What accessories do I need for a pizza oven
Operating a pizza oven is no easy task. Forget about the difficulty in getting your pizza recipe right, and if you don't have the necessary equipment with you, you will find it hard to do anything. In this article, we discuss the essential pizza over accessories that you will need. Chef's Apron If you're trying to become a professional pizzaiolo, which is Italian pizza maker, you need to make sure that you are looking the part as well as have the right attire for the job. Having a professional chef's apron will help protect your clothes from any flying embers, as well as stains that you might have to face. A good one will have handy pockets as well. Heat-Resistant Gloves The next most important thing for your protection is a pair of pizza oven gloves. A good pizza oven can reach temperatures of nearly 800 F, and you are going to need a couple of heavy-duty oven gloves to do the job correctly. A good pair will protect your hands as well as forearms when you take pizzas in or out of the oven as well when you add more wood to the fire. Some gloves have silicone grips on the palms which give added grip. Pizza Bubble Popper This is an item that is unknown to many out there. As the name itself suggests a pizza bubble popper does precisely that; it is used to pop air bubbles that form when pizza dough cooks. This can really mess up the appearance and the texture of the pizza afterwards. The advantage of having a Bubble popper is that they can also double as pizza turners. This is useful if you have an oven that is not evenly heating. Pizza Peels This is one of the most common pizza oven accessories out there. This long-handled paddle is used for sliding pizzas in and out of the oven. A pizza peel is an essential tool for your pizza oven. Because of its sizeable flat paddle surface, it can keep the uncooked pizzas without breaking up when you insert it into the oven. And while taking the pizzas out the long handle will help protect your hands and forearms from getting hurt by the high temperatures inside the oven. Pizza Cutter Now we all know what this item is for. Everyone loves to get their hands on those triangle pizza slices, and this is the item used to cut them. When the pizza is still hot, a wheel pizza cutter will make easy work slicing up the pizza. Make sure you get a stainless steel item so that is it easy to clean and will last a long time. Cutting Board This is the companion piece for the pizza cutter. A good cutting board is necessary when you take the freshly-cooked pizza hot from the oven, lay it down to slice it up. The larger the board is, the easier it is to manage the pizza. A good model would have a high resistance to heat and repetitive use of cutting while being germ & mould resistant at the same time. Oven Grill Now, this is something a bit extra. Not many people know that you can easily use the pizza oven for cooking something other than pizza. Using an oven grill can give you an excellent opportunity to expand the range of your oven. You can use it for setting a skillet or roasts or grilling meat. Try to find a robust cast-iron model because it can withstand the high temperatures inside the oven. Oven Brush After the cooking, comes the cleaning. Having an excellent long-handled brush will come in real handy when you want to reach into the far ends of the oven to clean up the crumbs and ashes. Try to find a brush with copper or brass bristles; it will make it easier to clean the insides without the interior ceramic, brick or stone surface. Ash Rake If you are using an outdoor wood-burning pizza oven, you will definitely need an ash rake to movie wood around the oven to get even heating. When the oven is heated up properly, use the rake to remove the wood and cinders out of the way to get to the cooking surface. It is very useful when you are cleaning up the oven after you are done as well. Ash Can After you clean out your wood-burning oven, you will need to clean out your ash. A good ashcan will be useful in this situation. This might seem like a bit extra, but you won't know the value of this item until you find it necessary. Collecting up this ash, instead of disposing of it will enable you to use it later as a fertilizer for your plants.