The information below is information that I have gathered through experience and my own investigation. Feel free to contact specific manufacturers to confirm. Just be sure to get educated and not sold. Always understand your ventilation requirements from your local jurisdiction prior to purchasing an oven. There is a very good chance that local code will require you to place your oven under a type 1 hood system. If burning wood is your desire there may be more requirements on how your clean the flu system prior to the exhaust reaching the outside air.
The manufactures below represent what I consider the major players in the stone hearth oven game in North America. I have offered a brief description of each one but a conversation regarding your details would be recommended. Please feel free to contact me. pizzageometrics@gmail.com This is probably the most expensive piece of equipment for your concept so let’s get it right.
Beech Ovens http://www.beechovens.com.au/
Beech is originally from Australia. They still maintain and build
ovens in Melbourne but now are under the Middleby Brands
http://www.middleby.com Their main manufacturing takes place in Brea, Ca. at
the Jade Range factory. Beech is well known for their ability to customize an oven
to just about any shape or size that you desire. They are also very flexible in fuel
combinations of gas/wood/coal. Today they have implemented the option of
underfloor burners and thermostatically controlled ovens that offer almost hands
free temperature management. They also offer a 4” thick single cast floor
and dome creating a very high production oven. Beech ovens are a great choice
when needing to get through small spaces for installation. Even their largest ovens
can be separated to move through a 36” door. Their business focus is on
specified jobs, chain operators large and small, large independent restaurant
operators. They also do a lot of custom work for celebrity chefs. Beech ovens are
sold through restaurant equipment dealers.
EarthStone Ovens https://earthstoneovens.com/
EarthStone is based out of Southern Ca. They have been around for over 25
Years. They have completed thousands of commercial installations as well as
residential installations. They have been part of a couple of recent chain concepts
that include MOD Pizza and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. They are engineered
with tiles over concrete. The concrete base adds to the weight of the oven but it
really does not offer much in the terms of heat retention for efficiency. I have often
considered the EarthStone Oven as a good choice if the oven is producing only a
small part of your menu. EarthStone does offer a variety of sizes in their catalog
but not many options when it comes to façades. They pretty much all look
the same.
Forno Bravo https://www.fornobravo.com
Relatively new in North America founded in 2003 as a DIY Home Oven. Since
Then they have acquired a UL listing and gas options that has opened the doors
For them in the commercial market. These are great ovens that fit the traditional
Italian design and performance. Lower domes, small doorways, they are very
Efficient and cook a great 90 second to 3minute pizza. You can pie these ovens
Direct from the factory at a very reasonable price. They are limited in sizes and
Shapes. When cooking traditional Neapolitan pizza it is not about a large oven, it
is about more than one oven. This design creates a very fuel efficient oven.
Forza Forni https://forzaforni.com/
Forza Forni is the epitome of the traditional Italian brick oven. Proven by
renowned pizza aioli Roberto Caporuscio of Keste Pizza NYNY. Available in
wood, gas fuel options they also sell a rotating deck that is a single cast floor and
an electric brick oven. You purchase these ovens direct from their factory. Due to
traditional design they are limited in size and shape but with custom tile work are
beautiful ovens. The web-site is pretty real with the videos of how they build there
ovens. Warning – do not attempt this yourself.
Marra Forni https://marraforni.com/
Marra Forni has become the leader in Italian traditional stone hearth ovens in
North America. They have taken every opportunity to show up to get their product
In front of the consumer. They build a great product as well and have supported it
Through-out North America buy using a recognized chain of distribution. They have
A pretty good size manufacturing plant in the Mid Atlantic region and have built
test kitchen sites so that customers can experience their equipment.
Marra Forni offers a variety of sized ovens in round shape. They offer a variety of
Fuel options as well the include gas, wood and electric.
Proluxe Ovens https://proluxe.com/stone-hearth-ovens
Relatively new in the game with the Proluxe name, this manufacture focused on the
fast casual space with the duplication of the Wood Stone FD 9660. They added
heat under the floor and thermostatically controlled technology. They speak about
burning less BTUs than their competitors but you need to consider that the
underfloor heat source is electric. So, you pay for gas or electric or both. They also
boast about twice as much thermal mass in the dome of the oven. My opinion is
that it is unnecessary and really only increase the shipping cost due to extra
weight. They have both rectangle and round style ovens but not a lot of choices in
either shape. Proluxe sells other equipment including grill and prep equipment so
ovens are only part of what they do. The oven design and performance
RemcoSPC http://remcousa.com/
Perhaps Remco was the first in North America with rotating deck ovens. You do not
see them a lot any more since the Italian manufactures have stepped in. Remco has
not had a great history with customer service or well-engineered ovens.
Valorani / Mugnaini https://www.valoriani.us/ http://www.mugnaini.com
Valorani / Mugnaini – can be confusing. Mugnaini is a distributor of Valorani
Ovens out of Healdsburg, Ca. This location has been around for many years and
has had a great story to tell. Mostly focused on their cooking school that sells
more residential ovens than commercial ovens. The Valorani side is focused more
on selling commercial ovens. These are great Italian ovens. Here again, they have
a variety of sizes that are offered as wood, gas, combo fuel options. They also
offer an oven with a rotating deck.
Wood Stone Corporation https://woodstone-corp.com/
These are the big guys in North America. Celebrating 30 years of business that
began with a single wood fired oven followed by 799 more wood fired ovens.
They brought the gas fired oven to North America that really gained a lot of
popularity with chain operators such as California Pizza Kitchen. They build
amazingly great ovens that are supported with factory service 24/7 365 days a
year. They have been the leaders in stone hearth cooking boasting over 17000
installations over 80 countries in the world. They offer more shapes and sizes of
standard ovens than any other manufacturer. Along with the number of size and
shapes available each one of these has a number of variables. This is fantastic but it
is extremely important to be sure you choose the right oven to do the job you want.
Wood Stone also offers lots of options and accessories to their ovens to create
different facades. Here again this is great but they can become very pricey, putting
Wood Stone Ovens as probably one of the more expensive options available on
the market. Fuel options include wood, gas, coal, combination. Wood Stone has
built its reputation on its ceramic stone 4” floors and domes and an underfloor
inferred burner system. Today there are many brands that offer both those options.
Still recognized as great ovens Wood Stone has not done much to keep up with the
technology of rotating deck ovens or thermostatically controlled ovens. Both these
options could be vital to your concept for ease of use. Wood Stone has a great
facility that you can visit in Bellingham, Wa. They also have numerous test
