Pizza Oven
For thousands of years, brick ovens have been built on every continent by many different civilizations. As a result, there are a variety of oven designs to choose from. Choosing the design may be one of the most important decisions you make prior to building your oven.
Neapolitan
Pompeii style ovens are circular in shape and the most popular Italian brick oven design by far. There are two different popular variations of this circular, igloo shaped oven. The Neapolitan shaped oven has a very aggressive dome design. As a result, the oven ceiling is lower and can reflect more heat onto the oven floor. This oven can be used for roasting and baking, but its design is best for making pizza.
Tuscan
Another popular Pompeii style oven is the Tuscan shaped oven. The Tuscan design has a more rounded dome, similar to an actual igloo. The oven opening is also larger than the Neapolitan oven. It does not reflect as much heat onto the oven floor but is said to hold more heat because of its higher curved shaped ceiling. This oven is more versatile. It can make great pizza and bread, but it can also be used for larger roasts and stews.
Barrel Vault
Barrel vault ovens have a half-barrel. cylindrical shape. The oven floor has a rectangular shape. These ovens are versatile, much like the Tuscan ovens. You can cook meat, vegetables, stews, bread, and pizza. The rectangular shaped floor allows for a larger cooking surface. For example, you can fit more loaves of bread on a 40 inch square cooking surface in comparison to a 40 inch round surface.
There are some disadvantages with this design. Because of its rectangular shape, these ovens do not distribute heat as evenly as a Pompeii oven. There will be some cooler spots inside the oven. These ovens also take longer to heat because there is more thermal mass (brick and mortar). Therefore, they require more firewood. However, because they have more thermal mass, a properly insulated barrel vault oven should retain heat longer that a typical Pompeii style oven.