Pizza Oven Terms
10 Pizza-Oven Terms to Get to Know
Restaurants, cafés and homeowners buying a Valoriani wood-fired pizza oven sometimes struggle with some of the terminology and jargon around them, so the Orchard Ovens team are providing a few pointers that may just help.
1. ‘OO’ or ‘Doppio Zero’ Flour
In Italy, 00 (or doppio zero flour, as it’s also known, is the finest ground flour to be found). In the Penisola, there are three classifications of flour: 1, 0 and 00, with this referring to how finely the flour has been ground and how much bran and germ have been removed. ‘Doppio Zero’ flour is very fine, soft and typically sourced in the Naples/Campania area. It’s this flour that gives pizza the distinct chewiness that smacks of authenticity.
2. Mozzarella di Bufala
Mozzarella di Bufala is a mozzarella cheese from Campania (southern Italy) made from Italian water buffalo’s milk. It is known as “the queen of Mediterranean cuisine” and takes its name from the verb ‘mozzare’ – to cut by hand.
3. Mozzarella Fior di Latte (or Fiordilatte) and Mozzarella Pecorella
Fior di latte is a cheaper version of mozzarella cheese than Mozzarella di Bufala, made from raw cow’s milk. The best-known variety of this fresh-pulled curd cheese is made in Agerola, Campania. Thanks to its water content and capacity to be ‘spun’, it is often the preferred cheese to top a true Neapolitan pizza, served in a wood-fired pizza oven. You may also come across the term Mozzarella Pecorella. This is a cheese made from sheep’s milk and one typically found in Sardinia or Sicily.
4. DOC
In the Italian food and drink sector, DOC, which stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, is a mark that acts as protection. Food carrying this mark has usually been made in a traditional, artisan way, to a particular recipe and method of production, so the buyer can be reassured about its quality. Mozzarella di Bufala Campana has had a DOC mark since 1993 and can only be produced to a traditional recipe in certain regions of Italy, namely Campania, Lazio, Apulia and Molise.
5. San Marzano Tomatoes
Those firing up their wood-fired ovens sometimes panic during a last-minute recipe read, when finding reference to San Marzano tomatoes. Are they the ones in their tin? Well, a San Marzano is a plum tomato, thinner and more pointed than others and with a fleshier texture. It has a stronger, sweeter taste than other varieties and also fewer seeds. This variety was first grown in volcanic soils near Mount Vesuvius, just a stone’s throw from Naples, which is why you will find mention of them in any traditional Neapolitan wood-fired pizza recipe.
6. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
This is olive oil extracted from pure cold-pressed olives, containing less than 1% free oleic acid. No chemicals touch it during its production and there is no industrial refining during its processing. It is not exposed to any temperatures that could lead to degradation of the pure oil. Its taste, aroma and colour are much superior to those of ‘virgin’ olive oils. When cooking a simple pizza in your wood-fired oven, whether that is a Marinara or a Margherita, always go for extra-virgin olive oil.
6. AVPN
This is the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, based in Naples and geared up to protect the recipe and method of producing ‘real Neapolitan’ pizza in a wood-fired oven. In fact, you cannot claim to serve ‘real Neapolitan’ pizza unless you have its approval.
7. Refractory Clay/Fire Clay
A wood-fired pizza oven should be built of refractory clay, sometimes called ‘fire clay’. This is typically used in ceramics and able to withstand extreme temperatures of over 3000°C without disintegration. If you are an artisan ceramicist, you will know not all refractory clay is the same. That was the case with the Valoriani family, whose decades-long experience in ceramics led them to a quarry where the alumina in the clay was of exactly the right amount to make the brick fire up quickly and then retain heat is such a way as to allow the oven operator to maintain a constant temperature and thus cook the perfect pizza. Thus began the story of Italy’s finest wood-fired pizza ovens, with a history stretching back to 1890 – all manufactured from that magnificent clay.
8. Pizza Peel/Pizza Paddle
A pizza peel (or pizza paddle) is used to slide pizzas and other foods into the red-hot oven and then bring them out again – protecting those precious fingers! Aluminium peels are typically best, allowing for an easier dough slip than is possible from a wooden peel. If you wish to cook several pizzas across the oven floor, you need a long-handled version. However, when turning a pizza, call upon a smaller round peel, rather than a larger rectangular one.
9. Margheritas and Marinaras – what’s the difference?
Both of these pizzas are based on a very simple recipe. The Margherita was made for Queen Margherita of Savoy when she visited Naples in 1889 and should consist of San Marzano tomatoes, freshly sliced mozzarella, fresh basil and extra-virgin olive oil. In a ‘Margherita Extra’ pizza, Mozzarella Fior di Latte is swapped for Mozzarella di Bufala. The ‘Marinara’ pizza pre-dates the Margherita and has nothing to do with fish or shellfish. Its maritime roots come from the fact that the impoverished wives of hungry fishermen would serve up this dish when their husbands returned from sea. It consists of San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, oregano and extra-virgin olive oil and carries NO cheese.
10. Virgin Beech Logs
Wood-fired pizza ovens need to use fit-for-purpose wood, which means it needs to have been seasoned effectively and carry less than 20% water. To guarantee this and make life easier, buying in logs makes sense. But what is a ‘compressed virgin beech log’? These are environmentally friendly and chef-friendly briquettes, formed from ground, compressed virgin beech wood. They are completely food-safe and natural, creating no carcinogenic fumes or toxic ash. They also give a longer and hotter burn than other logs.
Now you understand all the terms, there’s nothing to hold you back with your wood-fired cookery – other than finding the right wood-fired oven, which won’t limit your potential. To talk to us about the best professional or domestic wood-fired (or gas or electric-fired) oven for you, just call us on 07743 847647.