Can You Use Wood Pellets in a Roccbox? No, Here’s Why…

The Gozney Roccbox is a multi-fuel pizza oven, which means it’s capable of burning traditional wood, charcoal, and gas. You’ll notice I said “traditional wood”, because not all types of wood burn the same. This is obviously a source of confusion, because people are still asking: “can you use wood pellets in a Roccbox?” 

The answer is no, the Roccbox isn’t designed to use wood pellets because wood pellet burners and traditional wood burners don’t work the same way. This means that, while technically possible, using wood pellets in the Roccbox will only produce a low heat that doesn’t come anywhere near the maximum temperatures the Roccbox is designed to reach.

This article will explore why you shouldn’t use wood pellets in a Roccbox and the differences between the Roccbox’s Wood Burner 2.0 and a typical wood pellet burner. Ready? Let’s go.

The Roccbox is Designed for Traditional Wood, Not Wood Pellets

The Roccbox Wood Burner 2.0 is specifically designed to burn traditional wood or charcoal. This design choice isn’t just made up, it’s based on the characteristics of traditional wood logs and kindling and how they interact with the burner’s design to produce a high, consistent heat—the whole point of a pizza oven.

This is because fuels like charcoal and wood generally come in large, loose chunks that burn best in a chamber with lots of room for both the fuel and air intake. This contrasts with wood pellets, which are small and dense, and requires a more sophisticated burner system for the best results.

Why Wood Pellets Don’t Work Well In The Roccbox

Though it’s technically possible to use wood pellets in a Roccbox (in the sense that you can load them into the burner and ignite them) there are several reasons why you shouldn’t. Namely, using wood pellets in a burner designed to burn traditional wood will only produce a low flame and a correspondingly low maximum temperature. 

How Traditional Wood Burners Work

Traditional wood burners (like the Roccbox Wood Burner 2.0) are designed to burn larger pieces of wood or charcoal. For a portable pizza oven like the Roccbox with a relatively small chamber, that means pieces of wood about 25 cm long and 5 cm high, and/or charcoal briquettes.

The design of a traditional wood burner like the Wood Burner 2.0 is pretty simple: it consists of a chamber where the wood or charcoal is burned, and vents to allow smoke and air to escape.

This works incredibly well in a burner like the Roccbox’s Wood Burner 2.0, which is how it generates so much intense heat in such a small unit.

How A Wood Pellet Burner Works

A wood pellet burner is different because of the nature of wood pellets vs traditional wood. Wood pellets are small, dense pieces of compacted wood pulp, while traditional wood is large and loose.

Because of this, the design of a wood pellet burner has to be a lot more complex than a traditional wood burner. It typically includes a hopper for storing the pellets, an auger to feed the pellets into the chamber, and a controller to automate the process.

A wood pellet hopper usually holds a large quantity of pellets while the auger feeds a smaller amount into the chamber as required. This allows the burner to maintain a consistent temperature without the need for constant adjustThe fan (or gravity) provides the necessary oxygen for the pellets to burn, and the controller adjusts the feed rate of wood pellets. 

A Wood Pellet Pizza Oven Recommendation

If you already own a Roccbox and just want to know if it can use wood pellets, the answer is no.

But, if you’re looking for a pizza oven that’s specifically designed to use wood pellets, I fully recommend the Ooni Fyra 12 wood pellet pizza oven. The Ooni Fyra 12 is designed to use wood pellets exclusively, which means it does it extremely well. It also includes a gravity fed pellet hopper, so fueling and refueling the oven is not only incredibly efficient but easy as well.

To learn more about the Ooni Fyra 12, you can read more about it by following the link below. This pizza oven is my go-to recommendation for anyone looking for a small, wood-fired pizza oven due to its ease of use, quality construction, and affordability.

Final Thoughts

You shouldn’t use wood pellets in a Roccbox, not because it doesn’t work at all, but because it doesn’t work well. You’re ultimately wasting time, money, and resources that could be spent making delicious pizza using traditional wood or charcoal.

Wood pellet burners and traditional wood burners just don’t work the same way, and there really isn’t any way around it. So, unless you are in a bind and only have wood pellets available (and you don’t mind a well-done pizza that needs to cook for much longer), just stick with the recommended fuels.

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