Heat rises from the charcoal and comes back off the walls, so the dough springs up, the crust crackles as it cools and the crumb stays soft. Here is how to bake it.
Show me howWhere it began
During lockdown bread became our hobby, and Neil and I wanted a better loaf than our kitchen oven could give us. The first one from a charcoal oven settled it, and bread is still the first thing I bake when Charlie is lit.
Four steps
1Build a small pyramid of lumpwood charcoal on the grates, about half a football's worth, with one or two natural firelighters in the base. Close the door and open both vents fully. There is no need to wait for the charcoal to burn down.
2When the door thermometer is 10°C short of your target, set both vents to about a knuckle open (2.5 cm). The oven will hold that heat for hours. Give the baking stone 30 minutes to heat right through.
3Slide the dough onto the hot stone on the middle level or above, where the heat is even and the crust colours before the base catches. Put a metal tray of cold water on the lowest level for steam, then close the door.
4Bread is baked when it is deep golden and the base sounds hollow when you tap it. Cool a loaf on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before you cut it, because the crumb is still setting.
Where bread goes
Heat in a Charlie changes with height. Close to the charcoal it is strong and direct. Higher up it is gentle and even, because what reaches the dough is hot air and heat coming back off the walls. Most bread wants the gentle end, with a tray of water working away underneath.
Near the top
About 180°C (355°F)
Butter, milk and sugar brown long before the middle is baked, so enriched doughs want the gentlest heat in the oven. Bake them in a tin or a cast iron pan.
What to use
Middle
220 to 240°C (430 to 465°F)
Even heat from the walls colours the crust while the stone lifts the loaf from underneath. This is where most bread belongs.
What to use
Lower
220 to 250°C (430 to 480°F)
Flatbreads want a short blast of strong heat for a quick lift. Flip them as soon as they puff, or they turn hard and dry.
What to use
Lowest
For steam
Steam keeps the crust soft while the loaf rises, then lets it set crisp and glossy. Cold water steams slowly, so it lasts longer than a splash of hot. A metal jug, a few ice cubes or a quick spray does the same job.
What to use
Temperatures and times
Every recipe on our site gives its own temperature. These are the breads we bake most, with the level each one likes.
| Bread | Oven temperature | Baking time | Level | Ready when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sourdough Loaf | 240°C (465°F) | 30 minutes | Middle, on a stone | Deep brown, hollow when tapped |
| Easy Homemade Baguettes | 230°C (445°F) | 20 to 25 minutes | Middle, on a stone | Golden and crisp all over |
| Italian Focaccia | 220°C (430°F) | 20 minutes | Upper, in a deep pan | Golden on top and underneath |
| Ciabatta | 275 to 300°C (525 to 570°F) | 20 minutes | Middle, on stones | Well coloured, hollow when tapped |
| Irish Brown Bread | 180°C (355°F) | 50 minutes | Third rack down, in a tin | A skewer comes out clean |
| Milk Bread Cinnamon Buns | 180°C (355°F) | 25 to 35 minutes | Near the top, in a tin | Golden and springy in the centre |
| Flatbreads and pitta | 220 to 250°C (430 to 480°F) | A few minutes each | Middle or lower | Puffed and lightly charred |
Use the door thermometer as your guide, and set the vents to hold the heat once you are there.
Quickly reached 230 degrees and held that temperature. A perfect bake and apart from the very pleasant slight hint of smoke no difference from the loaves baked in the commercial oven.Peter Sorton, Trustpilot
It gets used 4 or 5 days a week from steaks to pizzas to bread to full roasts.
STC Clevedon Ltd, TrustpilotDid the bread course at Tara's house and it was brilliant.
Chaz Fearnley, Trustpilot
How it works
A loaf needs two things in its first ten minutes: strong heat from below and moist air around it. A kitchen oven struggles with both. A charcoal oven with the door shut gives you each.
