Waterfalls LLC is now the exclusive dealer and installer of Zancan brick pizza ovens in the United States.

Call and we can put you in contact with a dealer of hand made Zancan Brick Pizza Ovens.

The secret to the perfect brick pizza oven is the brick modular unit that we manufacture.

After the unit is in place it can be finished any way you wish. The below installation is finished in natural stone with a granite counter top for serving.

Below the natural stone pizza oven is one finished in faux rock.

Also ovens finished in Pavers.

The choices are endless.

Pizza is not the only thing you can do in a wood fired oven.Nothing is better for baking bread, and there's nothing like meats grilled or roasted by a wood fire. A wood-fired oven will dramatically alter the way you cook, while providing you genuine enjoyment.

A wood fired oven quickly becomes the center all gatherings for friends and family in your home. The sight of flames dancing in an oven provides a sense of well-being and warmth in any kitchen even when not in use for cooking. Incidentally, there's no way that a regular oven will replicate what can be done in a wood fired oven. A pizza cooks in under 3 minutes right on the oven floor. The crust will be crisp on the bottom, and the toppings always come out beautifully melted, and perfectly cooked. “Regular ovens are simply not hot enough to do this.”

Though we call them pizza ovens, they can be used to prepare practically any dish. “A well-designed wood-fired oven offers many benefits over conventional ovens,” “The biggest advantage comes from using high heat and a live flame inside the oven. But the same oven can also be used as a bake oven for hearth breads by cooking with no flame, just the retained heat that is stored deep in the clay dome.” The brick oven floor, which generates conductive heat, can be used as a stove top. The dome provides radiant heat to the entire chamber. The fire generates convection heat. Most of these ovens fall into two categories: the traditional clay or terra cotta ovens, made as they have been for centuries by Tuscan artisans; and prefabricated refractory pizza ovens, which take advantage of high-tech materials that heat the chamber faster.

The History of Italian Brick Ovens

Italy is well known for its delicious pizza that arrives fresh from a scorching brick oven. The popular brick oven pizzerias found all around the world today stem from an ancient concept that has stood strong through the ages.

Brick oven pizza

Variations of the brick oven seen today have actually been fabricated for thousands of years throughout a variety of civilizations around the entire globe. It is clear, however, that the brick oven earned an especially famous reputation in Italy in the ancient Roman civilization.

More than thirty brick ovens have been discovered in the ancient ruins of Pompeii, and they cast an interesting light upon the fascinating history of the Italian brick oven. Many of these ovens are in surprisingly superb condition considering their age. These early ovens are a prime example of the great talent and effort that is a quality well known in ancient Roman craftsmanship. The brick ovens discovered in Pompeii are primarily constructed in assorted types of brick and ceramic materials. Techniques that used glass as a construction material for these Italian brick ovens have also been discovered in the ancient ruins of Rome.

Many of the early brick ovens found throughout Europe are quite large in size. These oversized ovens likely belonged to wealthy land owners and were probably used at a price by the entire local community. The brick ovens in ancient Roman civilization, however, were used for both commercial and residential purposes. Many of these early brick ovens were smaller in size, as they may have only been used to feed one or two families at a time. Brick ovens were often used for business in eateries located throughout ancient Italy. These businesses have been unearthed to reveal a surprisingly more modern appearance than one might have expected. These ancient restaurants looked very much like contemporary pizzerias, and were often built with granite service counters. These eateries commonly sported a diverse menu that included rustic versions of modern-day pizza.

As modern invention caused the use of brick ovens to fade throughout most of Europe, many Italians kept up the traditional way of making baked goods. Brick ovens are a common occurrence in countless Italian homes, and have been for centuries. While a good portion of the modern brick ovens are constructed out of rough stone and not in the traditional manner, a number of Italians are exploring the fine quality of ancient construction and keeping the early traditions alive.

By Elizabeth Walling