Historically, many European communities relied on large, communal wood-fired ovens as their source for daily cooking needs. The entire village would share the ovens on a rotating schedule often starting the day with breads before moving on to roasted meats and vegetables.

During World War II many of these large, communal ovens in Italian villages were destroyed. Soon thereafter, the Italian government commissioned Sylvio Valoriani, the founder and President of Refrattari Reggello, to design an oven to meet the country’s urgent need for replacement ovens. As a specialist in refractory clay, Signor Valoriani’s objective was to design a smaller, prefabricated oven allowing for quick assembly and faster heating times.

Signor Valoriani’s solution was to produce family size wood-burning ovens from cotto refractario (refractory clay) quarried from the hills of Tuscany. These newly designed ovens were far more fuel efficient and had great heat retention allowing individual families to afford their own ovens. Soon the “forno a legna” (wood-burning oven) became the Heart and Soul of Italian Family Life. This new appliance brought significant social changes and newly found independence for families regarding cooking techniques, prized family recipes and has helped foster the regional specialties that are celebrated today.

Valoriani patented his unique ovens in 1945 and has been recognized as the Original Italian Wood-Burning Oven ever since. Today Valoriani ovens are still made in Refrattari Reggello, high in the hills of Tuscany’s beautiful countryside. The company is now managed by Sylvio’s son Massimo Valoriani, and distributed exclusively by Mugnaini Imports throughout North America.

The original patent for the Valoriani ovens expired in the mid 1990’s. By that time, the Valoriani - Mugnaini collaboration was strong and had revitalized this historical oven and its once forgotten style of cooking. With renewed popularity the market place was flooded with “copy cat” ovens, many made from substandard materials hidden behind a facade which resembles a Valoriani. One need only look to the world wide web to find such practice. While imitation is often considered the finest form of flattery, we know that there can be only one original. We have been setting the highest standard for over sixty years.