How to Light a Charlie Charcoal Oven and Control the Temperature

Mastering the fire is simple once you understand how the oven’s vents, chimney and cooking zones work together.

The quick answer

Pile around half a football’s worth of good lumpwood charcoal in the centre of the fire grates and tuck one or two natural firelighters into the base. Light them, open both vents fully and close the door. The chimney will draw air up through the charcoal. Watch the thermometer. When it is about 10°C (20°F) short of the temperature you want, push both vents in until they are open about 2.5 cm (1 inch), roughly the width of a knuckle. The temperature will stop climbing and hold steady for hours.

What you need

For most cooking, start with:

• Around half a football’s worth of good lumpwood charcoal
• One or two natural firelighters
• Heatproof gloves
• A long pair of tongs

For pizza, or anything above 300°C (570°F), use three quarters to a full football.

Place the charcoal directly onto the fire grates. Charlie does not need a charcoal basket, and the charcoal does not need to cover the entire grate.

We don't recommend briquettes, as their fillers can flavour the food. Avoid instant-light charcoal and lighter fluid. Good lumpwood charcoal lights cleanly, reaches temperature quickly and provides strong, steady heat.

How to light Charlie

1. Build a small pile of lumpwood charcoal in the centre of the fire grates.
2. Tuck one or two natural firelighters into the base and light them. A small blowtorch also works: hold it on one spot for 45 seconds.
3. Open the top and bottom vents fully.
4. Close the oven door.
5. Leave the oven to heat up.

There is no need to blow on the fire, keep poking the charcoal or open the door every two minutes to check it is still there. Leave it alone and watch the temperature gauge go up.

As a rough guide, the oven will reach:

• 100°C (210°F) in around 10 minutes
• 200 to 250°C (390 to 480°F) in around 20 minutes
• 375 to 400°C (705 to 750°F) in around 30 minutes

The exact time will depend on the charcoal and how much fuel you have used. For more on this, see how long until charcoal is ready to cook on.

Never take the oven above 400°C (750°F). Solid fuel has no automatic cut-off, so that part is up to you. Above 400°C, 304 stainless steel starts to soften and the stresses left from forming and welding begin to relax, which is how a panel warps for good. The door seal has its own limit too. Nothing you cook needs more heat than that.

Should you leave the door open when lighting Charlie?

No. The oven lights with the door closed.

It may feel natural to leave the door open while the charcoal catches. After all, a fire needs air. In a charcoal oven, however, the direction of that air matters more than simply having lots of it.

When the door is closed, warm gases rise through the chimney. This draws fresh air through the lower vent, underneath the fire grates and directly through the charcoal.

When the door is left open, air takes the easiest route. It enters through the large door opening and moves towards the chimney without being drawn through the fuel. There may be plenty of air inside the oven, but it is not moving through the part of the fire that needs it.

Never cook with the door ajar. It damages the seal and the paintwork.

Why does Charlie control temperature so well?

Charlie’s temperature control begins with its construction.

The oven body is 304 stainless steel, mostly 1.5 mm and 2 mm thick, with fully welded seams rather than screws or rivets. A high-temperature silicone gasket seals the door firmly against it. Air cannot creep in through gaps and joins, so the fire is controlled by the adjustable vents.

The oven is not completely airtight because air must enter through the vents and leave through the chimney. The important point is that the airflow is deliberate.

Dense ceramic wool insulation surrounds the cooking chamber and keeps the heat where it is useful. The heavy stainless steel oven box and racks absorb heat and release it gradually, helping the oven maintain a steady temperature.

The front-opening door makes a difference too. Heat naturally rises and gathers in the upper part of the oven. When the front door is opened briefly, you are not opening the cooking chamber directly through its hottest point as you would with a top-opening barbecue.

The internal roof, walls and cooking racks remain hot. Once the door is closed, that stored heat helps the oven settle back to temperature.

