One of the best-kept secrets for making the perfect pizza has nothing to do with the milky mozzarella, or the sweet and savory San Marzano tomatoes, or the carefully crafted dough recipe. Because if you don’t have the right oven, there aren’t any ingredients that can bring the whole thing together.
In the quest to find the perfect pizza oven, the adventure begins and ends with the Mecca of pizza itself – Naples. It’s here, where the family of Stefano Ferrara has perfected a secret recipe and now makes pizza ovens that are shipped all around the world.
“It all started with my grandfather 80 years ago. When he started, the ovens weren’t for pizzerias, but they were built into communities for local people to go to bake bread on Sunday mornings,” said Ferrara.
The key to making the ovens comes from using all local materials which helps create the proper amount of heat for baking puffy Neapolitan pies in under 90 seconds. “The floor of the oven is the most important part where we use natural refractory materials like clay and some ingredients that is part of a secret family recipe. We call this mix on the bottom of the oven ‘batteria termica’ which can literally be translated as a thermal battery. As a result, the oven can reach up to 900 degrees Celsius,” Ferrara explained.
The ovens are so coveted that they can be found at only the best pizzerias around the globe. Famous spots like L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Naples and Hollywood, California as well as Buona Forchetta in San Diego, and the legendary Franco Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana praise the ovens for their exactitude. “In a world where anyone can make a pizza, the small things make a big difference. Stefano Ferrara ovens make a big difference because they’re built just for Neapolitan pizzas,” said Francesco Zimone, owner of L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Hollywood.
Stefano Ferrara
Ferrara talks a lot about the oven floor being the critical piece in making the pizzas come out just right. Luca Zamboni, master pizzaiolo of Buona Forchetta agrees, “the Stefano Ferrara oven is best because the temperature on the bottom never changes, even when it’s very busy. The plane for cooking is made with Biscotto di Sorrento and the dome is simply perfect. Only with this oven can you have every pizza cook in the perfect way.”
In what started with his grandfather handmaking community ovens 80 years ago, it has become a large factory churning out an average of 200 (still) handmade ovens every year. But even as they begin producing in larger numbers, Ferrara can still reminisce about every single one, “I remember every oven I’ve ever built. For me, it’s like my children.”
The ovens themselves can weigh up to 2,000 kilos and cost around €7,000 Euros before shipping. But as pizza chefs everywhere will tell you, it’s a very small price to pay when the result is a perfect pizza every single time. So, if you’re looking for Neapolitan pies in your hometown, ask the chef if they’re using a Stefano Ferrara oven because if they are, you can rest assured that in 90 seconds, you’ll be instantly transported to Naples with every single chewy bite.