Can You Bake Bread in a Pizza Oven? Complete Guide

Yes, you can bake bread in a pizza oven. In fact, it is one of the most natural uses for an appliance that reaches extremely high temperatures and distributes heat evenly thanks to its refractory stone. What matters is knowing how to do it: which temperatures to use, how to manage proofing times and steam in an oven designed for food that normally requires higher cooking temperatures. Here's everything you need to know.

"An oven capable of baking a Neapolitan pizza in 60 seconds has an exceptional thermal reserve: learning how to 'tame' it for bread is simply a matter of managing the heating elements." – Macte Ovens Development Team.

Why a pizza oven is also suitable for baking bread

A pizza oven works with two types of heat. The direct heat from the refractory stone, which heats the base of the dough and creates a crisp crust, and the indirect heat from the oven ceiling, which surrounds the bread and cooks it evenly.

This is exactly the principle needed for bread: a solid baking surface and an evenly cooked interior, without burning the outside before the heat reaches the centre.

The difference compared with pizza is the amount of heat and the cooking time. Bread needs lower temperatures but longer cooking times, because it is more substantial and heat takes longer to reach the centre of the dough. An oven that reaches 500°C for pizza has plenty of room to drop to the right temperature for bread while still maintaining the consistency that a domestic oven often cannot guarantee.

With Macte Ovens pizza ovens, this transition is made easier by the dual temperature control between the oven ceiling and baking deck, allowing you to adjust the heat above and below the dough independently.

In addition, the triple-glazed door provides better temperature retention, combined with high-quality materials that make it possible to assemble an oven that is 100% Made in Italy.

Bread vs. pizza in the oven: the cooking differences you need to know

Pizza and bread are made from relatively similar doughs, but the baking process is very different. Understanding these differences is the first step to avoiding a loaf that is burnt on the outside and raw inside.

The main differences concern four aspects:

• Temperature. Pizza is baked at very high temperatures, often reaching 450°C. Bread is baked at lower temperatures, generally between 220°C and 250°C.
• Time. A Neapolitan pizza takes 60-90 seconds to bake. A loaf of bread can require up to 60 minutes for larger sizes.
• Strength. Bread dough requires flour with a high protein content. In Italy, this is commonly expressed using the W index, with W300 or W350 flours typically used for bread. The dough must also be kneaded sufficiently to develop a gluten network capable of maintaining its structure during both fermentation and baking, allowing the loaf to rise vertically.
• Shape. Pizza is rolled out to a very low thickness. Bread develops vertically, so the heat needs to penetrate much deeper into the dough.

Conventional or fan-assisted oven at home: which setting should you use for bread?

For bread, the conventional setting is almost always the right choice. Heat from the upper and lower heating elements is gentler and helps the dough retain its internal moisture, encouraging good crumb development. A fan-assisted oven, by circulating hot air, dries the surface too quickly: you may find that the crust has already hardened after just 5 minutes, while the bread is still expanding inside and creating unattractive cracks on the surface. This is also why steam is commonly used during the bread-baking process.

How to adjust your pizza oven for baking bread

The basic principle is to bake at gradually decreasing temperatures. You start at a relatively high temperature to provide the initial boost to the dough, without allowing the crust to form too early. You then reduce the temperature to cook the centre of the dough without burning the outside, and finally lower it again to properly dry the crust and make it crisp.

With a pizza oven, this process is easier than with a traditional wood-fired oven because the temperature can be set and maintained rather than depending on the residual heat from the embers.

How to manage steam in an outdoor pizza oven

In domestic ovens, it is common to place a small pan of water on the bottom to create steam. In an outdoor pizza oven, which often does not have an airtight door, this method is less effective because the steam escapes quickly.

A more effective alternative is to spray water directly onto the inside walls of the oven just before placing the bread inside. The effect lasts for less time, but it is more practical for ovens with non-airtight openings. Be careful never to use cold water: thermal shock could cause the refractory stone to crack or even damage the oven lamp.

Cooking time and temperature table

Can I bake bread immediately after pizza?

If you have just finished baking pizzas and want to switch to bread, don't put the bread in immediately. A pizza oven is still far too hot just after use. Wait until it reaches around 250°C, checking the temperature with a suitable oven thermometer. With an electric oven, this often means switching off the heating elements or lowering the thermostat and waiting a few minutes while monitoring the temperature, rather than relying solely on natural cooling as you would with a wood-fired oven.

The Nettuno Advanced, for example, allows you to continuously monitor both the ceiling and deck temperatures thanks to its digital temperature control.

During our tests with the Nettuno Advanced, we found that even when keeping the deck temperature lower and using a good refractory stone, the bread baked perfectly without burning the bottom. This also avoids the fairly common problem of an overheated baking stone.

Mistakes to avoid when baking bread in a pizza oven

Some mistakes occur more frequently than others and can ruin a loaf that, on paper, had everything it needed to turn out well.

• Using the same temperature as pizza throughout the entire bake. The bread will burn on the outside before it cooks through. Within a few minutes, you may see black smoke coming out of the oven.
• Baking loaves that are too large for the oven chamber. A loaf that is too close to the ceiling will cook unevenly and may burn on the surface.
• Ignoring steam management. The crust forms too early and prevents the dough from expanding. The difference between bread baked in a steamy chamber and bread baked without steam is enormous, both in shape and texture.

Based on our experience, we recommend baking bread with steam for at least 50% of the total cooking time. This delays starch gelatinization and crust formation, allowing what is technically known as oven spring – the rapid expansion and rise of the dough during baking.

Only afterwards should you open the oven door, release all the steam and continue baking in a drier environment.

Bread or pizza: how to choose the right oven for both

We've created a dedicated page about how to choose the right pizza oven, where you can compare the features of the different models. If bread is already your main use, however, it's worth taking a look directly at the ovens specifically designed for bread, with a taller baking chamber designed specifically for this purpose, such as the Nettuno Advanced.