Grit/ash on pizza

[Nzpizza]

First pizza oven and first attempt at cooking one post curing. Got the heat up enough to get the interior bricks white but i had to use a lot of pine kindling and logs to get the fire to initially catch. Eventually added hardwood (ti tree). Had to continue to add kindling as at times it appeared the fire would go out. This issue aside the pizzas were all gritty/ashy. I hide nice embers which pushed to one side. Can anyone tell me if the iver use of pine and kindling may have contributed to this?

[Toomulla]

The fire issues may be due to residual moisture or wood that is not dry, if not either of these try starting the fire under the vent and moving it back I often do this starting the fire on my metal peel. Almost everyone has a preferred way of removing ash and grit from the floor prior to cooking pizza, such as a blow pipe brush or my preferred method of a just damp piece of tooling wiped over the floor

[Nzpizza]

Great advice thank you. I think you could be onto something re the wood not being completely dry and great tip about starting the fire on the peel. thanks for taking the time to respond.

[UtahBeehiver]

I use the old 3/8" steel pipe method. Some use flapping the peel on the floor and the draft takes away the ash. Gulf uses a fire place bellows with a piece of tubing attached and certainly swabbing the floor works too. So there are lots of ways to get rid or at least move the ash from the cooking area.

[Lburou]

We have been happy with a vigorous use of a wire brush with a handle (available from fornobravo). Move it back and forth briskly and you bring the ash into the air to be carried out the vent. A little ash is something you can get used to. :-)

[RandyJ]

From what I have heard it is not a good idea to use a wire brush as you could loose some wires and end up with it in your food. A blow pipe or peel slap will get rid of most ash. If you want it all gone the a wet rag on a stick shout remove the rest.

Randy

[Lburou]

From what I have heard it is not a good idea to use a wire brush as you could loose some wires and end up with it in your food. A blow pipe or peel slap will get rid of most ash. If you want it all gone the a wet rag on a stick shout remove the rest.

Randy

Sounds logical, but no problems in a hundred firings...

[RandyJ]

I realize it might not happen all the time, but I was just watching a show where that exact thing happened on a BBQ grill. The person swallowed the pice of metal and it went through the wall of their intestine and caused a bowel blockage. It nearly killed the person. They said that several thousand people have this happen to them each year. Maybe I am over thinking this but don't think it is worth the risk, and with my blow pipe the floor is very clean.

Randy

[deejayoh]

I have to say that both the quality and usage of wire brushes on BBQs seem quite different to me than sweeping your oven floor. Those crappy little brushes people buy for BBQs fall apart when you look at them, and you're scrubbing them across uneven wire mesh. I see that there may be a risk in the oven, but don't think it's anywhere near the risk on BBQ. I say this because all of the examples I have seen have been BBQ related. Haven't ever seen a pizza example. Not saying they don't exist, but it seems a different use case.

[JRPizza]

I agree with both of you
I think the chance of it happening in an oven, with a high quality well maintained brush are smaller than with a BBQ or grill, however the risk/reward for using a wire brush in the oven has me deciding to go a different way. I have found wires on my gas grill which led me to throw away all my metal grill brushes, and I won't burn any wood with nails or even staples in the oven.
Out of curiosity I did a search for incidents involving pizza and apparently Domino's does deliver!

[Toomulla]

I agree with both of you
I think the chance of it happening in an oven, with a high quality well maintained brush are smaller than with a BBQ or grill, however the risk/reward for using a wire brush in the oven has me deciding to go a different way. I have found wires on my gas grill which led me to throw away all my metal grill brushes, and I won't burn any wood with nails or even staples in the oven.
Out of curiosity I did a search for incidents involving pizza and apparently Domino's does deliver!

I agree, if you consider the extreme consequences of ingesting wire and the plethora of alternatives why run the risk

[dakzaag]

The ratio of BBQ grills to Wood Fired Ovens is probably more than 1 million to one, so I don't think the comparison of wire issues is even remotely probable. A BBQ has a slotted cooking surface while an oven has a solid floor. The debris issue is much more prevalent in an oven. Blow gun, peel slap, wet mop are all acceptable. Wire brush, not so much. The OP described a wet wood/ cold oven scenario that simply needs more practice and experience to solve their quality problems.

[RandyJ]

Good catch. I was just seeing the post about using a brush when I started commenting. You are correct as to the wet wood.

Randy