Which Is the Best Wood for Ooni Pizza Oven? 8 Oak and Pellet Picks

An Ooni pizza oven is small, fast and hot, and the wood you feed it decides most of how it behaves. Ooni says its Karu ovens reach up to 950°F, and the flame that rolls over the dome is what cooks the top of the pizza in about a minute. Feed the tray damp, thick or oversized wood and you get smoke and a sulking fire instead.

The good news is that the rules are simple, and Ooni states them in its manual: dry, untreated hardwood, in pieces small enough for the tray. This guide compares the wood worth buying for Ooni ovens, from 5-inch oak splits for a Karu 12 to 6-inch boxes for a Karu 16 and pellets for the Fyra, using what each maker states and nothing more.

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Quick verdict: which wood to buy for your Ooni

Below: the five standouts compared, all eight reviewed, and how to size wood for your oven.

Five Ooni oven woods compared

Five standouts, matched to different Ooni ovens, with the wood, drying, size and amount each maker states. All eight are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Species, drying, sizes and moisture figures are as stated by each maker or listing. Check your oven’s manual before you buy.

What Ooni’s manual says about wood

Ooni’s manual for the Karu 12G, the oven now sold as the Karu 2, is specific. It says the fuel tray takes wood and charcoal, and that when cooking with wood you should use dry, non-treated hardwood in pieces up to 5.9 inches (15 cm) long and 1.5 inches (4 cm) in diameter. It says to add no more than 0.9 pound of fuel at a time and keep no more than 1.1 pounds in the tray at any time, and not to cook until the fuel has a coating of ash.

Three things follow. First, size: a box of 5-inch splits goes straight in, while 6-inch pieces sometimes need trimming and 8-inch pieces are for bigger fireboxes. Second, dryness: “dry” is why every log box on this list is kiln-dried, and why a stated moisture figure is worth having. Third, hardwood only: oak is the standard because it burns steadily and hot without a heavy smoke flavor. Softwoods, painted or treated timber and scrap lumber do not belong in a food oven; Ooni’s manual says non-treated hardwood.

The Karu 16 and Karu 2 Pro have larger trays; check your own manual for their figures. The Fyra burns hardwood pellets rather than logs, so it needs a different fuel altogether. If you also cook with charcoal, our guide to the best lump charcoal for pizza oven fires covers that side of the tray.

Our picks for the best wood for ooni pizza oven cooking

Eight choices: two 5-inch oak boxes for Karu 12 and Karu 2 trays, three 6-inch boxes for the Karu 16 and similar ovens, a kindling box, and two pellet options for Ooni’s pellet ovens. Each review says when a maker does not state a detail.

How to choose wood for an Ooni

In a restaurant, fuel is bought like any ingredient: consistent, dry and right for the equipment. Five checks will get you the right box.

1. Match the length to your oven

For a Karu 12 or Karu 2, Ooni’s manual gives 5.9 inches as the maximum length, so 5-inch boxes like FiveOaks and New England Cookwood fit as delivered. Six-inch boxes (Old Potters, Cutting Edge, Flamewood) need the odd piece trimmed. Bigger trays such as the Karu 16’s take these 6-inch pieces, and Cutting Edge recommends 8-inch wood for the Karu 16 on its own site; confirm the length in your manual.

2. Keep pieces thin

Ooni gives 1.5 inches as the maximum diameter. Thin pieces catch fast and flame well, which is what a small oven wants. Split anything thicker with a hatchet before it goes in the tray.

3. Dry wood only, and look for a number

Every log box here is labeled kiln-dried. New England Cookwood states under 10 percent moisture and Heatcraft 6 to 8 percent; the others say kiln-dried without a figure. Old Potters states USDA certification for its kiln drying. Even kiln-dried wood can take on moisture again, so store it dry.

4. Pick the species

Oak is the default for pizza: it burns hot and steady with a mild flavor. Fruitwoods and hickory add more smoke character, which some cooks like for meats and vegetables. All eight picks here are oak or hardwood blends; the Kona blend does not name its woods.

5. Buy an amount you will burn

A small Ooni uses wood a handful at a time. A 14-pound box suits most households; the 49-pound Cutting Edge box suits people who cook every week. For pellets, a sealed bin keeps a big bag in good shape.

Lighting and running wood safely

Your oven’s manual comes first. These points are from Ooni’s Karu 12G manual:

• Use the oven outdoors only. Ooni says not to use it in a confined or habitable space such as a house, tent, caravan, motor home or boat, because of the danger of fatal carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Do not use spirit or petrol to light or relight the oven.
• Add no more than 0.9 pound of fuel at a time, and keep no more than 1.1 pounds in the tray.
• Before first use, heat the oven with the fuel kept red hot for at least 30 minutes.
• When you finish, let the fire burn down naturally, and do not remove the ashes until the oven has cooled completely.

A long-handled peel and heat-resistant gloves make tending the fire easier; our guide to the best pizza oven peel compares turning and launching peels, and an infrared thermometer tells you when the stone is ready.

How we chose these eight

We started where a kitchen starts with any fuel: dry, consistent and suited to the equipment. We read Ooni’s Karu 12G manual for its wood rules and Ooni’s product pages for the Karu range, then searched Amazon in the United States for cooking wood and pellets from makers that describe their product, checked every item’s stock with Amazon’s product data, and took the details from each brand’s listing. Cutting Edge’s guidance on sizes for the Karu 16 comes from its own site. We did not find Ooni’s own oak logs or pellets on Amazon in our searches, so they are not reviewed. We left out unbranded boxes and wood down to its last few units. We have not used these woods for this guide, and we did not rely on any review site’s rankings.

Ooni wood questions, answered

What size wood fits an Ooni Karu 12?

Ooni’s Karu 12G manual says pieces up to 5.9 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter. Five-inch splits fit as they come; 6-inch pieces need the odd trim.

Do I need kiln-dried wood?

You need dry wood; Ooni’s manual says dry, non-treated hardwood. Kiln-dried wood is the easy way to get it, because the drying is controlled. Seasoned wood that is truly dry also works, but it is hard to judge without a moisture meter.

Can I use pellets in a Karu?

The Karu’s tray is made for wood and charcoal. Pellets are the fuel for Ooni’s pellet ovens, such as the Fyra 12, which feed them from a hopper.

Can I mix wood and charcoal?

Ooni’s manual says the Karu tray takes both. Many cooks start a bed of lump charcoal and add small pieces of wood for flame; see our guide to lump charcoal for pizza ovens.

Which wood is best for flavor?

Oak is the neutral, reliable choice for pizza. Pecan, hickory and fruitwoods add more smoke, which suits meats and vegetables; Old Potters sells cherry and hickory alongside its oak. For smoking wood generally, see our guide to smoker wood chips.

Our choice for an Ooni pizza night

For a Karu 12 or Karu 2, buy FiveOaks 5-inch kiln-dried oak; it fits the tray as it comes. If you want stated moisture and dimensions, New England Cookwood’s toasted oak is the most specific listing here. Karu 16 owners should look at Flamewood’s bark-free 6-inch white oak, and Fyra owners at Kona’s pizza pellets. Still choosing an oven? Our guide to the best pizza oven covers the Karu 2 alongside gas models.

And if you would rather someone else stoked the fire tonight, see the menu or call to order.