If you’ve fired up your pizza oven and ended up with a crust that’s overcooked on top and pale underneath, or if your oven struggles to hold heat between pizzas, the issue might not be the oven or your dough. It could be the wood.
Choosing the right firewood makes a real difference to how your oven performs. That’s true whether you’re using a refractory oven like the Jalando or the Fiamo. The best wood for pizza ovens is dry, dense hardwood. Redgum is one of the most reliable options.
Not all wood burns the same. In a pizza oven, you want wood that burns hot, creates even heat across the oven floor, and leaves behind a stable bed of coals. If the fire is constantly flaring or cooling down too quickly, it’s much harder to get consistent results.
The right wood should:
On the other hand, poor-quality wood can result in fluctuating heat, excess smoke and undercooked bases. Softwoods like pine burn too fast and can produce sticky smoke that affects both the oven and the flavour of the pizza. Treated timber should never be used in any cooking fire.
There’s plenty of wood sold as firewood, but not all of it is ideal for pizza ovens. When choosing wood for cooking, look for:
Hardwoods perform better than softwoods because they burn slower and hotter. That makes them ideal for the high, sustained heat you need in a wood-fired oven.
Redgum is a common choice for a reason. It’s dense, burns hot, and holds temperature well once the oven is up to heat. It’s also widely available and usually offered already split and seasoned.
When used in refractory oven, redgum helps build up the thermal mass needed for fast cooking. Once your oven is preheated and the fire has settled into a glowing coal base, redgum will keep that heat stable across multiple pizzas without constant refuelling.
It also burns with minimal smoke, assuming the wood is properly seasoned, and doesn’t leave behind excessive ash or residue.
If you’re looking for something cleaner or more predictable than firewood, Il Faggetto briquettes are a smart option. These compressed hardwood blocks are made from 100 percent Italian beechwood and are designed specifically for cooking.
They burn hot and evenly, with very low smoke and minimal ash. Because they’re uniform in size and shape, they’re easy to stack and light. That means you get consistent results with every cook, without needing to sort through split logs or deal with variable moisture content.
Il Faggetto is ideal if you want a no-fuss fuel that still delivers excellent performance. You can find it stocked here:
Il Faggetto Briquettes – Jalando Pizza Ovens
The next time your oven is lit and your dough is ready, you’ll know what to load into the firebox to get that perfect base. Good pizza starts with good fire, and good fire starts with the right wood.
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