The tall cooking chamber also creates plenty of distance between the charcoal and the upper shelves. Cook close to the fire for fiercer heat or move higher up for gentler cooking.

The sealed construction, dense insulation, front-opening door and tall cooking chamber all help Charlie hold a steady heat.

How to control the temperature

The vents control how much oxygen reaches the charcoal.

More air creates a hotter fire and uses the charcoal more quickly. Less air slows the fire and extends the burn.

Open both vents fully while the oven heats up. As the oven nears the temperature you want, set both vents to about 2.5 cm (1 inch) open.

To hold any temperature from 80°C to 400°C, start with both vents open about 2.5 cm (1 inch), roughly the width of a knuckle. Every fire is slightly different, so adjust from there.

Make any small changes and give the oven a few minutes to respond. Constantly opening and closing the vents will make the temperature harder to control, not easier.

Charcoal continues releasing heat after you reduce the airflow. Do not wait until the oven has passed the temperature you want before setting the vents.

It is easier to make the oven hotter than it is to cool it down: cooling down takes time, due to the heat that's stored so effectively in the steel of the oven. Once you've chosen the temperature you want, it's easy to start a little below the required temperature and work upwards. To avoid overshooting, use less charcoal, or light it in just one spot so the fire builds more slowly.

If you are cooking several dishes, begin with lower-temperature cooking, move on to roasting and finish with grilling or pizza. Charlie is very happy to get hotter as the day goes on.

How long does the charcoal last?

Half a football of good lumpwood charcoal will hold 200°C (390°F) for 4 to 6 hours. For low and slow cooking at 100 to 130°C (210 to 265°F), a full grate of charcoal will keep the oven at temperature for up to 16 hours.

If your oven has two-height fire grates, the upper position suits most cooking. Lower them when you want room for more charcoal and a longer burn.

Adding charcoal during a long cook

To keep a long cook going, add a few chunks of fresh lumpwood charcoal. More charcoal means a longer burn. If the oven is already at the temperature you want, leave the vents as they are. If the temperature has dropped a long way, open both vents, then set them back to about 2.5 cm (1 inch) once you are near your target.

Only ever add unlit charcoal. Never add charcoal or wood that is already burning.

Why does Charlie’s thermometer drop when the door opens?

The temperature probe is situated in the oven door.

When you open the door, the probe is exposed to cooler outside air and the reading will fall. The longer the door remains open, the more noticeable the drop may be.

Do not panic and open the vents. The whole oven has not necessarily lost the same amount of heat. The insulated body, stainless steel interior and cooking racks are still holding plenty of stored energy.

Close the door and allow the thermometer a few minutes to settle before making any changes. It's very unlikely that the underlying temperature will have changed just by opening the door.

How do you lower the temperature in a charcoal oven?

Setting the vents stops the temperature climbing any further. Shutting them fully does bring it down, but only gradually, because the oven holds its heat so well. To lower it more quickly during a cook, take some of that heat out.

• Take out any racks you are not using. The hot steel carries heat out with it. Wear heatproof gloves and put the racks somewhere safe.
• Slide in a cold rack, if you have a spare. It soaks up some of the heat.
• Place a deep metal tray of cold water inside the oven. This works whatever the temperature. Open the door with care, as steam may escape. Never pour water onto the charcoal, fire grates, oven walls or pizza stones.
• Remove some of the charcoal. Use long metal tongs and heatproof gloves, and lift the pieces into a metal bucket standing on a non-flammable surface beside the oven. Never put hot charcoal on grass, decking or into anything plastic.

Keep both vents at about 2.5 cm (1 inch) open while the heat comes down, so it does not climb again.

The simplest answer is not to overshoot. Start cooler and build the heat gradually.

What to do if the oven overheats or fat catches fire

Keep the door closed and push both vents in fully. Without air, the fire dies down by itself.

Do not open the door and do not take anything out. Never use water.

