How to Prep and Light A Wood Fired Oven

How to Light a Brick Oven or Wood Fired Oven

A brick oven is such a fun tool to have. It give pizzas and breads a delicious flavor, a perfect doneness to the crust, and is just so much fun to use. However, there is an art to wood fired, brick oven cooking, and one of the first things you have to know is how to light your wood fired oven properly so you get enough heat. So let’s cover everything you need to know about which wood to use, how long to pre-heat before cooking, and more.

An outdoor pizza oven, or brick or wood fired oven, is the perfect addition to any backyard, great for making memories, and lots of fun to play with and use. I got mine from Round Grove, and you can find all the details about that here.

However, once you have a wood fired oven, you have to know how to use it. I have created a series of posts to show you how to:

• How to pick the right oven
• Choose the right wood
• How to light a brick oven
• How to clean the oven after use
• Which tools are best
• And how to cook some really fun recipes in it.

Today’s post will show you how to light the fire in your wood fired oven for the best results. If not knowing how to properly use a wood fired oven is keeping you from getting one, then this is the guide for you. Pizza ovens are really easy to use once you know what you are doing, and are worth the effort and investment because they make such good food. Plus, what a great outdoor space, am I right?

So let’s get into it. A guide for how to properly light a wood fired oven.

The key to a great fire in a wood fired oven is to build it up slowly, gain heat gradually and safely, and put the heat where you want it in the oven.

Steps:

Here is our step-by-step guide to lighting a pizza oven…

1. Open the door of your brick oven and the vents. In order to get a fire burning, you need oxygen, so both need to be kept open throughout the fire lighting process.
2. Place your andiron at the back of the oven. If you plan to use an andiron for your fire during the cooking process (recommended), you will want to place it in the oven before lighting your fire. For pizzas, you will want it in the back and side. Place according to what you plan to cook, and where you want your heat to be. I usually stick it on the side/back. 
3. Place kindling in the centre of the oven. I purchase kindling from my wood supplier, but you can make your own, use newspaper, pinecones, etc.
4. Place Firelighter or Fire Starter in the kindling. This helps a lot. it is not necessary, but I have found it speeds the lighting process up, and helps the bigger logs catch fire. Be sure to use one that is food safe. Avoid lighter fluid, as this is not food safe.
5. Use 10 pieces of wood to start. You want to assemble it like a log cabin with the fire starter and kindling in the center

• • Place two pieces, with kindling between. 
  • Place two more across, the opposite direction as the first two, stacking them on top, with kindling between. 
  • Three more pieces, leave room for air flow
  • Three more pieces on top of that. 
  • Then it is ready to light. 

6. When you are ready to light: Select the way you want to light your fire. 

• Matches
• Lighter
• Or Blow Torch: best if you aren’t using newspaper or fire starter

Once Lit, Then What?

Lighting the fire is the first step, then you need to keep the fire going, by adding more logs, and give it attention in order to heat your oven and be ready to cook. 

1. Wait for the dome to turn black. Once you light the fire, you close the door, and leave the vents open. Give the fire a chance to burn. You will notice the dome starting to turn black. This is because of the smoke being produced by the fire. You will also notice the firewood gradually turning white. These are both good things. And don’t worry, the black WILL go away.
2. Continue to add more logs. Once the dome is black, you want to keep growing the fire so you can reach a higher heat. You want the heat across the full floor of the pizza oven in order to distribute the heat out. So, make sure you are adding logs on both sides of the fire. It will be very hot, so be sure to use the proper tools when stoking the flames, so you do not get burned and for safety sake, have an extinguisher on-hand.
3. Wait for the temperature to increase. As it gets hotter, you will notice the inside of the dome turns from black to white. If necessary, use a poker to move the fire to ensure all the wood is burning and the entire oven floor is covered. At this point, it should be around 650+°F. Use a laser thermometer to check this, as you need the temp this hot to burn off the soot. Move the fuel around the oven if needed to burn all the black off the dome.
4. Close the oven’s smoke control vents some. Once the oven is up to temperature, you want to close the vents in order to keep the heat in and allow you to prep the cooking area.
5. Prep the cooking area. Your goal is to now move the fire. Once the flames have died down and reduced to embers, move those embers to the sides and back of the oven to make space for cooking your food. If you are cooking pizza, move the embers to the back and side of the oven so you can place the pizza at the front, but see when the heat has done its job, and rotate the pizza.
6. Place your food inside. The oven should now be ready to cook your food! The back of oven will be around 800-900 degrees, and the front will be between 400-500 degrees. A good wood fired oven, like Round Grove, should stay hot for at least 2 hours – perfect for slow cooking as well as pizzas. If you plan to cook for a while, or will be opening and closing the oven a lot (like with pizzas), use the andiron and put another log on to keep burning, and help keep temperature steady. 

