A combustion device (10) includes at least one combustion chamber (11) with a plurality of burners (B1, . . . , Bn) operating in parallel which produce in each case a flame (F1, . . . , Fn) which reaches into the combustion chamber (11), wherein each of the burners (B1, . . . , Bn), via a fuel distribution system (18), is supplied with a fuel from a fuel supply (16), which fuel distribution system (18) includes control elements (V1, . . . , Vm) for manual or controlled regulating of the fuel supply and/or fuel composition of individual burners (B1, . . . , Bn) and/or groups of burners (B1, . . . , B3; Bn−2, . . . , Bn). In a method of using the combustion device, a quick optimization or homogenization is achieved by a function (F) of the flame temperatures of the burners (B1, . . . , Bn) being provided in dependence upon the positions of the control elements (V1, . . . , Vm) of the fuel distribution system (18), which function has been calibrated by measurements of the flame temperatures at a plurality of predetermined positions of the control elements (V1, . . . , Vm) of the fuel distribution system (18), and in that by the calibrated function (F) the positions of the control elements (V1, . . . , Vm) of the fuel distribution system (18), which are optimum for a predetermined distribution of the flame temperatures of the burners (B1, . . . , Bn), are determined and adjusted.