30" Cast Scotland

[sergetania]

I use a turning peel for everything - to get the wood in, move the coals around and get them out, get food in and out and even slap on the floor to clean it off the ash. I guess the latter could lead to cracking hearth bricks, hopefully not. I use a wooden peel to put pizza in. That's all the tools that are necessary in my opinion. Keep in mind, our ovens are very small, you can reach easily with hands almost anywhere but you definitely need decent (welder's) gloves

[UtahBeehiver]

Go to "show me your tool" thread. I do use a piece of SS tubing to blow away ash after raking coals to the side initially and also after recharging floor. Some people flap the peels down and the ash drifts out through the chimney but the tubing works for me. Some have repurposed an old golf club shaft as well. A turning "banjo" peel is a must.

[Daveholdn]

Thanks again sergetania and UtahBeehiver, I've got myself a wooden peel and a turning peel, I've also a tube of copper pipe left over from making the breather valve, so I'll slightly crush one end to make it a little easier to blow through.
Really really small amount of condensation in one part of the plastic, pretty negligible to be honest. I've a pizza party next weekend so will try to get a little more heat into it without going full gas this week. Once you've moved the fire over to the edge, blown the ash away, what sort of temp are you looking for the cooking area to be? I have an IR thermometer which seems to do thr business but is that a good indicator or is the clearing of the dome a better indicator?

Cheers team, very excited now for a 12 inch, thin crust, serrano ham, rocket and olive pizza!!!

Dave

[sergetania]

I always check the temps using an IR thermometer just because I like numbers. When you get the feel of your oven it's easy enough to go by clearing the dome. General cooking temps when the top of the dome is clear, pizza temps when it all clears. Also, even if you use a thermometer it's not an exact science either because temps are different all over the oven.
Different pizza styles require different temps. Roman and Bari styles will cook fine at 650-700F. Neapolitan need 750-900F at the bottom. The first time I had a pizza party I didn't want to push oven so I cooked Bari-style thin crust pizza. Turned out great. Maybe if you do pizza with greens on top at lower temps drizzle a bit more oil on top of the greens to prevent them from drying out... May be it will help.

[UtahBeehiver]

You might want to put something on the blowing end to protect your pearly whites. I always tell guest, if they put their own toppings on the pizza that "less is best" don't over load the toppings on the pizza.