One of the ways to help maintain your wood fired pizza oven is cleaning it regularly. There are times you’ll look at your wood fired pizza oven and notice that it’s dirty. At that point, you’ll have to clean it to avoid any complications or have your food tasting strange. Normally, the oven can clean itself because of the high temperatures used to prepare pizza. However, as the temperatures rise, ash and debris stick on the oven and this necessitates cleaning it on a regular basis. So, the big question here is how you should clean it. Let’s dive in and check out the best way to clean your wood fired pizza oven.
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Why Should You Clean Your Wood Fired Pizza Oven?
In case you’re wondering why you should clean your wood fired pizza oven, there are many reasons why this should be part of your to-do list. While it’s not one of those things you should clean every day, it’s imperative to always ensure you maintain a high level of cleanliness for your pizza oven. The following reasons are why you should form a habit of cleaning your wood fired pizza oven on a regular basis.
Removing Ash Buildup
If you’re burning wood, it’s obvious that ash will be a by-product. After you have cooked your pizza, there will be ashes remaining in the pizza oven. The ashes stick to the bottom of your wood fired pizza oven. If you fail to clean the ashes, you may end up having a damaged oven. Also, the ash affects the overall cooking process and taste of your pizza. Do you want to end up with pizza that tastes like smoke and ash? Of course not. That’s why cleaning your oven is a priority to get rid of any buildup of ashes.
Removing Grease
It is common to have grease discharges from butter and oil. This is part of the cooking process. Once the grease comes into contact with the surfaces of your oven, it will stain it. The bad news with grease is that it can be hard to remove it from surfaces if you hesitate to deal with it. Therefore, you have to clean it as soon as possible to avoid it accumulating and becoming a hard nut to crack. For the sake of maintaining your oven well and keeping it clean, make sure you remove grease as soon as you can. Don’t wait until it’s too late to start cleaning it.
4 -Steps to Clean a Wood Fired Pizza Oven
It is certain that you’ll need to clean your cooking area as regularly as possible. The following steps will help you to do so in the best way possible:
Step 1: The first step is to wait until the oven is at room temperature. You have to be patient for this. You’ll risk getting burned if you try cleaning it too soon.
Step 2: Once the oven is at room temperature, you need a small shovel, scooper or any tool that can remove ash. Use your preferred tool to get rid of the ash as best you can.
Step 3: The third step is removing any ashes that could be remaining. You’ll need a good vacuum for this task. It will suck up the remaining debris and ashes with ease.
Step 4: Once you’re done with step 3, throw away the ashes in a bucket or sealed container and close it. Make sure you seal the container tightly and keep it in a place where the ash inside won’t spill.
After removing the ash buildup on your wood fired pizza oven, you can continue making delicious pizza’s. Just make sure you clean it as often as you can or whenever you feel the need to do so. If you allow ash to build up around the cooking area for a long time, you won’t have a pleasant cooking experience. You’ll end up affecting the taste of your food as well as the aesthetics of the pizza oven.
Important Tips to Keep In Mind
As you clean your oven, there are valuable things you should keep in mind to have good outcomes. Here are important tips to guide you as you clean a wood fired pizza oven:
Do Not Clean It Immediately After Cooking
After you’ve finished cooking, your oven will be hot. So DON’T clean it immediately after cooking. For safety purposes, wait for it to cool down before you begin the cleaning process. You could also clean it on another day in which you didn’t fire up the oven. The idea here is to avoid getting injured as a result of burns. Regardless of how dirty the oven is, it can wait if that’s what it takes to keep you safe.
Use the Right Tool
While a brush can do the work, it might not be enough. Depending on the level of dirt accumulation, you may need to go deeper. That’s why you need a scraper. Here, you’ll need to apply a bit of effort to get the job done. Removing the ash buildup, grease, and debris might take longer than you think, but it’s worth it. As long as your pizza oven is clean in the end, you can put in the effort and time. Remember to be gentle as you use the scraper. Don’t be overly aggressive to the extent of damaging your oven.
Use Simple Solutions to Get Rid of Grease
Whenever you’re removing grease, be careful not to use chemicals that may cause fire. Remember, your safety and that of your family is paramount. So, to avoid extreme cases of fire, just use a simple mixture of water and vinegar. This is enough to remove the grease attached to your oven and make it clean. If the stains are a bit stubborn, make sure you consult the manufactures guidelines for cleaning tough stains.
Make Sure You Clean it before Using It
It’s easy to be tempted to use a dirty wood fired pizza oven to cook. You may be having visitors and you want to prepare pizza for them. The only problem is that your oven isn’t clean. Apart from the dirt making your food taste weird, there is the likelihood of causing erratic flames if you use the oven with debris inside, which is not ideal. The best thing is to clean it before you use it. You would rather be safe than risk cooking in a potentially dangerous situation. The prudent thing to do is to use a regular oven and then use your wood fired pizza oven once you clean it well.
Certainly, cleaning your wood fired pizza oven is not something that should be an afterthought. Rather, it’s something you should put into consideration for the benefits associated with it. Primarily, you should clean it to have a quality cooking process and to get rid of debris that builds up over time. It’s important to take note that cleaning should be done the right way. You should follow the required steps and procedures of cleaning to have quality outcomes. If you fail to do so, you may end up ruining a few pizzas.
The bottom-line is that cleaning your wood fired pizza oven is something you can do on your own on a regular basis.
Related: 5 Things You Need to Know Before You Buy an Outdoor Pizza Oven
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