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A wood-burning brick oven.
A wood-burning brick oven.

A masonry oven, sometimes colloquially known as a brick oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, or clay. An oven is an enclosed compartment for Heating, Baking or Drying. A brick is a block of Ceramic material used in Masonry construction laid using mortar. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag In Geology, rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of Minerals and/or Mineraloids The Earth's outer solid layer the ‘ Lithosphere Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained Minerals which show plasticity through a variable range of Water content, and Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century and modern masonry ovens are often fired with natural gas or even electricity. Natural gas is a Gaseous Fossil fuel consisting primarily of Methane but including significant quantities of Ethane, Propane, Modern masonry ovens are closely associated with artisanal bread and pizza, but in the past they were used for any cooking task involving baking. Bread is a Staple food prepared by Baking a Dough of Flour and Water. Pizza (ˈpiːtsə, in Italian:) is a popular dish made with an Oven -baked flat generally round Bread that is covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based

The traditional direct-fired masonry design is often called a "Roman" or "black" oven and dates in Western culture to at least the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the It is known as a black oven due to the fact that the smoke from the wood used as fuel sometimes collects as soot on the roof of the oven. Such ovens were in wide use throughout medieval Europe and were often built to serve entire communities (cf the banal ovens of France, which were often owned by the local government and whose operators charged a fee to oven users). The four banal (English banal oven) was a common municipal institution in medieval France. Such ovens became popular in the Americas during the colonial era and are still in wide use in artisanal bakeries and pizzerias, as well as some restaurants featuring pizzas and baked dishes. Pizza (ˈpiːtsə, in Italian:) is a popular dish made with an Oven -baked flat generally round Bread that is covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based Pizza (ˈpiːtsə, in Italian:) is a popular dish made with an Oven -baked flat generally round Bread that is covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based Descendants include the beehive ovens of the colonial United States and the Quebec ovens based on the designs of the banal ovens of France. A beehive oven was used to turn Coal into coke.

In the precolumbian Americas, similar ovens were often made of clay or adobe and are sometimes referred to by the Spanish term horno (meaning "oven"). Adobe bricks are a Natural building material made from Sand, Clay, water and some kind of fibrous or Organic material ( Sticks, Horno is a mud Adobe built outdoor Oven used by Native Americans and early settlers of North America

Wood-burning masonry ovens are considered an integral component to the production of true Neapolitan pizza [1]. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the

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Technology

The function of a masonry oven is to trap and radiate heat from a fire, either built within the oven itself (a black or Roman oven, as described above) or in a firebox that vents into the oven (a white oven); smoke is vented through the front of the oven, either directly to the outside or through a chimney immediately above the oven door. The front-loading masonry design is generally held to be somewhat more heat-efficient than an open-topped oven like a tandoor. thumb|Looking into the mouth of a tandoor A tandoor is a cylindrical clay Oven used in cooking and baking

Masonry ovens are generally built with fire-resistant materials like firebrick or clay. A fire brick, firebrick, or refractory brick is a block of refractory Ceramic material used in lining Furnaces Kilns Those designed for bread use are generally quite heavily built to store several hours' worth of heat after completely burning a load of wood, while those designed for pizza or other live-fire cooking techniques can have thinner construction. Generally, a properly-built Roman-plan oven is roughly egg-shaped, with the ceiling of the oven constructed as an arch over the baking surface. The front entrance is ideally approximately 63%±5% the height of the top of the oven ceiling; too high and heat is lost, too low and the oven does not heat completely.

The "white oven" is a somewhat more complex design that pipes heat in from an external firebox without routing the smoke from the fire through the oven. A compromise design known as the gueulard in France combines aspects of both internal and external-fired models.

Modern-designed masonry ovens sometimes bear little resemblance to their forbears, sometimes having only a refractory cement deck (similar to a pizza stone) inside a more conventional oven exterior. A pizza stone is a flat stone or piece of Ceramic or Earthenware used to evenly distribute Oven heat to pizzas or other baked goods Such devices are primarily used in commercial settings, though tabletop models are available. [1]

The governments of Russia and Finland have done research into optimizing the design of wood-burning ovens. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe.

Simulating the effects of a masonry oven

It is possible to get some of the benefits of a masonry oven without constructing a full oven. The most common method is the stoneware pizza stone, which stores heat while the oven is preheating and transmits it directly to the bottom of the pizza. A pizza stone is a flat stone or piece of Ceramic or Earthenware used to evenly distribute Oven heat to pizzas or other baked goods Bread and meat can be cooked in a type of covered ceramic casserole dish known variously as a cloche, a Schlemmertopf (brand name), or the like. A casserole, from the French for "saucepan" is a large deep pot or dish used both in the Oven and as a serving dish Most expensive is a ceramic or stoneware oven liner that provides many of the benefits of a cloche without restricting the baker to one size of pan.

It is sometimes possible to cook bread on a grill to simulate the use of radiant heat in a masonry oven; while this is generally reserved for flatbreads and pizzas, a few recipes for loaf breads are designed to use a grill as well, with or without a masonry or ceramic heating surface. There are multiple varieties of grills, with most falling into one of two categories Gas - Fueled and Charcoal. A flatbread is a simple Bread made from flattened Dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened&mdashmade without Yeast or Sourdough culture

Traditional Masonry Ovens

See also

External links

Fornobravo Uk www.fornobravo.co.uk

References

Fornobravo Uk www.fornobravo.co.uk

  1. ^ Cookery equipment manufacturer Cuisinart sells a tabletop "brick oven" that uses a pizza stone-like lining to store heat for baking. Cuisinart is a brand of small kitchen appliances especially the Food processor of the same name one of the first to become popular in the United States
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