Wood Fired
5 guides tagged Wood Fired
Review
Solo Stove Pi Review (2026): The Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven, Honestly Judged
The Pi is Solo Stove's original pizza oven and still its most capable: a round, sculptural 12-inch oven that burns real wood to a manufacturer-verified ~950°F, takes an optional gas burner attachment when you want push-button ease, and undercuts most premium multi-fuel rivals at $424. It is also sold direct rather than on Amazon, tops out at 12-inch pies, and asks you to actually tend a fire. Here's the full honest verdict, what the Pi does brilliantly, where it loses to its own gas-only sibling, and the two ovens to price against it before you commit.
Read the guide →~10 min read
Buyer's Guide
Best Pellet Pizza Ovens (2026): Real Wood Fire, No Log Pile
Pellets give you wood flavor and a 900°F-plus chamber from a bag that costs less than a tank of propane. The catch is that most pellet ovens need tending every few minutes. Here is which ones are worth it, and which pellets to burn.
Read the guide →~10 min read
Explainer
How to Manage a Wood Fire in a Pizza Oven (2026): Fuel, Airflow, and the Live Flame
A wood fire is not a setting, it is a heat source you have to keep feeding, and the single biggest determinant of whether it works is the moisture in the wood. The US EPA's Burn Wise programme states it directly: "Wood burns best at a moisture content of less than 20 percent," and it tells you to "season wood for at least six months." Everything else, building the fire, pushing it to the side, feeding small and often, managing the ash bed, is downstream of starting with dry fuel. Here is the whole skill, plus an honest comparison with a gas burner.
Read the guide →~12 min read
Explainer
Why Does My Pizza Taste Smoky? Soot, Acrid Smoke and the Wet Wood Problem
Acrid smoke and black soot on your pizza are the signature of incomplete combustion, and the number one cause is wet wood. The US EPA is unambiguous: wood burns best at a moisture content of less than 20 percent, and should be seasoned for at least six months. Fix the fuel first, then the airflow, then the cold start. And check whether the bitterness you are tasting is actually burnt semolina on the stone, which is a completely different problem people routinely blame on smoke.
Read the guide →~11 min read
Explainer
Best Wood for a Pizza Oven (2026): What to Burn (and What Never To)
The short version: burn kiln-dried hardwood, oak, maple, ash, beech, or food-grade hardwood pellets, and nothing else. Softwoods, painted or treated lumber, and green or wet wood don't just taste worse; they physically keep a wood-fired oven from reaching the ~900°F floor that makes the pizza worth burning wood for in the first place. Here's exactly what to buy, what to avoid, and how dry hardwood is the single thing standing between you and a blistered 60-second pie.
Read the guide →~11 min read