Cleaning Tools Wood Fired Pizza Ovens 🔥
Last but by no means least, you need something to clean your oven with. As with the other two sections, what you need depends largely on what you’re up to...
Brush Tool
These days, a brush tool fitted with a natural bristle brush head is pretty much essential kit for fine cleaning your wood fired pizza oven floor (after you’ve moved the coals back/to the side) before you cook your pizza and bread and also for sweeping up your cold ash before you relight your fire, but there’s a bit of a story to oven brushes...
You see, once upon a time, all across the world, people cleaned their wood fired pizza ovens with fine brass bristle brush heads. These brush heads were perfect for the job: close and flexible enough for fine sweeping, sturdy enough to scrape spilt stuff off the floor if you needed to do that.
There is a problem with using brass in a really hot environment though. Prolonged exposure to high heat overtempers the brass and it becomes fragile and if that happens, pieces can break off. Occasionally these broken bits have found their way into pizza and bread and people have ingested them and this is not a good thing…
In the US and Canada and here in Australia too, there has actually been quite a few law suits regarding this and so these brushes being a known health risk, it’s not a smart idea for us to sell them: selling things that are a known health risk voiding a company’s product liability and all here in Oz 🙂.
That said, pizzerias all across Italy and Europe still use these brush heads and life goes on and I don’t actually personally believe they constitute much of a risk, particularly in a domestic setting (or even in a commercial one) as long as someone is taking responsibility to ensure the brush head is replaced at the first sign of any brittleness in the bristles. From what I can see, when problems have arisen it’s because people [mostly shop owners] have not changed their brass brush heads over even when they’re clearly shedding. Most of the pixs in the newspaper articles about this problem show brush heads that look like the oldest, rattiest tooth brushes you’ve ever seen!
SO: what am I saying? Well I’m saying that if you wanna use a brass bristle brush head, go ahead! I think they work well and I just advise you to pay attention and replace them at the first sign of wear. Most of the ones out there that look like normal brush heads (by that I mean that they are a normal brush shape, not the long thin ones or the ones with a scraper on top) will fit on our brush tool (maybe with a bit of sanding 🙂), but we’re not selling them to you! You have to buy em yourself!
Instead of the brass heads, we offer a natural fibre brush head as an alternative…
These natural fibre brush heads will give you a nice fine sweep too, you just need to be a bit careful with them! You might think, well that’s obvious, they’re fibre after all, but we do see quite a few people (and by people I mean MEN!) who because they don’t read the instructions, etc, have just put their brush heads straight into the fire itself and this you canna do!
The way to get ready for pizzas is to push the bulk of the fire/coals back or to the side with the coal scoop or ember rake (or whatever fire handling tool you use) and then, when the big stuff is moved back, use the oven brush to sweep the fine ash and grit and small live embers that are left behind out to the edges too by giving the floor 4-6 quick light front to back sweeps.
Similarly, if you are removing the fire/hot coals to bake bread or something, gather them up to the front and centre with the scoop and either use the ash pan to shovel the coals out or use the ash pan in conjunction with the coal scoop to remove the bulk of the coals and then use the brush to gather up the last of the fine stuff into the pan.
The brush bristles will singe off with time, but they are very long and thick and after a couple of uses, they mat up and are surprisingly fire resistant.
Used like this we rarely see domestic customers back for a new brush head in under 2 years. We get about a year out of ours (but we use it hard: 2-3 times every week). Busy pizzerias tend to get between 3 and 6 months depending on how hard they go at it. So not bad value for the $25 per replacement head (and no danger of choking someone, let’s not forget that!) IF you take the time to move the big coals back first.
UPDATE SEPT 2022: actually, these new natural brush heads we’re getting now have bristles that are almost too long and they splay out a little when brand spanking new! Best thing to do is, first couple of uses, spray or damp the bristles down a little, particularly the ones on the outside and/or just have a pan of water or a wet towel close by in case the brush head catches. After the first coupla uses the bristles will matt up and settle down and you’ll still get the same good life out of them, it’s just the first few goes that can be... enlivening if you’re not forewarned!
