An oven built to reach 400 to 500 C (750 to 950 F), far hotter than a domestic oven, so a pizza bakes on a stone or brick floor in one to three minutes with a puffed, blistered rim and a crisp base. The traditional form is a wood-fired brick dome; portable outdoor ovens burning wood pellets or gas, and small electric countertop ovens with a stone floor, now bring the same temperatures to a garden or kitchen. Heat comes from the floor below and the dome radiating from above at once.
A Neapolitan pizza wants the full heat; New York and Roman styles bake longer at 300 to 350 C. The same oven roasts vegetables, sears steak and bakes flatbreads and bread. A pizza stone in a home oven is the modest alternative, limited by the oven's maximum temperature.