Once you’ve got the pizza oven you want, whether it be a portable one, a predesigned kit or a DIY project, you need to be able to use it properly! If you are like me and you are a newbie to this adventure, you will be watching alot of YouTube videos on how to cook in the Pizza oven and read alot of blogs (sorta like this one :)) on how to use it to its potential, and you will discover there are alot of accessories out the for the pizza oven…some integral to producing the best pizza and some you really dont need to waste your money on!
Here Iv put together a list of my 5 top accessories for the pizza oven which I couldn’t cook pizza without!…
Pizza Peel…
Number one most importantly in my view is a good pizza peel. You can buy them in a vast array of shapes, sizes and materials.
Iv brought a couple of tool sets for the wood oven but ever since Iv started properly using it to test cooking techniques for the blog, Iv pretty much just used the long arm, aluminum pizza peel for almost everything. I use it for making the pizza on, putting the logs in, moving and adjusting the coals in the oven and moving the pizza around in the oven. Its a very versatile bit of equipment. Iv also found, if you have a couple of pizza peels hanging around, it can be quite handy instead of just having the one.
Wooden pIZZA pEEL…
If I’m having a pizza party with friends or the kids are getting fully involved in the pizza making, the short arm, wooden pizza peels are very hand to have around. They can be handed around for people to make their pizzas on and then when its time to cook, slide them into the oven straight from the wooden peels and then use the long arm aluminum as you usually would.
I also think the wooden peels look really cool hanging up around the oven and outdoor kitchen as a decorative item but for obvious reasons dont use them in the oven!
pIZZA oVEN bRUSH…
When it comes to the pizza oven brush, I find you definitely benefit from owning two different ones.
The first brush is a good, steel wire brush to move the coals around then clean and scrub the pizza oven floor. Any pizza sauce that’s popped through the pizza base and burnt on the base of the oven, that can all be scrubbed off. This brush will be on the end of a long handle and give u ability to get right to the back of the oven and give it a good clean up.
Once youve done this you need a soft brush to get the small dusty ash and remnants out of the oven. Even a small dust pan and brush will do a pretty good job of this but buy a separate one for the oven. Don’t use the one you use in your house…you will surely regret it.
Infrared thermometer
An infrared thermometer is a really handy tool in the art of making the perfect pizza!
The big benefit of the infrared thermometer is the ability to measure the temperature in your oven from a distance. It cannot however measure the air temperature. You are measuring the temperature on physical surfaces in your oven, which intime will help you figure out how your oven cooks and the sweet spots of heat in it.
When you look to buy an Infrared thermometer you want to choose one with a laser pin point so you can see exactly where you are testing. You also want it to be as accurate as possible. This is the one I use. It’s brilliant and quite affordable model.
After you get used to using your oven you will get accustomed to how hot it needs to be and potentially not use the thermometer as much anymore…but that will take time!
Heat resistant gloves
A pair of heat resistant gloves is one of those accessories I was almost sure I would never use. That was until I got the wood oven to a descent cooking temperature and felt the intense heat as I was trying to cook and refuel it! If you want to get your hand or lower arm cone to that anywhere near the mouth of a wood fired oven, a good pair of heat resistant gloves is a must! There are quite a few pairs of BBQ gloves on the market. These do an adequate job of protecting your hands when your cooking in the wood oven but I recommend getting yourself a pair of welders gloves. The main difference being welders gloves protect your wrist and forearm aswell as your hands which, and trust me on this, makes a big difference!
