How to cook pizza in a wood fired oven

Create the best wood fired pizza you’ve tasted.

There is nothing better than the taste of a freshly baked pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven. Below, we take you through some simple steps to creating the best wood fired pizza you’ve tasted.

In order to cook the perfect wood fired pizza, the oven temperature needs to be at its highest temperature which is between 400 to 450°C. This way your pizza is cooked from the bottom up by the oven floor and from the top down by the oven’s internal temperature, making your dough go crispy whilst your toppings get nicely charred.

Step 1. Light up your wood-fired oven.

Follow the instructions on how to light a fuego woodfired oven and get your oven up to a high temperature of around 450°C. Allow the heat to even out and build up a large bed of glowing embers, maintaining a rolling flame at a temperature above 400°C.

You will need to add smaller pieces of wood every 10 to 20 minutes to keep the roaring flame going.

The floor should read about 400°C on your handheld thermometer. There shouldn’t be any visible black carbon build-up on the dome and the flames should reach the middle of the oven. Don’t allow your oven to regulate down the temperature.

2. Prepare your pizza.

Whilst your wood-fired oven is getting hot, you can prepare your pizza with your choice of toppings. Make sure your pizza base has no breaks or wholes for any liquid or moisture to escape.

3. Cooking your pizza.

Using your metal peel or spade, move the embers to one side of the oven and maintain large naked flames which will arch over the dome of the oven. Please take care of the high temperatures.

Using a pizza peel, place your pizza on the oven floor, right next to the fire, making sure you rotate it regularly to encourage even cooking. It should only take between 90 seconds to 2 minutes per pizza depending on thickness.

Always leave the door open when baking pizza.

4. Serving your pizza.

Use your peel to slide your pizza out from the oven and onto your serving platter. Serve with your choice of garnishes, salads and side dishes.

• View Pizza Recipes

Featured Pizza Recipes.