Cooking
Guide.
Everything you need to know about cooking with wood fire — from building your first campfire to running a professional pizza oven or smoker programme in a five-star kitchen.
This guide covers kiln-dried firewood basics, pizza oven technique, smoking methods, food and wood pairings, firepit setup, and how to store firewood in the UAE climate.
Kiln drying is a controlled industrial process that removes moisture from freshly cut wood in large heated chambers — typically bringing moisture content below 20% (compared to 40-60% for green wood and 25-35% for air-dried wood). Every Bad Axe bag is kiln dried to this standard before leaving the UK.
Wet wood doesn't burn — it steams. Every unit of energy from burning wet wood first goes into turning water to steam before it produces useful heat. The result: lower temperatures, more smoke, more creosote deposits in your oven or flue, and far more frustration trying to get and keep a good fire going.
The UAE's summer humidity regularly exceeds 80%. Air-dried firewood left unsealed in this climate can re-absorb moisture rapidly — sometimes exceeding 30% again within weeks. Kiln dried wood stored correctly remains below 20% moisture regardless of ambient humidity.
Kiln dried hardwood burns at 250-350°C higher than equivalent green wood — critical for pizza ovens (need 450°C+), live-fire searing (need 300°C+), and reliable campfire performance. You simply cannot reach professional cooking temperatures with wet wood.
Always check your firewood is kiln dried before you buy. Look for FSC certification (Bad Axe is FSC® C109654) and a moisture content guarantee below 20%. If the supplier can't confirm this, the wood isn't worth buying in the UAE.
The ideal pizza oven fuel is a blend, not a single species. Oak provides heat mass and duration. Birch provides fast ignition and flame. Olive provides the signature aromatic character. The professional standard is: 70% Oak + 20% Olive + 10% Birch — but this can be adjusted based on the flavour profile you're chasing and the size of your oven.
Neapolitan / Napoletana: 420-450°C hearth — 60-90 second cook
Roman style (thicker base): 350-380°C — 2-3 minute cook
Bread and flatbreads: 280-320°C — 8-15 minutes
Roasted vegetables: 220-260°C — 15-25 minutes
Slow roasted meats: 180-220°C — 1-3 hours (dying oven)
Using wet wood: The most common mistake. Wet wood will never reach proper pizza oven temperatures.
Overloading with Olive: Olive is a flavouring, not a primary fuel. Too much Olive smoke will overpower your pizza.
Not waiting long enough: A pizza oven needs 45-60 minutes minimum from first light to reach Neapolitan temperatures. Never rush it.
Chunks (apple, olive, oak — approx 1kg bags): Large pieces that burn slowly over hours. Use in offset smokers, kamados, and for long cooks (brisket, whole shoulders, ribs). The format when smoke is a featured ingredient, not a finishing touch.
Chips (mesquite, hickory, cherry, apple, maple, oak — 400g bags): Smaller pieces for fast smoke infusion. Use on gas grills, in smoker boxes, or for quick finishing smoke. One to two handfuls gives 15-30 minutes of smoke.
Hot smoking (65-150°C): Cooks and smokes simultaneously. Used for brisket, ribs, pulled pork, smoked salmon, whole chicken. Most common in restaurant smoke programmes.
Cold smoking (below 30°C): Imparts smoke flavour without cooking. Used for cold-smoked salmon, cheese, butter, salt. Requires a cold smoke generator and a cool environment — challenging in the UAE summer.
Soak wood chips in water for 30 minutes before adding to a gas grill — the steam slows combustion and extends smoke time to 20-30 minutes per handful. For charcoal and offset smokers, dry chips work better — they combust cleanly and immediately rather than steaming.
Beef can handle bold, assertive smoke. Oak gives the baseline, Hickory adds savouriness, Mesquite for Tex-Mex boldness. Avoid fruitwoods on steak — too sweet for red meat.
