Choosing The Perfect Pizza Oven For Your Home
This guide will help you choose the best pizza oven for your needs. We cover everything from size and materials to placement and style – all the factors you need to consider to find the perfect oven for your family.
Oven Size
How much food do you plan on cooking in your oven? This is the most important consideration for determining the best size oven for your needs. Other factors to consider are the amount of space available, the types of food you want to cook, and of course, your budget. Note that larger ovens tend to be more expensive.
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Small
Small ovens have interior widths measuring between 23”-31”, like our Garzoni-240 and Garzoni-260 models. This measurement refers to the size of the baking chamber, and gives you an idea of how much room you have available to cook with. An oven of this size can easily cook one standard-sized pizza at a time, or two smaller-sized ones, and is great for feeding 1-4 people – depending on appetite. It is also perfect for baking different types of breads.
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Medium
Medium sized ovens have interior widths between 31”-39”, like our Garzoni-280 and Garzoni-350 models. These ovens are big enough to cook 2-3 standard-sized pizzas at a time. These are family-sized ovens, and are perfect for feeding a family of 4-6 people – again, depending on appetite. They can even be used to roast large game, pig or lamb!
Large

Plan on catering to larger parties? You need to start looking into commercial oven models. Commercial ovens tend to be the largest options available, with interior widths measuring between 39”-51”. These ovens can cook 4-5 large standard-sized pizzas at a time. Among the Californo oven models, this would mean looking into the Verona-420 or Verona-560
Materials
Aesthetics are not the only consideration to be made when choosing a material for your oven. The material you choose will also impact your oven’s heat efficiency, as well as price.
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Clay
Neapolitan ovens are traditionally made with a specially formulated clay – and with good reason! Ovens made out of clay are incredibly cost efficient, as well as fuel efficient. All of our wood-fired pizza ovens are made with clay.
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Brick
Brick is another popular choice for pizza ovens. It is a very fuel efficient material, and can retain up to 85% of the heat generated by fuel. Adding cement render helps retain even more heat.
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Stone
When used for building pizza ovens, stone can have a similar heat efficiency to brick. Depending on the stone material you choose, this option can be quite costly. Still, many choose stone for their pizza ovens for its aesthetic qualities. You can choose to only have the facade of your oven in stone – rather than the whole oven – which will help reduce the cost.
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Steel
Stainless steel ovens require less maintenance than ovens made of other materials. It is a common choice in modern households as it is easier to connect to gas for an alternative fuel source.
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Placement
Do you plan on entertaining outdoors, or would you prefer to be protected from the elements? Your answer will affect the build of your oven.
Integrating your pizza oven into a home kitchen would mean choosing a smaller oven. You will also likely need to have a chimney installed, so that your home doesn’t fill up with smoke.
With an outdoor oven, you have more options.
If you don’t have enough space for an integrated pizza oven, or just prefer the mobility, you can choose a mobile oven instead. These ovens are simple to set up and can be stored away when not in use.
Style
Oven style refers to the shape of the baking chamber. There are many oven shapes available, but the most common styles available are the dome and the barrel vault.
- Dome
The dome is the traditional shape of Neapolitan-style pizza ovens. Dome-shaped ovens allow you to achieve and maintain an even temperature throughout the oven, resulting in evenly cooked food. Californo ovens feature a dome shape.
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Barrel Vault
Unlike dome-shaped ovens, barrel vault ovens extend further in the back to create a larger baking chamber. Barrel ovens need to be closely monitored, as they tend to have cold and hot spots.
What do you think is the most important factor to consider when buying a personal pizza oven? Are you thinking of buying an oven? We’d love to hear from you!

