Wood-fired oven

Wood-fired ovens, also known as wood ovens (or Forno in Italian), are ovens that use wood fuel for cooking. There are 2 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 in that same chamber alongside the fire while it is still going, or in the heated chamber after the fire and coals have been swept out. White ovens are heated by heat transfer from a separate combustion chamber and flue-gas path, and thus the oven remains "white".

Wood-fired ovens are distinct from wood cookstoves such as the Mora or Todd stoves which have a hot cooking surface for pots and pans, like on a gas or electric stove. A wood cookstove may also have an oven but it is separate from the fire chamber.

Wood-fired ovens are also distinct from woodstoves such as the Regency or Bennington, which are primarily for heating though some are adapted for cooking as well.

Wood-fired ovens are most commonly made of cob, brick brick or refractory cement. Regardless of material they all have an oven chamber consisting of a floor, a dome and an entry.

For some foods, wood-fired ovens are far superior to conventional gas or electric ovens. Food is cooked evenly since heat is conducted from the floor below and at the same time radiated from the dome above. A wood oven can cook a pizza in 90 seconds and reach as high as 500°C/900°F, the temperature that is mandated for authentic VPN, or Naples-style, pizza.