Temperature, insulation and resistance, all in one pizza oven: the Alfa oven
How to bake a pizza cooked to perfection? The secret is all in the oven.
At one point or another you probably kneaded flour, water and yeast, waited patiently for the dough to rise overnight, seasoned it with excellent quality ingredients and then baked a disappointing pizza, perhaps because it burned at the base and hardly cooked inside.
In these cases it’s the pizza oven that makes the difference.
In just a few minutes of cooking, the dough must be able to become crispy on the outside and soft and moist at the right point on the inside; without forgetting that the condiment must be ready in the same period of time that it takes to cook the base.
In order to allow you to prepare a pizza at home as good as that of your favourite restaurant, Alfa researchers have designed the Heat Genius™ technology thanks to which the sauce cooks at one temperature, the dough at another, with the result that each pizza is cooked to perfection.
And since there isn’t ever enough good beer to save a burnt pizza, let’s learn more about how it works and all the benefits of using Alfa home ovens with Heat Genius™ technology.
In this article we will look in detail at:
- Heat Genius™: intelligent pizza cooking
- HeatKeeper™ refractory stone
- DoubleDown Ceramic Superwool® insulation
- Patented Full Effect Full Circulation Flue System®
- 5 reasons to choose an Alfa Heat Genius™ pizza oven
- Construction of the Forninox™ steel cooking chamber
- OptiDome semi-sphere design
- Shell with double layer powder coating
- “Ready Already” technology
- Sidefire gas burner
- Alfa pizza ovens: different design, unique technology
- Classic Line
- Modern Line
- Future Line
- Alfa pizza ovens: the best of ‘Made in Italy’
Heat Genius™: intelligent pizza cooking
Even if at first glance they may look similar, pizza ovens are not all the same.
Often domestic ovens, especially inexpensive ones, are nothing more than poorly insulated metal boxes made of low-quality materials, that have a hard time keeping the heat inside the cooking chamber.
This results in burnt doughs, undercooked condiments, and ovens that don’t allow you to bake more pizzas in succession, where the outside parts tend to overheat during cooking.
This doesn’t happen with Alfa ovens: the extensive artisan experience in processing and high quality raw materials used, combined with the most innovative technology, give rise to domestic pizza ovens that are not only well-designed, but also capable of providing professional results even at home.
Alfa, in fact, provides technological solutions for the home environment which up until recently were reserved exclusively for the world of restaurants and pizzerias.
In particular, Heat Genius™ technology allows you to cook the pizza base and condiments at different temperatures to make pizzas that are always tasty and fragrant.
This is because the heat is slowly released from the refractory stone and irradiated evenly throughout the curved walls of the oven making the dough crisp without burning; while the condiments cook faster releasing part of their moisture, thus reaching the perfect balance.
In particular, there are three elements that make the Heat Genius™ technology so powerful:
- HeatKeeper™ refractory stone
- DoubleDown Ceramic Superwool® insulation
- Patented Full Effect Full Circulation Flue System®
Let’s look at these elements in detail.
1. HeatKeeper™ refractory stone
HeatKeeper™ refractory stone embodies all the craftsmanship and experience of the finest Italian workmanship.
Made in the Alfa factory in Anagni, this particular refractory stone absorbs and stores heat much better than lava stone or ceramics, materials usually used in common pizza ovens found on the market.
Thanks to the HeatKeeper™ refractory stone, the base of Alfa ovens quickly cooks your pizzas making them crisp and soft at the right point.
2. DoubleDown Ceramic Superwool® Insulation
A good pizza oven to be defined as such must be well insulated and must not disperse heat externally.
In Alfa ovens, the space between the stainless steel walls is filled with a special insulating material: the DoubleDown Ceramic Superwool®.
This ceramic fibre offers twice the heat resistance provided by common stone wool, which is normally used for domestic pizza ovens.
This type of insulation allows Alfa ovens to better maintain the heat inside the cooking chamber, thus enabling you to have consistently well-cooked pizzas with considerable fuel savings.
3. Patented Full Effect Full Circulation Flue System®
Domestic pizza ovens typically release the heat accumulated inside the cooking chamber through the flue above the oven dome.
This means that a large part of the heat generated by the combustion is dispersed outside through the hole of the flue with an “up and out” mechanism.
This is not the case with Alfa ovens, thanks to the patented Full Effect Full Circulation Flue System®.
This technology means that the hot air circulates in the cooking chamber and is pushed down by a special conveyor so as to further heat the refractory stone and cook the pizza better.
The device that pushes the heat “around and down” ensures that the oven consistently maintains the right temperature so as to be able to cook in a perfect and homogeneous way, both the pizza base and its condiments.
The heat will only come out of the cooking chamber when you decide to open the oven door.
When opening the door, in fact, a special deflector will convey the heat upwards towards the flue, and not towards the pizza maker, so as to be released outwards.
5 reasons to choose an Alfa Heat Genius™ pizza oven
Alfa pizza ovens combine technology, performance and aesthetics.
Even the smallest component is made to consistently offer you the best cooking results and maximum safety, with a keen eye on design.
Thanks to continuous innovation processes, Alfa home pizza ovens offer professional performance such as lighting speed and precision in the various cooking processes.
One need only think that 500°C can be reached in just 10 minutes and 2 can cook a pizza, thus reducing fuel costs and your guests’ waiting time.
