Sap and resin can be genetically volatile substances. When they are lit on fire, they combust and create a lot of smoke. Wood that is high in sap or resin content will smoke much more than those that have low or no amounts of it.

Softwood is wood that can easily break apart and isn't dense like hardwood. In pizza ovens, you want to only use hardwoods as they emit far less smoke than softwoods. Hardwood also leaves far less ash in the oven than softwood.

Never use wood that has been treated or known to have chemicals within it. This can not only cause excess smoke due to the chemicals being burned off when lit but can also be hazardous to your health. Always use seasoned or kiln-dried wood in your oven.

There are certain types of wood you just avoid. Even if they meet the criteria above. That's because some wood, like a variety of fruit trees, are just known to emit far more smoke than is necessary based on their genetic makeup and properties.

If the wood you're using is hardwood and it's kiln-dried or seasoned properly but you're still seeing a lot of smoke, then this could be your problem.

This may seem counterintuitive to lighting a fire in your pizza oven as the bark seems like the perfect fuel source, but the bark on some varieties of wood can be a big-time smoke producer. If you're experiencing a lot of smoke and using the right type of hardwood that is kiln-dried or seasoned appropriately, then I'd give removing the bark a shot and see if it helps.

We're all victims of this in the beginning as we learn to use our ovens and maintain heat. However, as you get more comfortable with your oven, you should begin to use less wood to initially heat up your oven and maintain it over hours of cooking.

This takes time to master but your lungs (and wallet) will thank you.

This falls in line with our prior point, however, I wanted to make a distinction. The wood kindling you use when initially building out your fire will produce more smoke than when you move on to your larger pieces. That's because smaller pieces burn faster. Make sure to switch to the larger pieces of wood as soon as you get your fire burning appropriately.

As for the right type of kindling to use, always use the same thought process above when choosing your kindling. It needs to be hardwood and either kiln-dried or seasoned appropriately.

If you're going to use cardboard or paper to initially get your fire started, that's okay, just try to use the least amount possible. This not only produces a lot of smoke but also a lot of unnecessary ash in the oven.

Bringing your oven up to the necessary temperature range for cooking your meal is priority number 1 when you fire up your oven. In doing this quickly, you'll spend less time building your fire and more time maintaining it.

Maintaining your fire at the desired temperature range is much more fuel-efficient than consistently building it so you'll use less wood over time. This not only produces far less soot and ash, but it also helps your pocketbook.

The chimney flue on your pizza oven is important for regulating proper airflow. Without it, smoke will come pouring out of the front of the oven causing safety concerns and a terrible cooking experience.

One common area we see, especially if your chimney flue has a damper, is folks restricting the airflow through the chimney pipe, especially when "choking down" the oven to kill the fire. In doing this, you're effectively restricting the airflow of the oven and causing excess soot and ash that should have exited the top of the oven to now being held within the oven.

This can easily be fixed by ensuring the chimney flue is clean and clear of any obstructions, as well as properly using the damper if your oven has one.

Using too much wood in your oven is often a result of the learning process. In the beginning, as you feel out your oven and how it reacts to adding wood, you're going to use more than you need to build and maintain the fire.

Over time, as you become more skilled with your oven, you're going to find yourself using less wood than you initially did because the majority of your time will be spent maintaining the fire versus starting it. Thus, you'll more so use larger pieces of wood that burn slower and give off less soot and ash. 

Cleaning your oven consistently should be a part of your cooking routine. Ash and soot within the oven should be brushed out completely after each use. And the interior portion of the chimney pipe and cap should be cleaned based on usage to prevent soot build-up (use your best judgment here). 

If you want to be thorough, you can wrap a damp, warm hand towel around your round peel and use it to clean the soot and ash on the oven floor your brush wasn't able to get. This will ensure you don't get an excess build-up of soot stuck to your oven floor. Do this when your oven is still warm for best results. 

When it comes to the exterior of the oven, wiping it down with a warm, damp cloth to remove excess soot and ash when necessary will help to keep it looking like new. If you own a stainless steel oven, read the User Manual for cleaning instructions on how to best maintain the exterior of the oven and what solvents (if any) can be used on it.

If the front of your oven is covered in soot, then you're building the fire too close to the door of the oven. Doing this causes smoke to come out of the mouth of the oven, depositing soot while it exits.

To prevent this, build your fire in the middle of the oven floor so the smoke can easily vent out of the chimney and not the mouth. Once your oven is up to temperature and you're ready to maintain it, move your fire to the side or rear of the oven (depending on your oven's build) and get ready to start cooking.

If you're relying on the outside temperature gauge of your oven and don't have an infrared thermometer heat gun to check the true temperature of the cooking surface area you're going to cook on, then that's most likely your problem.

We recommend relying solely on an infrared thermometer heat gun to get an accurate temperature reading of your oven floor before cooking. As you become more experienced and comfortable with your particular oven, over time this may not be necessary and you can rely on feel.

But for now, while you're learning the ropes, stick with the infrared heat gun. It's your best bet for a delicious meal. And I still use mine to do this day.

If the temperature of your oven changes sporadically throughout cooking, then you're destined to have an undercooked or overcooked meal.

Your ability to maintain the temperature within your oven over long periods of time takes practice. You won't get it down the first time or even your tenth time but the more you cook, the easier it will become.

To improve your ability to maintain temperature, make sure to add wood slowly and give it time to burn. Patience is key to finding the sweet spot.

Where you place your food within the oven when cooking will greatly determine how long it takes to cook.

As you move further and further away from the flame, the floor temperature tends to get cooler and cooler. Therefore, if you have a dish that needs to cook longer than others, you'll want to place it further away from the flame than the one you're trying to cook quickly (like pizza).

Getting a feel for your oven and the areas within it that tend to heat up quicker than others will help you a lot in your quest for cooking a better meal.

When you first build your fire within the oven, it'll be built in the center. However, that's not where you want to leave it.

When the temperature gauge on your oven gets to the desired temperature range of the meal you're looking to cook, you'll want to move the fire to a different location within the oven. The area you move it to will depend on the build of your oven. It'll either be on the left or right-hand side or in the back.

By moving your fire from the center, you're allowing the heat to distribute properly and create the three forms of heat needed for a pizza oven to cook effectively: radiant, convection, and conduction heat.

The type of pizza dough you use within your oven will greatly impact the quality and flavor of your pizza. If you're experiencing a lot of burnt pizzas but everything else in the guide checks out, then you may be using the wrong dough. More specifically, the wrong flour within the dough.

When cooking in a wood-burning pizza oven you must use "00" flour to make your dough. "00" flour has a number of unique attributes over normal flour in that it's sturdy with high elasticity for kneading and delicate enough to prevent an overly tough or rubbery texture. But its most important attribute is its ability to withstand the high temperatures used when cooking a Neopolitan style pizza in a wood-fired oven.

"00" flour is the gold standard for Italian pizzerias and the only flour you should use when making your pizza dough.

Putting flour on your pizza peel before placing your pizza on it is necessary if you want it to easily slide off the peel when putting it in your oven.

However, if you put too much flour on your pizza peel prior to putting your pizza on it, that excess flour will then stick to the bottom of your pizza. That layer of flour on your pizza will act as a barrier between the oven floor and your pizza dough, causing the flour to burn and give your pie a foul, burnt taste.

To prevent this, make sure to only sprinkle flour on your peel before placing your pizza on it. You don't need much to achieve the desired outcome.