Why you don’t have to use Hardwood pellets for pizza ovens……
Pizza ovens have soared in popularity this year, we’ve even got an Ooni oven of our own! There’s something really satisfying about making your own, woodfired pizzas from scratch in your back garden and pellets for pizza ovens have become big business!
But we’ve noticed that there is an enormous range of wood pellets available, and some at equally enormous prices.
So, it made sense to us to do a little bit of research and, combining that with our product knowledge and experience, we’ve come up with some myth-busting tips for you.
1: My pizza oven manufacturer says that I must use hardwood pellets.
We say: That’s not true at all! You get exactly the same results from softwood pellets, here’s a comparison….
| Wood Pellet Brand | Ooni Pellets (branded) | Woodlets Pellets |
| Soft/Hardwood | Hardwood | Softwood |
| FSC Certified Sustainable? | No | Yes |
| EN Plus A1 Certified? | No | Yes |
| Country Of Origin | Imported | UK (Scotland) |
| Size | 6mm | 6mm |
| Ash Content | <0.7% | <0.2% |
| Moisture Content | <10% | <7% |
| Calorific Value KWhr/kg | 4.8 | 4.8 |
So, you can see from this chart that the calorific value is the same and this means that the amount of heat and energy that the pellets produce is identical.
What does this chart show us?
What this chart also shows us is that the Woodlets pellets actually perform better in many ways because they have lower ash and moisture contents, meaning a cleaner oven and a cleaner burn. Our British-made pellets also have a much lower carbon footprint and meet the strict FSC and ENplus A1 accreditation standards. These assure you that the pellets come from sustainably managed sources and meet the highest quality standards.
2: But Hardwood burns longer than softwood…….
We say: If you’re burning logs then yes, this is completely true. But you’re burning compressed pellets and so there is actually no difference. The main difference between hardwoods and softwoods is the density, there are more gaps in the structure of softwood, meaning that it burns faster in natural log form.
During the process of pellet manufacture, the sawdust is compressed into pellets which are the same size, they simply squeeze more material into the softwood ones and so the mass and density is the same.
3: They’re more expensive so they must be better…
We say: Not at all, hardwood is more expensive than softwood, but as we’ve already discussed, there is no need to burn hardwoods. It’s a little bit like buying a designer T shirt. You may not necessarily get a better quality, but you’re paying for a brand name. Pellets for pizza ovens are the same in a way, we should be shopping for sustainability, performance and quality rather than a designer brand.
We rate our Woodlets Pellets very highly for use in pizza ovens.
UK Made – From well managed, sustainable forestry
ENplus A1 Certification – Read more about this standard
Gives the same results as branded, hardwood pellets
Low Carbon Footprint
A fraction of the price!