The Texas classic: Post Oak is the traditional choice. Hickory adds depth. Add Cherry in the final 2 hours for colour and sweetness on the bark. Never use Mesquite for long cooks — it turns bitter.
Poultry has delicate flavour that bold woods overpower. Cherry adds beautiful mahogany colour and mild sweetness. Apple gives a refined fruity note. Beech is neutral and lets the bird speak for itself.
The classic BBQ combination. Cherry gives colour and sweetness. Hickory gives that bacon-like savouriness. Apple lifts the whole profile with fruitiness. A 50/50 Cherry-Hickory blend is the competition BBQ standard.
Lamb and olive wood is one of the great Mediterranean food pairings — the herbal aromatic smoke mirrors the natural flavour of the meat perfectly. Oak for heat base, Olive for character.
Fish demands delicate wood. Beech is neutral and clean. Apple adds mild sweetness. Cherry gives colour without overpowering. Avoid Oak, Hickory and Mesquite on seafood — they are far too bold.
Oak for heat mass and duration. Olive for the signature Neapolitan aromatic character. Birch for fast ignition and service-flow temperature management. The 70-20-10 professional blend.
Vegetables are forgiving and take smoke well. Cherry adds sweetness to root vegetables and squash. Olive is brilliant with aubergine, courgette and peppers. Oak or Beech for neutral high-heat roasting.
For ambience and warmth (not cooking): Ash, Oak and Birch are ideal. They burn cleanly with minimal smoke — essential for outdoor seating areas. Avoid heavily aromatic woods like Hickory for pure firepit use — the smoke can be overwhelming in a social setting.
For open fire cooking in firepits (skewers, grill grate, tripod): Oak provides the best cooking embers. Build a large fire first, let it burn down to glowing embers (30-45 mins), then cook over the embers rather than the flame. Embers provide steady, radiant heat — flames scorch before they cook.
The main complaint with outdoor firepits is smoke direction. Wind shifts mean smoke blows into seating areas. Mitigation: use the cleanest-burning woods (Ash, Birch, Beech), maintain a hot fire (not a smouldering one — hot fires smoke less), and consider firepit placement relative to prevailing wind direction in your space.
Never use firepits on dry grass or sand during high-wind days (Shamal season). Always have water nearby. Be aware of local municipality regulations on open fires — many communities and resorts require permits for outdoor fire use. Extinguish completely before leaving.
Rule number one: kiln dried firewood must stay dry. The UAE's October-March season brings higher humidity (40-80%) that can re-wet exposed firewood. Keep bags sealed until use. If storing loose logs, cover the top with a tarpaulin but leave the sides open for airflow.
Never store firewood directly on concrete or soil in the UAE. Concrete absorbs ground moisture and transfers it directly into the bottom logs. Always use a pallet, rack, or log store to elevate your firewood by at least 10cm. The Bad Axe Log Cabin (BXPFP08) is ideal for this purpose.
UAE summer temperatures (45-50°C) are actually excellent for firewood storage — the heat keeps moisture out and the low humidity (May-September) means ambient conditions won't re-wet your wood. The challenge is humidity season (Oct-March). Store in a covered, ventilated space during this period.
For professional kitchens: keep 2-3 days of firewood inside the restaurant environment under air conditioning. AC-temperature wood acclimates and performs consistently. Larger stock (weekly or monthly supply) can be stored in a covered outdoor area or warehouse with pallets and basic cover.
▶ Keep sealed until use · ▶ Elevate off concrete on pallets · ▶ Cover the top, leave sides open for airflow · ▶ Store 2-3 days of stock inside under AC for restaurant use · ▶ Avoid direct sun exposure on bags (UV degrades packaging) · ▶ Order little and often rather than storing months of stock if you don't have covered storage
Get your Bad Axe firewood delivered tomorrow.
All seven species available for next-day delivery across the UAE. Retail bags at ehdxb.ae. Hospitality and trade supply direct from our team.