Pizza Oven Tips

We understand that using a pizza oven for the first time can be daunting. Luckily for you, we have compiled a list of pizza oven tips to help you on your way to becoming a true Pizzaiolo!

No matter the oven you use, you will always need to consider the following 5 tips:

1. Use kiln dried hardwood
2. Don’t over fuel
3. Prepare your pizza dough in advance
4. Don’t add too many pizza toppings
5. Spin the pizza every 30-40 seconds

Use Kiln Dried Hardwood

All wood fired pizza ovens are only as good as the fuel that you burn. All of our Igneus ovens use Kiln Dried Hardwood because it is produces very little smoke, consistent heat and burns extremely hot. If you use a dense or wet wood, it will take the oven longer to get up to heat and produce lots of smoke. Kiln dried is best as it catches quickly and holds a consistent temperature. We recommend using kiln dried Silver Birch and have a wood bundle that can be delivered to you which consists of Kindling to build the heat, natural firelighters and a bag of kiln dried wood.

Don’t over fuel

It is very tempting when cooking with wood to add lots of logs when the fire isn’t getting hot. Patience is key! When first lighting your fire, build a tower of kindling. Depending on the size of the oven you will need to burn kindling for 15 minutes. Then you add larger kiln dried hardwood logs. Most of our Igneus ovens will need a log adding to the fire every 20-30 minutes to retain heat. Have a look at our helpful video to guide you on the lighting process.

Prepare your pizza dough in advance

When making pizza dough so many people do not give it time to rise. It is best to make the dough the day before you will be using it, this give you plenty of time to rise and then knock it back before use. You can use our fantastic dough recipes or order our Igneus Sourdough balls to your home (we won’t tell anyone!)

Don’t add too many pizza toppings

‘GIVE ME ALL OF THE TOPPINGS’! This is a common sentence uttered around a pizza oven. However, simplicity is always best therefore we recommend a maximum of 3-4 toppings per pizza, a small ladle of passata, tear off a several chunks of mozzarella, a few discs of chorizo and a small handful of red onion is more than adequate. Any more than this, it can be difficult to get your pizza off of the peel in to the oven and the pizza will struggle to cook evenly. Pizza cooks so quickly in a wood fired oven, why not have two simple pizzas rather than one overloaded one!

Spin the pizza every 30-40 seconds

Our final tip is to always watch your pizza as it is cooking. Wood fired ovens cook very quickly so you will need to turn the pizza often to avoid one edge burning. We recommend using a pizza spinner for this as maneuvering your pizza is much easier with the spinners smaller head.

Hopefully this list of pizza oven tips is helpful and lets you enjoy your oven. Get in touch with our expert team if you need any more advice.