10 April 2024
Best Woods for Cooking: Pizza Ovens & BBQs
Wood choice matters more than most people realise. The wrong wood produces acrid smoke, chemical flavours, or just doesn't burn hot enough. The right wood gives you clean heat, good colour on the food, and flavour that complements rather than overwhelms. Here's what to use and when.
For wood-fired pizza ovens
Pizza ovens run at 400–500°C. You need wood that burns hot, sustains that temperature without constant feeding, and produces minimal smoke — you're heating a stone floor and an enclosed dome, not flavouring the food with smoke.
Oak is the standard choice for good reason: dense, long-burning, high heat output. Kiln-dried oak logs split into smaller pieces will keep a pizza oven at temperature efficiently.
Beech burns almost as hot as oak and produces very little smoke. If you can get it, it's an excellent pizza oven wood — particularly good if you're sensitive to the slight tannic bitterness some people detect in oak.
Ash is arguably the cleanest-burning hardwood there is. Less dense than oak so it burns quicker, but it produces almost no smoke and very little ash, which keeps the oven floor cleaner.
Hornbeam is dense and burns exceptionally hot — hotter than oak by a measurable margin. It's harder to find but worth seeking out if you want to push temperatures up quickly.
Whatever you use: kiln-dried only. Green or air-dried wood produces too much steam and smoke at high temperatures, and will coat the inside of your oven with black creosote over time.
For BBQ smoking and grilling
Here the wood is doing two jobs: providing heat and imparting flavour. Match the wood to the protein.
Oak is the backbone of most BBQ smoking. It's versatile enough to use with almost anything — beef, pork, lamb — and gives a clean, medium smokiness without overpowering. Good default choice if you're unsure.
Apple burns mild and slightly sweet. Ideal for pork, chicken, and fish — anywhere you want a hint of smoke without the intensity. One of the most forgiving woods to smoke with.
Cherry adds colour as well as flavour — a beautiful mahogany on pork ribs or chicken thighs. Slightly sweeter than apple. Tends to be better when mixed with oak rather than used on its own.
Hickory is strong and distinctive. Classic American BBQ smoke — works brilliantly on pork ribs and shoulder but can overpower lighter proteins. Use it with confidence on big cuts, carefully on everything else.
Alder is the traditional choice for smoking salmon and other fish. Delicate, slightly sweet, with almost no bitterness. Hard to find but worth it if fish is on the menu.
What to avoid
Softwoods — pine, spruce, larch, fir — contain resins that produce black, acrid smoke and deposit creosote in your food. Even a small amount will ruin the flavour of whatever you're cooking.
Treated, painted, or reclaimed timber can release toxic compounds when burned. Never use it, regardless of how dry it is.
Green or wet wood burns at lower temperatures, produces excessive smoke, and leaves a bitter, harsh flavour. The moisture content of properly kiln-dried wood should be below 20% — ideally 12–15%.
At Staffordshire Wood Fuels, all our hardwood logs are kiln-dried to 12–15% moisture — ready to burn at full heat from the first split. Browse our full range here.