Corrections: What the Research Overturned

A Margherita at Pizzeria da Michele in Naples. The story that it was invented for a queen in 1889 does not hold up; its ingredients were on pizza decades earlier.

Pizza has more confident stories than most foods, and pizza ovens have more marketing. This page collects what the research for this section found: claims that are false, claims true only in a narrower form, and claims that could not be confirmed — none of which is stated as fact anywhere in the section.

False

The claim	What the record shows	Where
The Margherita was invented in 1889 for Queen Margherita.	Basil and sliced mozzarella were on Neapolitan pizza by the 1850s–60s (Rocco). The royal letter is disputed in peer-reviewed work (Nowak, 2014), and even the EU regulation says the pizza dates from 1796–1810 and was only presented to the queen.	History
Lombardi’s opened America’s first pizzeria in 1905.	A pizzeria operated at 53 Spring Street from about 1898 under other owners; Lombardi owned it from 1908.	History
America’s first pizzerias were wood-fired.	They burned coal — Lombardi’s and Pepe’s both still do.	History
Real Neapolitan pizza must come from a wood-fired oven.	True under the EU regulation; no longer true under the AVPN’s trade mark, which now certifies gas and electric ovens.	The rules
The EU protects the name “pizza napoletana.”	It was registered “without reservation of the name.” Only the TSG mention and logo are protected.	The rules
Neapolitan pizza dates from 1715–1725 (the EU regulation’s own history).	Its source, Vincenzo Corrado, was born in 1736.	The rules
The floor cooks the bottom and hot air cooks the top.	In a measured Naples oven, about 73% of the heat reached the food as radiation and only 12% by conduction from the floor.	How it cooks
A baking steel is “more radiant” than a stone.	Oxidised steel’s emissivity (~0.79) is lower than rough brick’s (~0.93); steel’s advantage is conduction.	How it cooks
An oven’s built-in thermometer tells you when to launch.	Built-in gauges — including the Karu 2 Pro’s digital hub — read the air, not the stone. On wood, ATK measured the Karu 2 Pro’s air at 1,069 °F with the stone at 760 °F.	The Karu 2 Pro
”Kiln-dried” firewood can go anywhere.	From 1 January 2027, Michigan admits only certified heat-treated firewood from out of state; MDARD says kiln-dried is not automatically exempt.	Wood and fire
Hardware-store kindling is good pizza-oven fuel.	Most is softwood, too resinous for these ovens (Wirecutter).	Wood and fire

True, but narrower

• “The oldest pizza on record is from Gaeta, 997.” True — and it is rent owed on a mill; the document does not say what a pizza was. (History)
• “485 °C is the Neapolitan oven temperature.” It is the floor in the EU regulation and the dome in the AVPN’s — the two rulebooks put it in different places. (The rules)
• “Hotter is better.” Only up to a point: above about 900 °F the bottom burns before the top cooks, and sugar and oil in the dough burn at Neapolitan heat. (The dough)
• “A Neapolitan pizza must never be rolled.” Modern rules forbid the rolling pin; the 1850s description of the pizzeria says dough was stretched “with a rolling pin or … the palms of the hands.” (History)
• “Heats up in 15 minutes.” Test kitchens routinely took two to three times the advertised heat-up, especially in wind and cold. (Choosing an oven)
• “Leave it outside under the cover.” Manufacturers say so; testers found rust and mould under covers and recommend bringing ovens indoors. (Using the oven)
• “The emerald ash borer quarantine limits firewood.” The state and federal ash borer quarantines ended in 2018 and 2021 — but a broader firewood rule starts in 2027, and moving firewood is still discouraged. (Wood and fire)

Contested

• How to cure a masonry oven. Three manufacturers give three schedules — five stepped days up to 500 °F (Forno Bravo), two to three days never above 212 °F (Chicago Brick Oven), and two small one-hour fires (Earthstone). Follow the maker’s. (Choosing an oven)

• Wood flavour. Serious Eats says wood “imparts a specific flavor”; America’s Test Kitchen says pizza cooks too fast to pick any up; the AVPN wants no smoke flavour at all. No blind test was found. (Wood and fire)

Looked for, not confirmed

• The Il Bersagliere report of 1880 of a royal pizza by Giovanni Brandi, nine years before the Margherita story — reported secondhand only.
• Marinara “created in 1734” and Margherita “1796–1810” — both uncited in the EU regulation.
• Why the first American pizzerias used coal.
• The Karu 2 Pro’s correct fuel-tray limit — its manual says 1 kg in English and 1.3 kg in every other language.
• How many pizzas one load of wood makes in a Karu 2 Pro — no test found.
• Whether a cooking fire in a pizza oven needs a Michigan burn permit — ask the local fire department.

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In this dive: The history · What makes it Neapolitan · How the oven cooks · Choosing an oven · The Ooni Karu 2 Pro · Wood and fire · Using the oven · Safety and the law · The dough · Pizza styles · Beyond pizza · Corrections