How to light your Ooni Karu 16 or Karu 2 Pro using charcoal and wood

If you've never used wood to light your Ooni Karu 16 or Ooni Karu 2 Pro before, it can seem quite daunting.

I've got some good news for you... there's a failsafe method for lighting your Ooni with charcoal and wood, that's not only easy, it's hands-off and requires far less management than wood alone.

Let me show you how!

If you want to learn how to light your Ooni Karu 16 or Ooni Karu 2 Pro using charcoal and wood, we recommend watching the whole video - it is only three minutes long!

• High quality lumpwood charcoal - British charcoal is PERFECT for an Ooni
• Hardwood beech splits cut to size for the oven
• Hardwood kindling (optional)
• Natural firelighters
• Extra long matches
• Handheld digital infrared thermometer

You should use lumpwood charcoal to get your Ooni Karu 16/Ooni Karu 2 Pro close to temperature and then beech hardwood splits to hit and maintain maximum temperature while you cook pizza.

You should only ever use hardwood in any pizza oven, including the Ooni Karu 16 and Ooni Karu 2 Pro.

Why hardwood? You want to get the oven above 400°c to cook Neapolitan pizza so it's important to use hardwood as softwood won't burn as hot as hardwood, and will burn through more quickly, making it difficult to maintain a high temperature. Softwood is also much smokier and sootier than hardwood, which is not pleasant to cook with and can leave soot all over your pizza!

Get lumpwood charcoal and our Ooni Karu 16 beech logs, along with natural firelighters in our Ooni Karu 16 Fuel Kit.

Oonis are designed around airflow, so first set up your Ooni Karu 16 or Ooni Karu 2 Pro to maximise the airflow going through the fuel tray, through the oven and out through the chimney. 

Take the chimney cap off, close the door, open the chimney vent and top vent, and always keep the lid on the fuel tray (when not adding fuel, obviously).

To start your fire, take the lid off the fuel tray and fill the tray with lumpwood charcoal

Place three natural firelighters amongst the charcoal and get them lit using extra-long matches, and put the lid back on the fuel tray.

This is where charcoal comes into its own! Sit back for about 15 minutes - a much more relaxed experience than just using wood.

Remove the lid from the fuel tray to check on the lumpwood, which should be burning super hot by now! Add extra lumpwood to keep the fuel tray full, then put the lid back on and leave the charcoal to burn for another 15 minutes.

We're now 30 minutes in, and it's time to check the temperature of the stone! With good quality lumpwood charcoal, you should find the stone is at 350-360ºC, which is about the upper limit of what you can achieve with charcoal.

(If you aren't reaching this temperature with lumpwood, buy some better charcoal. Ours is very good!)

It's time to add some wood! Wood fire will take the stone and air temperature above the magic 400ºC mark, which we need for Neapolitan pizza. Add a single 20cm split in the middle of the firebox, which ensures a clean burn and minimises smoke.

8-10 minutes after you added your first split your stone should be over 400ºC; at this stage, add another split to keep the temperature at or above this level.

Whilst you can cook Neapolitan pizza as soon as the stone hits 400°c, we recommend holding the temperature above 400ºC for at least 20 minutes, to make sure the pizza oven is completely saturated with heat - especially if you're cooking a few pizzas.

After another 8-10 minutes, you're ready to bake pizza! Add another split, which will give you enough time to prepare, launch & bake a couple of pizzas if you move quickly.

Set a timer on your phone tand check if you need to add another split every 8-10 minutes. Beech creates lovely embers so you probably won't need to add any more charcoal while cooking, but if you want a break from pizza making, fill the fuel tray up with lumpwood and it'll stay nice and hot for at least 20 minutes.

We love to see what you cook, so make sure you tag @planetfriendlyfirewood when you post your pizza pics!

We'd love it if you shared it with your fellow home pizzaiolos!