Biscotto vs. Fireclay
The comparison: Biscotto vs. fireclay
The question of the difference between the original Biscotto Sorrento, as installed in high quality gastronomic pizza ovens such as those of Izzo, IzzoNapoletano and the Valoriani Verace, and a fireclay stone comes up again and again. Here are the differences in detail:
The Biscotto Sorrento is a special clay mixture handmade in the Sorrento area, Italy. The Biscotto is very high quality and expensive and therefore it is used in absolutely first class gastro pizza ovens. It is characterized by the fact that it has inclusions of various minerals and, above all, air inclusions. These ensure that the stone is minimally uneven and the pizza never lies flat on the biscotto. At high temperatures, such as those found in gastronomic and Neapolitan ovens, this is a great advantage, because the air pockets, i.e. the unevenness on the surface of the stone, provide a kind of air cushion so that the temperature is distributed under the pizza dough and the pizza does not burn, but is perfectly browned.
When it comes to fireclay bricks, you have to distinguish between the standard fireclay brick, which you can buy everywhere in the wholesale trade, and the kind that is used in most medium-priced pizza ovens from well-known manufacturers. This has a decent quality, but does not keep the heat permanently. The stone is too thin and the surface too smooth. After a few pizzas, the temperature drops.
And then there's Valoriani Forni's fireclay brick, which is handmade in Regello, Italy, using a proprietary recipe. This firebrick comes very close to the characteristics of the biscotto. The handwork ensures the quality, the composition of also different minerals provides an uneven surface with also air pockets. The air cushion effect unfolds the fireclay stone for example in the Valoriani Baby. The handmade fireclay stone from Valoriani even has an advantage: it is heavier and stronger than the Biscotto and therefore even more stable. Thanks to this strength, it reaches the high temperatures of up to 480 degrees and can keep them for hours just like the Biscotto. And both stones have one very decisive advantage in common, the Biscotto and the fireclay stone from Valoriani: they are both made in Italy from the best materials and are therefore absolutely free of harmful substances and food-safe.