But what differentiates Alfa Heat Genius™ ovens from the many commercially available models?
- The cooking chamber is made with Forninox™ Technology
- OptiDome semi-sphere design
- Shell with double layer powder coating
- “Ready Already” technology to reach the cooking temperature even faster
- Sidefire gas burner
Let’s have a look at each one.
1. Construction of the Forninox™ steel cooking chamber
In order to cook a pizza in a few seconds, the oven must be capable of reaching very high temperatures, even up to 500°C.
This means that the oven must be able to withstand the heat produced during combustion without being damaged in any way.
This is why the cooking chamber of an Alfa pizza oven is made with two different types of steel with a high thermal resistance:
- 441 stainless steel with titanium for the inner wall, so as to better respond to thermal stress
- Stainless steel for the outer wall, so as to resist heat, corrosion and weathering
In this way, the Alfa oven cooking chamber exploits all the advantages of the dome’s stainless steel and the refractory stones by better retaining the heat. Thus giving its maximum potential during the cooking of the pizza, or other dishes, and lasting longer over time.
2. OptiDome semi-sphere design
It is no coincidence that the top part of wood burning ovens has always been made in a spherical way.
The particular shape of the dome, in fact, enables optimal movement of the air so as to distribute the heat inside the cooking chamber, allowing it to reach high temperatures and keep them constant during cooking.
The Alfa Research and Development team has studied this particular characteristic of wood burning ovens with the aim of improving it and bringing it to a higher level of efficiency.
This is how the OptiDome dome was created. A flattened semi-sphere design capable of maximising circulation and heat flow inside the cooking chamber.
Its particular shape allows the Alfa pizza oven to heat up quickly and to maintain constant temperatures for consistent cooking.
3. Shell with double layer powder coating
The Alfa Heat Genius™ pizza ovens are built with two layers of powder coating, made in seven stages in order to reach the final result.
This allows Alfa ovens to better withstand weathering, last over time and offer maximum functionality and ease of cleaning.
4. “Ready Already” technology
Thanks to the “Ready Already” technology, Alfa ovens are able to reach the right temperature so as to cook the pizza even faster, thus also reducing the time required to warm up again between pizzas.
In this way, all your guests can eat together, avoiding embarrassing waiting time between one pizza and the next.
5. Sidefire gas burner
Alfa gas ovens are equipped with Heat Genius™ technology, nothing is left to chance, not even the smallest detail.
This is why they have a special Sidefire system so that the Alfa burner is found on the side of the oven and never on the bottom, as is the case with most ovens on the market
If the burner is located in the innermost part of the oven, in fact, part of the heat would be released from the mouth, thus greatly reducing the thermal efficiency of the instrument.
Thanks to Alfa’s Sidefire system, the heat is free to flow throughout the combustion chamber, circulating freely to offer you a better performance in terms of pizza cooking.
This translates into high performance and lower consumption, proving to be a concrete solution also for the protection of the environment.
Alfa pizza ovens: different design, unique technology
The constant research and development work to excel in both functional and aesthetic design of all components has led Alfa to create pizza ovens capable of responding to any need regarding size, fuel and style.
In fact, all Alfa ovens have in common the Heat Genius™ technology, but you can choose between wood, gas or hybrid power, different sizes based on the space available and the number of pizzas to be cooked and 3 well-defined stylistic lines:
- Classic Line
- Modern Line
- Future Line
All three lines allow you to furnish outdoor spaces with style to be shared with friends; experiencing gardens, terraces and balconies in a new manner. Let’s have a look at them together!
1. Classic Line
Characterized by a refined and timeless design, this line manages to combine traditional lines and technological innovation.
The rounded dome and the stainless steel front are the ideal combination in environments dominated by a classic style, yet where you don’t want to give up the high cooking performance.
The “Classic Line” includes the following Alfa pizza ovens: 5 Minuti, 4 Pizze and Dolce Vita.
2. Moderno Line
The choice of colour and the high quality of the internal components ensure functionality, robustness and aesthetics without compromise.
Smoother lines, contemporary Italian design and all the Heat Genius™ technology lend themselves to characterize younger and more dynamic spaces thanks to the following Alfa ovens Nano, Ciao, Brio and Allegro.
3. Futuro Line
The “Futuro Line” represents the maximum synthesis of functionality and elegance. Clean and clear lines enhance the essential, managing to capture your guests’ appreciation while complementing the pizza chef’s work.
Clearly visible in the Alfa Stone Oven this line is characterized by its frontal stainless steel arch, minimal style and advanced technology, which make Stone Oven a solid and reliable oven that lends itself well to be placed next to the BBQ in outdoor garden kitchens.
Alfa pizza ovens: the best of ‘Made in Italy’
Thanks to the Heat Genius™ technology developed by Alfa, cooking pizzas to perfection at home is no longer a problem.
In fact, all our wood and gas ovens allow you to achieve professional performance without compromise.
Thanks to state-of-the-art materials and technologies that guarantee efficient thermal insulation, you can cook the pizza sauce at one temperature and the dough at another.
Entirely made in Italy, Alfa pizza ovens are ready and easy to use and beautiful aesthetically, so as to give you a comfortable and captivating cooking experience in your outdoor spaces, allowing you to also organize cooking show evenings to entertain your friends.
