How to Light Ooni Pizza Oven for Perfect Pizzas

If you’re a foodie, the Ooni pizza oven can be a fantastic way to whip up some delectable pizzas at home in your very own backyard pizza oven! A quality pizza oven can be the key difference between cooking up an average pizza and a truly delicious pie. 

The only question is: how exactly do you go about lighting these Ooni ovens? The answer is incredibly simple. 

Today, we’ll be taking a look at how to light a range of different Ooni pizza ovens, including:

• Ooni Karu 12
• Ooni Pro
• Ooni Fyra 12
• Ooni Koda 16

We’ll also be giving you all the facts when it comes to what fuel to use for your specific Ooni pizza oven. Let’s go ahead and jump right into it so you can get to work making an amazing pizza!

How to Light Ooni Pizza Ovens?

There are a few different styles of Ooni pizza ovens on the market, and each has slightly different methods when it comes to lighting them. 

Let’s go over some of the most popular models and give you a step-by-step rundown on how to light them. 

Once you get a bit of practice, you’ll be lighting your Ooni pizza oven with ease. 

Ooni Karu 12

This model is one of the most popular types of Ooni pizza oven, and it is incredibly easy to light! 

You can light this model with several different fuel options; let’s take a look at how the process for lighting this Ooni Pizza oven will look with each different fuel source. 

With wood or charcoal: 

1. Remove the front door and chimney cap of the Ooni pizza oven
2. If fueling with charcoal, place a lump or two on the fuel tray. Add 1-2 fire starters
3. If fueling with wood, stack some quality hardwood in a small formation that allows for good stability and airflow. Again, add 1-2 fire starters as needed
4. Once your fuel of choice has been loaded, place the fuel tray back into the oven
5. Light the fire starters, then close the front oven door.

Once the Ooni pizza oven has been lit, you’ll want to wait for around ten minutes until the fuel is burning cleanly. 

At this stage, take a temperature probe and check the internal cooking temperature of the oven. An ideal cooking temperature is around 426-510 degrees Celsius!

With propane (requires the Ooni gas burner attachment):

1. Get your propane burner ready
2. Open the front oven door and remove the chimney cap
3. Remove the defender plate from the back area of the oven
4. Using an Allen key, tighten the screws to attach the propane burner to the oven
5. Attach your propane hose to the back of the oven
6. Push in and twist the control knob slowly
7. Once you hear a clicking sound, stop twisting and hold the control knob for around 5-6 seconds. 

Once your Ooni pizza oven has lit and reached around 426-510 degrees Celsius, it is time to start cooking! 

If your oven does not light with the propane fuel on the first go, wait around 30 seconds and try again.

Ooni Pro

This model of Ooni pizza oven can also be lit by several different fuel types. The Ooni Pro is a multi-fuel pizza oven, meaning you can even combine wood and charcoal together! 

Let’s begin by going over this process for lighting.  

With wood and charcoal:

1. Open the front oven door and chimney flap, and remove the fuel tray
2. Stack a few pieces of quality hardwood (around ten should do it, depending on their size) or a few handfuls of charcoal. If using wood and charcoal together, lessen the amount you add of each to ensure the fuel tray is not too full
3. Add 1-2 fire starters, and return the fuel tray to the oven
4. Light the fire starters
5. Close the front oven door, but keep the chimney vents open. 

Using your temperature gauge, wait until the ideal cooking temperature is reached. 

With propane (requires the Ooni gas burner attachment):

1. Remove the fuel tray from the oven
2. Detach the oven front door and replace it with an open metal front plate (pizza door)
3. Connect your propane burner to the back of the oven. Make sure you tighten the screws with an Allen key to keep it in place
4. Connect the hose from the oven to your propane tank
5. Ensure that the chimney cap is closed
6. Carefully press down and twist the temperature control dial counterclockwis
7. Once you hear a click and the flame lights, stop turning and hold the temperature control dial for a few seconds
8. Release the temperature control dial and wait for the oven to reach the ideal temperature.

Ooni Fyra 12 

This model of Ooni pizza oven is incredibly easy to light. However, it is a wood pellet pizza oven — meaning that it does require the Ooni brand pellets to fuel the oven. 

Once you have these natural firelighters, here is how to use them: 

1. Fill the fuel tray with 1-2 scoops of wood pellets
2. Place one firestarter at the front of the fuel tray and light it
3. Place the fuel tray back into the oven
4. Wait for 2-3 minutes until all of the wood pellets are consumed by the flame
5. Fill the pellet hopper with more hardwood pellets until it is full
6. Wait a couple of minutes until your Ooni pizza oven reaches the ideal temperature, and start cooking. 

For optimal performance, when the flame dies out throughout the cooking process, add another scoop of wood pellets on occasion to keep the fire burning. 

This will provide consistent heat, which makes for a perfect crust on your homemade pizza.

Ooni Koda 16

The Ooni Koda 16 is a gas pizza oven that only takes one fuel source: propane. This makes it very simple to light. 

1. Ensure that your propane tank valve is set to ‘open’. This is a crucial step, as the gas will not connect otherwise
2. Connect the propane hose from the oven to your propane tank
3. Press in and twist the heat control dial counterclockwise
4. Once you hear a click and see the flame, stop twisting the heat control dial and hold it still for a few seconds
5. Wait until your oven has reached the ideal temperature, then begin cooking. 

For optimal temperature control, you can adjust to have a weak or strong flame as needed, using the temperature dial. Aim for a consistent temperature in order to ensure even cooking.

What Fuel Should I Use in My Ooni Pizza Oven?

Let’s break down which fuels can be used for the different models of Ooni pizza ovens: 

• Ooni Karu 12 – Wood/charcoal or propane.
• Ooni Pro – Wood and charcoal or propane.
• Ooni Fyra 12 – Hardwood pellets.
• Ooni Koda 16 – Propane.

Now we know what fuels you can use for these Ooni pizza ovens, but which fuel type should you use? 

Say you’re deciding which Ooni model to pick: What process for lighting are you most comfortable with? Do you want the propane-fueled one, or a multi-fuel pizza oven? Do you prefer charcoal over gas? 

Ooni recommends opting for natural firelighters such as hardwood pellets. The key difference between this natural fire starter and other fuels is that hardwood pellets are upcycled, fuel-efficient, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg! 

A wood-fired pizza oven is a popular fuel choice for pizza lovers, as it gives the pizza dough a smoky flavor — ensuring authentic flavor. However, if that’s not your style, another quality fuel is propane as it’s known to burn efficiently and cleanly.

Conclusion

When it comes to pizza ovens, Ooni is an extremely popular brand for a very good reason: it provides an amazing pizza experience!

A range of different models are available, which can all be fuelled by different sources. 

This means that you can find the pizza oven that is perfect for you and your preferred fuel type for the optimal cooking experience. 

While lighting one of these Ooni pizza ovens may seem daunting at first, it really is a quick and easy task with a bit of practice. You’ll have an amazing pizza at home in no time!