When to Cook with the Door On vs Door Off

One of the most common questions people have when using a wood-fired pizza oven is when to have the door in place and when to have it off. The answer isn’t always straightforward, especially if you’re new to the world of wood-fired cooking. It all depends on what it is you’re cooking, how hot the oven is, and whether you’re working with a live flame or embers and retained heat. Getting your head around when to make use of the oven door can make all the difference in terms of temperature control and having the ability to widen the breadth of dishes you’re able to utilise your oven for.

Cooking with the Door Off

Let’s start easy and obvious. When cooking with a live flame, the door should be left off. This is to allow for proper airflow so the flames are drawn properly across the dome of the oven. It also ensures a clean burn and allows your Igneus Oven to reach the intense temperatures it’s designed for. 

This setup is perfect for food that requires high-temperature cooking, such as pizza, flatbreads, and quickly roasting meat, fish and vegetables. Wood-fired ovens in particular aredesigned to ‘breathe’. Oxygen is pulled in from the front opening of the oven, which feeds the fire and then hot gases and smoke exit through the flue.

For pizza cooking in particular, having the door off the oven is essential not only to maintain the high temperatures needed, but also to have full visual control over the pizza as it cooks, so you can rotate, lift and take the pizza out of the oven as soon as it’s cooked to perfection.

Cooking with the Door On

The beautiful thing about a pizza oven, as we always say, is that they open the door (pun intended) to so many more dishes than just pizza. Once the fire has burned down and you’re cooking with retained heat rather than a live flame, the oven door becomes an important tool.

The reason why pizza ovens are so effective at cooking food long after the flames have died down is owing to the heat absorbed by the walls and floor, which is gradually released over time. Putting the door in place, it helps trap that precious heat inside the oven and slows down the temperature loss. This creates a more stable and predictable cooking environment, which is essential for bread baking, slow roasting, and baking dishes such as casseroles, vegetables, or desserts.

Door Management

It’s often never as simple as ‘this dish requires the door on’ and ‘this dish requires the door off’. Many wood-fired cooking sessions involve having the door open and closed at different stages. For example, roasts that require a longer cooking time might need a small amount of oxygen to keep the fire alive throughout the cook. In this scenario, you might need to partially close the door to regulate airflow while still allowing a small amount of oxygen into the oven.

External factors such as weather conditions and outside temperature also play a part. In windy conditions, for example, you might want to place the door on to prevent too much air getting to the fire between cooks. As with anything, over time you’ll develop an instinct for how your oven responds and when the door helps or hinders.

Final Thoughts

Learning to manage the oven door is all part of mastering your Igneus Wood Fired Oven. All the ovens in the Igneus range come complete with a door, from the Minimo through to the Pro Grade Ovens, so you’re never restricted on the variety of dishes you can cook. 

Gaining an understanding of airflow and how your individual oven retains heat comes with practice and experimenting with cooking different dishes. The best rule of thumb we can give you is: if you’re cooking with a live flame, keep the door off; if you’re cooking with retained heat, use the door to help retain temperature.

If you’d like to learn more about the range of Igneus Pizza Ovens or have any questions you need answering, our friendly team is here to help. Call us on 01423 575885 or explore our full range of ovens and pizza oven accessories here.