Heating The Dome and Reaching Cooking Temperatures

You really do not want to rush the process of trying to heat your oven, it is not going to cook as well if you don’t heat slowly, gradually, and evenly. You want to make sure the dome heats properly, as well as the floor.

The black soot will build up, you have to burn that off before you start cooking. As mentioned, you do this by getting your oven up to 650-700 degrees. A white spot will start to form at the top of the dome, where the soot turns clear, and it will expand outward. This “whitening” is the sign that the dome is reaching the desired cooking temperature. You may need to move your fuel around to get the whole top cleaned off. Or add more fuel. Once the black soot is gone you are ready to cook. 

Fire Placement and Convection Heating

Wood fired or brick ovens cook using two different types of heat: convection and radiant.

How the heat works:

Conduction heat- heat from the floor

Radiant heat- heat from fire on side, flame roll on top, and heat stored in the dome.

Understanding this will not only help you with the best cooked foods, but help you understand why lighting your oven properly, and generating the heat the way I have recommended is so important. The two types of heat are needed to cook all the sides of your food.

It will also help you understand where to place your fire once your oven is heated:

If you will be baking you should push the fire to the side of the oven, not to the back.

There are two reasons for this. First, so you can see the side of the food, and be ready to turn it when it gets brown enough, which is hard to do when the fire is on the back, as you won’t be able to see it.

Second, your oven will cook better. Wood fired ovens work by breathing in cold air through the lower part of the front of the oven (where the vents are),  heating it, and circulating it around the oven dome, and then exhausting it out the top of the opening. It is like a convection oven, where the air circulated. By putting the fire in the back, you are giving the cold air a longer path before it hits the heat source, which is both cooler, and less likely to create a nice circular convection pattern. A side flame heats it faster, and circulates it better. So trust me on this one, a side flame is best for baking, especially pizzas!

What is the best wood for a wood fired pizza oven?

You basically need three things: firelights, kindling, and hardwood logs.

Firelighters

Avoid firelights that contain chemicals that may get into the wood fired pizza oven floor and affect the flavor of your food, and be sure to never use lighter fluid to start or refresh a fire. Instead look for food safe options, or use newspaper, pinecones, or smaller kindling, dried herbs, etc.

Hardwood kindling

Dried kindling wood is the ideal wood to fire up the oven. Make sure it’s extremely dry and the same quality as your hardwood logs. I ordered mine from the same place I get my hardwood logs. And it is great!

Hardwood logs

I wrote a whole post on what wood to use in a wood fired oven. The short answer is hardwood such as oak, ash, beech, cherry, apple, pear, hawthorn, olive or other kiln dried hardwood with a moisture content of less than 20%. Hardwood is essential because it helps you get the right temp, and has less ash, less fumes, less smoke.

How long does it take to heat up a wood fired pizza oven?

Start 1 ½-2 hours before you want to cook so the heat can penetrate the floor and dome.

Lighting a Pizza Oven – FAQs

• How long does it take to heat up a brick oven?

It usually takes up to 1 hour to fully heat up a wood fired pizza oven. However, this does depend on the size and design of your pizza oven, the wood used and the weather outside. Smaller ovens can be heated up in 40 minutes, larger ovens could take as long as 2 hours or even more to heat up to the right temperature.

• What is the best wood for a wood fired pizza oven?

The best wood to use in a wood fired pizza oven is a hardwood that produces high heat and low smoke. Such as ash, birch and oak that is fully dry and well seasoned.

• Are brick ovens safe?

Yes, however, you want to realize they are heating to a high temperature, so use proper tools, gloves, etc. when using so as not to burn yourself. And don’t let kids use wood fired ovens unsupervised.

• How do you cool down a brick oven?

Time. That is the best way. Shut the door. Close the vent, and give it overnight to cool completely before you attempt to remove ash/clean the oven.

• How long does it take a pizza oven to cool down?

This really depends on how hot it got, how good the fire bricks are, external temperatures etc. But I always plan to simply let it cool overnight.

• How long does an oven stay warm after turning it off?

Several hours, and you don’t exactly turn it off. There is no switch, the fire simply burns out and eventually the oven cools.

• Can you use firelighters in a pizza oven?

Yes, you can use firelighters in a pizza oven, but it’s best to choose a natural fire lighter that is without chemicals in it that could affect the taste or quality of your food. Natural firelighters are usually made from compressed wood shavings. Never use gasoline, kerosene, lighter fluid or any other highly flammable substance to light a pizza oven.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Wood Fired Cooking series on Eazy Peazy Mealz.