An Introduction
"Why can't I cook a proper pizza at home without burning a whole forest and taking all day?"
This is the question Felicity Henriques asked me in 1995. On and off since then I have been trying to solve the problem. To cook a pizza or a flat bread you need a very high temperature (around 500°C) and a porous surface like the lining of a wood fired oven.
Most domestic ovens only reach 250°C, so a new invention was required. Our early prototypes were made of clay and later metal but the bottom of the pizza always burnt before the top cooked. Eventually, using gas and by allowing it inside at the bottom and passing it over the top, the upper temperatures got nearly as high as the lower ones.
It was not until I met Guy Adams in 2009 that we were able to analyse the problem and solve it in a scientific way. Guy also brought much needed engineering experience and precision. Together, with many wonderful people from the (pleasingly buoyant) remains of British manufacturing, we have managed to produce all the pieces that go together to form an oven. These are worked and assembled by hand in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
I hope you enjoy the results.
-Daniel Chadwick