Wait until the thermometer has fallen before you open the door again.

Charlie cooking temperatures

The shelf position matters as well as the thermometer.

Cook low down for searing and fierce direct heat, especially when you open the vents and allow the charcoal to burn vigorously. Use the middle shelves for roasting. Move higher for baking, slower cooking and gentler heat.

Put it into practice with our charcoal oven recipes.

How to create different cooking zones

The charcoal does not need to fill the whole fire-grate area.

Keeping the fire compact allows you to position it towards the back or to one side of the oven. This creates different heat zones across the cooking chamber.

Cook above or close to the charcoal for stronger heat and good caramelisation. Place food higher up, farther forward or towards the opposite side for more indirect cooking.

You can also move food between these zones. Start close to the charcoal for colour, then move it away to finish more slowly.

Temperature control in Charlie comes from the vents, shelf height and fire position working together.

When are the pizza stones ready?

Allow 30 minutes from lighting before the first pizza goes in. With good charcoal the thermometer may reach 375 to 400°C (705 to 750°F) sooner, but the pizza stones need the full 30 minutes to heat through. A very hot oven with underheated stones cooks the top before the base has had a chance to crisp.

The thermometer measures the temperature inside the cooking chamber. The stones are dense and need time to absorb enough heat to cook the base of the pizza quickly and evenly.

Build the fire at the back of the oven and use three quarters to a full football of charcoal. Leave the wood out. Smoke is not what you want on a pizza.

Place the pizza stones on the higher shelves. At full temperature, pizzas can cook in around three minutes, so this is not the moment to wander off looking for the basil.

Position the racks in the top two-thirds of the oven when you are baking more than one pizza at a time.

Wood is for flavour, not heat

Charlie is a charcoal-fired oven.

Lumpwood charcoal provides the heat because it burns steadily, responds to the vents and holds a consistent temperature for hours.

Logs can create large flames, sudden changes in temperature and much more smoke than the food needs. They also make the oven harder to control.

Once the charcoal is burning cleanly and the oven has reached the required temperature, add one small chunk of dry smoking wood or a handful of dry wood chips. There is no need to soak them. You never need more wood than you can fit into the palm of one hand. In a closed chamber, a little goes a long way. Start with a small amount: with a front door, you've always got easy access to the cooking grates, so it's simple to add a bit more.

Charcoal does the hard work. Wood adds the finishing touch.

How is a Charlie charcoal oven different from a kamado or ceramic egg?

Both cook over charcoal with the fire enclosed. A kamado holds its charcoal in a deep firebox under a top-opening lid. Charlie has an open fire bed at the bottom of a tall chamber, with a front door and a chimney.

That changes how you light it. The charcoal is lit inside the oven with the door closed, so there is no need for a chimney starter. The chimney also gives heat and gases a constant way out, so Charlie never needs burping before you open the door.

Read the full comparison with a kamado

Troubleshooting

When you have finished cooking

Push both vents in fully and let the fire go out.

Do not pour water onto the charcoal.

Once the oven is completely cold, any solid pieces of charcoal left inside can be used again. Top them up with fresh lumpwood charcoal the next time you cook.

Empty the ash drawer into a metal bin when it is completely cold: about every 8 to 10 cooks on the Charlie Charcoal Oven and the Professional, or every 6 to 8 cooks on the Cheeky Charlie Tabletop Oven, which has a smaller drawer.

Five things to remember

1. Use good quality lumpwood charcoal.
2. Light one or two natural firelighters, open both vents and close the door.
3. Set both vents to about 2.5 cm (1 inch) open when the oven is about 10°C (20°F) short of the temperature you want.
4. Allow the door thermometer a few minutes to settle after the oven has been opened.
5. Use the vents, shelf positions and location of the fire together.

Once you understand the airflow, mastering the fire really is that simple. For everything else about your oven, see the Charlie Oven User Manual, or book a demo to see Charlie in action.