Is Homemade Bread Really Healthier?
The Problem With Industrial Bread
The hype around gluten-free products is so ubiquitous nowadays that we have to ask ourselves if homemade bread is even worth it. In moderation, bread is not harmful for you; humans have been eating it for centuries! And while the distinction of being an excellent source of carbohydrates is considered a dubious one nowadays, the fact remains that carbs are food for the brain. Unfortunately, bread isn’t what it used to be. Store-brought bread looks and feels the way it does so that companies can make it cheaply and on an industrial scale – nutrition and flavour are only secondary concerns. In order to make bread as cheaply as possible, companies use preservatives to extend the shelf life of their bread. They also use dough conditioners like azodicarbonamide, the famous ingredient used in yoga mats – not something you want to be feeding your family.
Benefits of Homemade Bread
There are few things that can compare to the smell of freshly baked bread.
In fact, real estate agents have been known to use the smell of baking bread to sell houses . For some people, the comforting smell of homemade bread is reason enough. However, the biggest advantage to making your own bread is knowing exactly what you’re eating.
When you make your own bread, you control what goes in it. Your bread can be as healthy as you want it to be. You can use the ingredients you want, so you don’t have to worry about preservatives or the empty calories of high fructose corn syrup. In fact, you can choose to forego sweeteners entirely! You can choose to make bread with whole grain flour or with something more eccentric, like rye flour. There is also the option of making gluten-free bread. You can add other ingredients such as quinoa for protein, or flax seeds for added omega 3 fatty acids. You can even choose to make bread with more calories by adding extra sugar and fats. Speaking of fats, unless you choose to add them yourself, your homemade bread won’t contain any trans fats. You can choose to create a heart-healthy bread with unsaturated fats by replacing margarine with olive oil in your recipes.
Having control over what’s in your bread is especially important if you – or someone you love – has allergies. Many people have an intolerance to ordinary (read: store-bought) bread. For example, the growing number of people who have celiac disease cannot eat anything containing gluten. Specialized foods that cater to these conditions are hard to find, and you can never really be sure if they’re truly gluten or allergen free. There are even fewer guarantees about the other ingredients going into them. When you make your own bread, you can get the kind you want, when you want it. There are plenty of recipes that can be adapted to remove whatever ingredient you need removed.
Baking Bread in a Californo oven
Many people remember their Mom or Grandma baking fresh bread in the kitchen. Maybe your dad was the home chef! Freshly baked loaves would disappear as soon as the bread was cool enough to cut, yet warm enough to melt butter. Those special moments of nurturing created a sense of being cared for. Maybe you continued the baking craft in your own kitchen oven, or maybe you are about to put your hand to baking your first fresh loaf. Either way, you may want to give yourself a very unique experience by baking a loaf in one of our outdoor ovens!
We tote them as ‘The Finest Pizza Ovens On Earth’, because they are, but don’t feel like you have to restrict our ovens to just pizza! Our ovens are especially ideal for baking all sorts of breads. Outdoor baking may not have been something you have ever thought of, but by taking the craft outdoors, you could start a whole new tradition for you and your family. Check out our residential oven kits that you assemble yourself or enjoy our pre-assembled residential oven options.
Do you prefer homemade bread over store-bought? We would love to hear your thoughts!

Choosing the Best Firewood for Your Oven
One of the biggest concerns for pizza oven owners is knowing what type of wood to burn in their ovens. Different woods can impart different flavors, so it is important to consider what the wood you’re burning is adding to your dishes.
One of the key factors to making sure everything goes well when you cook with your wood fired oven is learning about the best types of wood to use and how to make sure they are in top condition for burning.
Types of wood and starters NOT to use
First And Foremost: Stay Away From Charcoal As A Main Heat Source!Charcoal seems like a good idea because it burns hotter than most firewood. However, it doesn’t transfer heat efficiently inside the oven. There are three factors that contribute to the heat inside the oven: hot coal transfer, flame refractions off the oven dome, and thermal equilibrium. When you use charcoal to heat your oven, you lose one of these sources of heat, as charcoal does not produce a sustained direct flame – or really, any flame at all. This leaves you with pizza that is unfinished and unevenly baked, with toppings that have been left un-melted, and dough that remains un-browned. You want the perfect pizza that results from a heated wood oven: A crisp pizza dough exterior, with a chewy interior, and perfectly roasted toppings. (http://bobbyflay.com/recipes/recipes/21/pizza-with-bacon-caramelized-onions-and-toasted-garlic)
Finally, charcoal also presents a safety issue. Charcoal produces more carbon monoxide than firewood, introducing an invisible and potentially fatal element to your food, your home, or your restaurant. To make matters worse, carbon monoxide is undetectable without specialized equipment.
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Processed Woods Are Cheap – But They’re A Bad Idea.
- Don’t Use Softwoods Or Resinous Woods.

