How to light a pizza oven – Ember Pizza Oven

In this week’s blog, we have been helped by BBQ connoisseur Jack, from Jack’s Meat Shack with a step-by-step video. Together we are going to help you with some of the best tips regarding how to light a pizza oven and maintain the temperature.

What fuel to use in the Ember Pizza Oven?

We are going to start with fuel, a step that is often overlooked when learning how to light a pizza oven but one that can make all the difference for not only maintaining heat but also adding fantastic flavour to your food.

We recommend using our sustainably sourced Kiln Dried Oak Wood Pieces which are easy to light and help you achieve a long slow burn which can be perfect for roasting and baking within the oven.

Another option to use our Pure Wood Pellets which help spike the temperature and can be helpful when cooking pizzas. The wood pellets come in a variety of natural flavours from chestnut to cherry to help add that all-important flavour.

How to light your Ember Wood Fired Pizza Oven

Let’s get you started with those essential tips on how to light your pizza oven. This process should take around 15 minutes before the ceramic plate inside your pizza oven is hot and you are ready to cook.

Step One

Position your Ember Pizza Oven with the back of the oven into the wind. This will assist airflow into the oven helping to increase temperatures. You can also use your pizza peel to fan air into the back of the firebox.

Step Two

Remove the firebox at the back of your Ember Oven and add a small amount of Kiln Dried Oak Wood Pieces to the box along with one of our Wood Wool Firelighters and light. Once the fire has become established, take the firebox, and place it back into the rear of the oven. (See below image).

To maintain the temperature in your pizza oven it’s important to keep topping up your firebox with a small amount of wood pieces. This process will help you reach your desired temperature. You can do this by placing pieces of wood down the hopper towards the rear.

Alternatively, you can also light your pizza oven with a small handful of our Pure Wood Pellets. These can also be used alongside your wood pieces to help spike your temperature if it has dropped slightly in between cooking.

Important Tips 

• Keep your fuel and ceramic plate dry, if they take on any added moisture you may struggle to reach your desired temperature.
• Do not overfill the firebox, this can cause your fire to smother. Instead, top up your oven with small amounts of fuel.
• Keep the door on the oven when heating up to temperature.
• Position the Ember so the back is facing into the wind, this will help ignite the fire and increase the temperature quicker.
• If you’re cooking pizza with our Kiln Dried Wood your temperature may drop in between cooking. Try adding a handful of wood pellets to help spike the temperature. This will help to get the temperature back up to the require high temperature to cook your pizza.

Click here to check out our full range of Fuel For Food.