I hear people rave on and on about "Chicago style pizza" and "New York style pizza" but I have never really been big fans of those types of pizza. To be honest, I wish Pizza Hut would go back to its old recipes from 15-20 years ago for the thin crust supremes. But there is one style of pizza that I really do enjoy: wood-fired pizza.
So what is the difference between a wood-fired pizza and pizzas cooked in other types of ovens? I went looking for answers and found a few articles. This article on wood-fired pizza says that is all these people eat when they visit Italy. But the blogger recommends some places in the US where you can get good wood-fired pizza.
A wood-fired pizza is sometimes billed as "gourmet pizza". They look messier than your typical mass-produced restaurant pizza and that is because of the way the wood-fired oven is made.
This short article on wood-fired ovens explains how they contain the heat better than conventional ovens. So when you put your pizza into the wood-fired oven it is getting cooked evenly on all sides and angles at the same time. The heat just hits it from every direction possible.
Another article on wood-fired ovens agrees with the first. So no matter how good your modern gas or electric oven may be, it's not able to compete with the classy old brick-encased wood-fired oven for storing up the heat and passing it on to your food. There isn't much waiting around for your pizza to cook with a wood-fired oven.
This blogger points out that you cannot walk away from a pizza you slip into a wood-fired oven. It cooks so fast you cannot leave it, not even to answer the phone.
I used to think that rapidly cooking anything might not be a good idea but I have to admit that wood-fired pizza has changed my mind. But maybe people still like their "Chicago style pizza". If so, more power to you. But I think once you have had wood-fired you will never go back.