Do Not Use Wood That Has Not Been Properly Seasoned


- The Best Firewood Is Made Of Hardwood

- Oak – Oak is one of the safest firewood options available. It burns hot and clean. It is also one of the easiest woods to find in North America, and is often available at reasonable prices. It is a great choice for firewood.
- Maple – Maple is also a great option for firewood. Like oak, it is easily accessible in North America.
- Ash – While still considered a hardwood, ash tends to be on the softer side. It also tends to be more easily available, and thus less expensive than other options.
- Mesquite – Mesquite does not need much seasoning; as a naturally dry wood, it can even burn when freshly cut! Mesquite tends to be quite difficult to start, however, so you will need to use a lot of kindling. When using mesquite, it is a good idea to mix oak into your firewood to extend your fire’s life – mesquite is a very hot burning wood!
- Fruitwoods Are Also A Great Option – Especially If They Come From Hardwood Trees
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Apple – Apple gives off a wonderful fragrance and a subtly sweet flavor. It also tends to burn very hot. That is why some of the best-known pizzerias swear by apple! However, apple does tend to be more expensive and harder to find than other firewood options.
Cherry – Cherry imparts a mild, sweet flavor that can go with virtually anything. It can be difficult to source locally, but you can get some right away by ordering on Amazon.
- As much as possible, harvest or buy firewood between early spring and late winter. During these seasons, most of the sap and moisture will be accumulated in the roots of the tree, giving you wood that is easier to dry. Additionally, harvesting at this time will give your wood the summer to dry out. If you buy your firewood, it will be seasoned for you and ready to burn.
- Wood that has recently been cut is referred to as green wood. https://www.logsforsale.co.uk/information/the-best-logs-for-pizza-ovens/
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Since green wood has not had a chance to dry properly, it does not burn very hot and tends to produce plenty of smoke when burning. Fizzling and crackling are also telltale signs that you are using greenwood.
- Always aim to purchase firewood a cord at a time. A cord refers to a stack of wood that measures 4’ x 4’ x 8’. This helps you make sure that you are getting a good price, as buying in units that are unrelated to the standard cord can conceal a high price per cord.
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Make sure to go to your wood suppliers’ yard so you can see exactly what you are buying. Don’t lose heart if you make a bad firewood purchase – we’ve all been there. It takes some time to develop the ability to judge good firewood.
- Here are some good places to get wood: firewood retailers; local parks; friends or neighbors who cut or prune their trees; companies that cut trees; manufacturers that process wood; and the municipal town maintenance crew.
- There are two main ways to dry your firewood: a kiln that is especially made for drying wood (expensive); or in a well-ventilated firewood shed.
- Depending on how large your wood pieces are, it could take up to two years for it to dry sufficiently. If you are cutting your own wood, try to split it into pieces that measure 16”x3”. It is always a good idea to split your firewood, as split wood tends to dry faster. Split wood is also easier to start and burns hotter. Your kindling can be smaller.
- Remove the bark from your firewood to reduce its moisture content.

- Some people leave the bark on their firewood because they prefer to cook with more smoke. If you do this, make sure to turn the wood with the bark facing up so that the wood can burn better in the oven.