Urgh. That’s all a bit heavy isn’t it?! I didn’t mean to scare you honest, just wanted to make sure you are fully informed and really, it’s just so darn convenient to sweep the floor that the alternatives - mopping, blowing (cough cough) or buying a ‘sucker’ – are all far more trouble than just being a bit careful is...
Moving on, let’s talk about the brush head orientation. Most other wood fired oven brush tools you see are orientated vertical to the handle and sweep ACROSS the oven floor, but of course, in a dome shaped chamber, with your fire banked to the side, this usually means you’re sweeping straight into the coals and also pulling the ash and grit that accumulates in front of the coals out onto your oven floor on the reverse of your sweep. It’s also a pretty ungainly movement, trying to pull your brush across the oven/use it side to side and so not just in a dome, but in a long thin tunnel oven, well, it’s really not helpful at all! For the most part, in any shape of oven, orientating the brush head like a standard floor brush (as we do) makes the brush much easier to use and the motion more natural. If however you do want to have your brush head orientated the other way (sometimes the big bread bakers like em that way because their coals/fire is removed and they want to fill their ovens to the brim and put their bread right up against their oven walls, so they like to clean right into those corners, unlike pizza people who stay about an inch out from the walls) no probs, we’ve done a few of these over the years, so just let us know if you’re of a different orientation (well actually, no need to over-share, 🙂 just say if you want your brush to be differently orientated!).
OH and whilst we’re on the subject of design, the brush heads themselves are really easy to change over because Pete has designed such a nifty clip for them! The procedure is explained in the Care Instructions that come with each tool and here’s the YouTube clip as well.
Finally, with regards replacement brush heads, until recently, these brush heads were pretty ubiquitous right across the world – that’s one of the reasons we went with them - but that’s now changed. Part of it is that synthetic bristle brushes are replacing natural ones, part of it is that among the giant list of shortages blamed on covid and/or climate change, natural fibre and timber are getting really hard to get.
So, whilst once I could tell you confidently you could get these brush heads everywhere, now all I can tell you is that we have a secure supply with an Australian brush maker and we order 1000 at a time, so we’ll always have them and can post them to you a lot quicker (and cheaper) than we can whole tools!
Brush Tool Standard Dimensions
Brush Tool Features
- Large stainless steel ring, suits a wide variety of hooks and hangers
- Solid brass etched nameplate
- Fire hardened qwilla hardwood handle
- Food grade 1.6mm thick stainless steel plate
- Solid brass 25 mm screws for good grip - no wobbly handles, ever
- Brass capped stainless steel rivets
- Brush is made to be used in the horizontal/near horizontal position and is perfect for fine cleaning the floor so you can cook directly on it
- Brush heads are easy to change and replace - to release, simply press on holding spring bar at back
- These natural bristle brush heads are made by an Australian owned company and we keep a constant supply if you need a replacement head but similar brush heads should also be available across the world.
- Even given fairly regular domestic use, natural bristle heads should last at least 2 years
As well as the standard size referred to here, the oven brush tool (and all other tools) can be made to your specifications and oven size. We have a Guide to Measuring Your Oven.
Tools can also be personalised with your wording engraved into the handles.
Ash Pan / Ash Shovel
Now, if you’re only doing pizza and roasts, it may be you can get away without moving your ash out of the oven whilst it’s still hot and if you can wait a day or so and do that, well, you can move the cold fire debris out with any old plakky or tin dustpan then!
If however you do need to take the coals out whilst they’re still hot (and if you’re baking bread, the coals have got to come out before you bake and likewise, if you’re slow cooking something or even just if your timing is a bit out and the oven is really hot and everyone is standing around waiting for their pizza and you need to drop the temperature fast), then our ash pan is perfect for the job…
Because of the wide front, you can scoop up everything from fine ash to big, live coals and bits of wood without spilling it everywhere or loosing half of it on the way out of the oven and then, because of the raised sides, everything stays in place on the trip to your coal bucket or ash container, where with just the slightest of tilts, it all just slides out.