The Charlie Charcoal Oven is insulated with 96 kg of ceramic wool, so once it reaches temperature it stays there. Heat rises from the charcoal and comes back from the walls and roof, the way it does in a traditional baker's oven, and the steam from your tray of water stays inside instead of blowing away. The dough springs up, the crust colours deeply and the crumb stays soft and open.
It is a bread oven for home that lives in the garden. New to cooking this way? Start with what is a charcoal oven?
Good to know
A stone that has had 30 minutes in the oven pushes heat straight into the base, which lifts the loaf and crisps the bottom. Put it in cold with the oven and let them heat up together, as a cold stone in a hot oven can crack.
Sugar and butter catch long before the inside is baked. Keep buns and brioche at about 180°C (355°F) near the top of the oven, and lay a sheet of foil over them if they colour too fast.
Every time the door opens, heat and steam escape just when the dough needs them most. Watch the thermometer instead, and open the door only to turn or check the bread.
Large, dry chunks of lumpwood burn clean and answer quickly to the vents. Briquettes aren't recommended for bread: their fillers can flavour the loaf, because a closed oven keeps the smoke inside.
For a smokier loaf, add a palmful of dry wood chips once the oven is hot. Wood is there for flavour, not heat, so a little goes a long way.
Baker David Wright bakes his ciabatta on preheated stones at 275 to 300°C (525 to 570°F), with steam. Add about half as much charcoal again to get there. His recipe is here.
Start with recipes we know work
A long, slow rise and a hot stone for an open crumb.
Crisp crust, soft middle, ready in an afternoon.
Olive oil, salt and dimples, baked in a deep pan.
Soft milk bread rolled with cinnamon butter.
No yeast and no kneading, sweetened with a little honey.
Puffed over the charcoal, brushed with garlic butter.
Bread in pictures
Three ovens, each hand-built in Britain. Or come and see one bake first.
Questions
Yes. A closed charcoal oven such as the Charlie holds a steady 180 to 300°C (355 to 570°F) for hours and heats the dough from every side, much like a baker's oven. It bakes loaves, baguettes, flatbreads and enriched doughs.
Most loaves bake at 220 to 240°C (430 to 465°F). Enriched doughs such as cinnamon buns bake at about 180°C (355°F), and ciabatta goes hotter, at 275 to 300°C (525 to 570°F).
Bake loaves from the middle level up, where the heat is gentle and even. Flatbreads go lower, nearer the charcoal, for a short blast of heat.
Put a metal tray or jug of cold water on the lowest level when the bread goes in. Cold water steams slowly, so the crust stays soft for longer while the loaf rises.
Only faintly. Good lumpwood charcoal burns clean, so bread from a Charlie carries a slight warmth of smoke. For more, add a palmful of dry wood chips.
Bake on a preheated Pizza and Baking Stone on the middle level or higher. If the base still colours too fast, move the bread up a level.
10 to 30 minutes to reach baking temperature. Allow 30 minutes if you are using a baking stone, so the stone heats right through.
Half a football of lumpwood charcoal holds a Charlie at 200°C (390°F) for 4 to 6 hours, which is enough for several bakes. For ciabatta at 275 to 300°C, add about half as much again.
No, a tray works. A stone gives a crisper base and a better rise. The Pizza and Baking Stone is sold separately and fits all three Charlie ovens.
Flatbreads, yes. Most pizza ovens run very hot with an open mouth, so a loaf scorches outside before the middle bakes. A loaf needs a steady 220 to 240°C (430 to 465°F) behind a closed door, which a charcoal oven gives you.
Flatbreads, yes, straight over the heat. A loaf needs heat from every side, so it bakes best in a closed oven. A Charlie does both: flatbreads low over the charcoal, loaves higher up with the door shut.
Look for one that holds a steady 180 to 250°C (355 to 480°F) for an hour or more, closes fully and has room for a baking stone and a tray of water. The Charlie Charcoal Oven does all of this, and Good Housekeeping named it Best Outdoor Oven 2024.
