forno Bravo controls every aspect of their manufacturing process. The company blends raw materials to their proprietary formula then cast and assemble the pizza ovens and fireplaces at their factory in California. This is why Forno Bravo offers the widest selection of Wood Fired ovens in the industry with product diversity expansion every year.
The Casa2G, Premio2G, Professionale and Modena2G Series oven kits are tested to ETL, UL, NSF and ANSI standards in the US and Canada. To maintain their certifications, Forno Bravo is inspected regularly by Intertek Testing Laboratories. Pizza Equipment Professionals takes pride in the products that we sell, and we are confident you will see the quality and durability of the Forno Bravo Brand.
|
|
What is AVPN Certification?
The VPN Association was founded in 1984, supported by the Chamber of Commerce, Handicrats & Industry. Old Neapolitan pizza masters, given the spreading of fast-food chains and the large use – sometimes inappropriate- of the denomination “Original Neapolitan Pizza”, decided to found an association based on a protocol in order to protect and increase the value of the pizzas produced and processed according to the old Neapolitan traditions and customs.
Over the years the VPN has introduced a series of world-classified standards for producing an authentically cooked Pizza in the traditional Napoletana style. Restaurants must use specific ovens, tools, products and ingredients to follow these standards. Marana Forni is among the best and elite who have underwent the stringent certification process to become one of those brands for AVPN.
The Marana Napule is the outcome of Marana Forni’s intensive cooperation and development program undertaken in association with the master pizzaioli of Naples.
Impressive teamwork, in which the experience of the Neapolitan Pizzaioli and the technological skill of Marana’s craftsmen has created a unique appliance certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (Genuine Neapolitan Pizza Association) for both wood- and gas-fired operation.
Vesuvian lava stone is included in the exclusive mix of materials used for the oven’s construction.
|
