Quest for the Perfect Pizza

I began my quest for the perfect home baked pizza in 1990. After several failed attempts that produced burnt crust or gooey centers, I was certain that I would never be able to produce a great pie at home. Fortunately I was set on the right path towards pizza nirvana. While on vacation in a northern California coast town, my wife and I stumbled onto a quaint little family run pizza joint. The pizza was fantastic with great crust and creative toppings. I asked the owner what the trick was to producing such a masterpiece. He answered with the standard "If I tell you I'll have to kill you". After downing another bottle of wine and sharing with him my challenges in pizza making, He invited me back to his kitchen. "Heat" he explained, "was the key to a successful pie". His oven was fired up over 600 degrees. The type of heat was important too. I left his kitchen with a list of things that I needed to get in order to produce a decent pizza in my own kitchen.

When I returned home I purchased a large, thick, rectangular pizza stone for my oven. I also picked up a good wooden pizza piel along with other specialty tools. It wasn't long until I was turning out great pizza in my own kitchen. Pizza partys became a weekly event. I experimented with several different dough and sauce recipes until I was happy with the results. For years I was content with the pizza that I was able to turn out. Friends and family were happy too. However, my passion was about to lead me down a new path.

Several years ago I had introduced a good friend to the art of pizza making. Like me, he was soon on a quest of his own. Growing up in New York, he wanted to recreate the perfect New York style pie that he remembered as a kid. The pizza that I was creating had a definite California flare with a thicker crust while the pie that my friend was striving for was thin and chewy. Achieving the perfect east coast style pizza was not an easy task. The most common factor in producing such a pie was the oven. Again, the heat was the key. Most authentic pizzerias were using a brick oven that was fired by wood or coal. We found that all of our favorite pizzas from all over the country came from a brick oven. We both decided that we would build a brick oven of our own some day. We researched many different styles and oven designs. We even checked out the oven at Lombardi's, Americas first pizzaeria, while traveling to New York together .

My opportunity to build my oven finally came during the construction of our new home in 2004. I designed my back yard to include an outdoor kitchen, equipped with a comercial size wood fired brick oven. My oven is based on an old world Italian design that is shaped like an igloo. The inside of the oven is approximately six feet deep by four feet wide. I have included a pictorial history of the construction process on this site. I finished the oven with decretive stone, hand distressed wooden tembers, travertine tiles and a copper roof. I couldn't be happier with the results.

This oven gets HOT! Well over a thousand degrees. Pizzas are done in less then three minutes. It's like an old world microwave. The oven is not just for cooking pizza. It produces a moist heat that is perfect for baking artisan breads and roasting juicy meats. I baked the most delectable turkey for Thanksgiving this past year. I also use it as a slow smoker too, producing fantastic ribs and brisket. Yes, it also produces the "perfect home baked pizza"!