How to Light a Charlie Charcoal Oven and Control the Temperature

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

The quick answer

Place around half a football’s worth of good lumpwood charcoal on Charlie’s fire grates and light one natural firelighter, placed at the bottom of the pile of charcoal. Open both vents fully, close the door and allow the chimney to draw air through the charcoal. Watch the thermometer. As Charlie approaches the temperature you want (roughly 10°C below), close both the vents to one inch open - and the temperature will stop climbing and hold absolutely steady.

Good charcoal provides the heat. The vents control the fire. The shelf positions and location of the charcoal control how that heat reaches the food.

What you need

For most cooking, start with:

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

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.

Avoid briquettes, instant-light charcoal and lighter fluid. Good lumpwood charcoal lights cleanly, reaches temperature quickly and provides strong, steady heat.

How to light Charlie

1. Place the lumpwood charcoal on the fire grates.
2. Tuck one natural firelighter among the charcoal and light it. Or, alternatively, use a small blowtorch to heat the charcoal directly, staying in one spot for 45 seconds.
3. Open the top and bottom vents fully.
4. Close the oven door.
5. Leave Charlie 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, Charlie will reach:

• 100°C in around 10 minutes
• 200 to 250°C in around 20 minutes
• 375 to 400°C in around 30 minutes

The exact time will depend on the charcoal, the weather and how much fuel you have used.

Should you leave the door open when lighting Charlie?

No. Charlie lights with the door closed.

It may feel natural to leave the door open while the charcoal catches. After all, a fire needs air. With Charlie, 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.

The closed door does not starve the fire. It is what makes the fire breathe.

Why does Charlie control temperature so well?

Charlie’s temperature control begins with its construction.

The heavy duty, stainless steel oven body has fully welded seams and a high-temperature silicone gasket that seals the door firmly against the oven. Air cannot creep in through gaps and joins, so the fire is controlled by the adjustable vents.

Charlie 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 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 Charlie 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.

Charlie’s 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 generous internal height all help Charlie hold and control heat remarkably well.

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, reduces the temperature and extends the burn.

Open both vents fully while Charlie heats up. As the oven approaches the temperature you want, begin closing them gradually.

For holding any steady temperature, from 100°C to 400°C roughly two fingers’ width (roughly one inch) at both vents is a useful starting point. Every fire is slightly different, so adjust from there.

Make any small changes and give Charlie 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 Charlie has passed the temperature you want before closing the vents.

It is easier to make Charlie 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.

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.

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

Charlie’s 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?

Begin by closing both vents gradually and keeping the door shut. Give Charlie time to respond.

If the food needs gentler heat immediately, move it to a higher shelf or farther away from the charcoal. This will often solve the problem without cooling the whole oven.

If you need a faster reduction, remove any cooking racks that are not being used or introduce a cold rack to absorb some of the stored heat. Always wear heatproof gloves and place hot racks somewhere safe.

For a quicker drop from normal roasting temperatures, place a deep, heat-safe metal tray filled with cold or iced water securely inside the oven.

Take care when opening the door because hot steam may escape. Never pour water directly onto the charcoal, fire grates, oven interior or pizza stones, and do not use iced water to cool Charlie from extreme pizza temperatures.

The simplest answer is not to overshoot. Start cooler and increase the temperature gradually.

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.

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?

Charlie’s thermometer may reach 375 to 400°C in less than 30 minutes, but the pizza stones will take longer to catch up.

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.

Allow around 30 minutes for the stones to become fully hot, even if the thermometer reaches pizza temperature sooner. A very hot oven with underheated stones can cook the top before the base has had a chance to crisp.

Position the fire towards the back and 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 Charlie 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 Charlie's closed chamber, a little goes a long way. Start with a small amount: with Charlie, 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 Charlie different from a kamado/ceramic egg?

Charlie and a ceramic kamado both use charcoal, but they manage the fire differently.

A kamado holds the charcoal in a deep, compact firebox beneath a top-opening lid. Charlie has an open fire bed at the bottom of a tall cooking chamber, with a front-opening door and chimney.

With Charlie:

• Light the charcoal inside the oven
• Open both vents and close the door
• Do not leave the door open while the charcoal catches
• Do not use a chimney starter
• Keep the fire compact so you can create different heat zones
• Use the shelf positions as well as the vents to control the heat

Charlie does not need to be burped before opening.

Kamados are burped to reduce the risk of a sudden rush of oxygen reaching a hot, tightly enclosed fire when the lid is lifted. Charlie opens from the front into a much larger chamber, while the chimney gives heat and gases a continuous route out of the oven.

Open the door normally but steadily. Wear heatproof gloves and remember that you are still working with a live charcoal fire.

When you have finished cooking

Close both vents and allow the fire to go out naturally.

Do not pour water onto the charcoal.

Once Charlie 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 pan every four or five cooks.

Five things to remember

1. Use good quality lumpwood charcoal.
2. Light one natural firelighter, open both vents and close the door.
3. Begin reducing the airflow before Charlie reaches 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.