To move your coals out with the minimum effort and fuss, first use the coal scoop or ember rake to gather your coals together into a heap in the centre front of your oven and then use the ash pan to shovel it all out or, if you’re dexterous, use the ash pan in conjunction with the scoop or rake: like a dustpan and brush set. Speaking of which, our brush fits neatly in the pan too, so when you get down to the final little bits of fine ash, you can even use the brush with the ash pan to get every last morsel of ash and grit up and out.
Ash Pan Standard Dimensions
Ash Pan Features
- Large stainless steel ring, suits a wide variety of hooks and hangers
- Solid brass etched nameplate
- Fire hardened qwilla large sized hardwood handle
- Food grade 1.6mm thick stainless steel plate
- Solid brass 25 mm screws for good grip - no wobbly handles, ever
- Brass capped stainless steel rivets
- Pan is made to be used in the horizontal/near horizontal position
- Pan is wider at mouth than at back for easy loading and unloading
- Pan mouth edge is chamfered and slightly sharpened for good pick up
- High sides keep load in place but do not prevent you moving logs
- Fits easily into most fire boxes and ash buckets
As well as the standard size referred to here, ash pans (and all other tools) can be made to your specifications and oven size. We have a Guide to Measuring Your Oven.
Tools can also be personalised with your wording engraved into the handles.
Damp Mop
Unless you are a total clean freak, most folks don’t mop before pizza: pushing the ash and grit into the remaining fire/coals or just into the corners/edges of the oven will do nicely for pizza because you’re usually not cramming your pizza right out to the edges of the oven.
If you’ve been bitten by the baking bug though, you want to fill that oven up with bread and so you want every last little bit of ash and grit out, right out into the corners. A mop is really the only way to remove all of that. It’s also a really useful way to even out and even drop your floor temperature and also to create steam (to ensure a great crust), so yup, this is definitely a baker’s tool...
Our damp mop is particularly good for the oven because the handle is designed to be used in the horizontal position (it’s not above the mop head), so our mop is easy to push around your oven floor. It’s also designed so the heads are easy to replace. When the mop head eventually wears out or just gets too manky looking (it’s a dirty business!) you can replace it with pretty much any size cotton mop head you can find. All of them come with some sort of plastic fitting now unfortunately, but you just need to cut that off and drape the hairs across our clamp and do it back up.
After due consideration, we have decided against stocking mop buckets - having too many cleaning tools around the house makes me nervous (did you see Fantasia?!) and the buckets are just too big to send around the country or the world when they're already available everywhere - so if you want a bucket, get your own!
Also, a bucket is not essential (though, if you've come this far...!) because an oven mop is usually only used damp, not dripping, so it is quite possible to just spray water on from a spray bottle and/or, if you do need it wet, to squeeze it out with your hands or an old towel.
PLEASE NOTE THOUGH: Whilst our mop is pretty sexy and you may already have a bucket for the floor, if you're thinking of doubling up and using one set for both purposes, our mop doesn't make a good floor mop (being made to use horizontally, not vertically) and sharing buckets is chancy - AJAX flavoured pizza isn't nice!
Damp Mop Standard Dimensions
Damp Mop Features
- Large stainless steel ring, suits a wide variety of hooks and hangers
- Solid brass etched nameplate
- Fire hardened qwilla hardwood handle
- Food grade 1.6mm thick stainless steel plate
- Solid brass 25 mm screws for good grip - no wobbly handles, ever
- Brass capped stainless steel rivets
- Mop is made to be used in the horizontal/near horizontal position
- Mop Heads are easily replaceable - simple unscrew the D clamp holding the existing head in place, insert a new head and do the two screws up again
- Mop heads are made by an Australian owned company and are heavy duty, readily available and well priced
- Even given fairly constant use, mop heads should last at least a year
As well as the standard size referred to here, damp mops (and all other tools) can be made to your specifications and oven size. We have a Guide to Measuring Your Oven.
Tools can also be personalised with your wording engraved into the handles.
