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  • Tools for cleaning out the oven?

    I can't reach the back of my cob oven too well to scrape out the last bits of the sand that originally formed it. This brought up a larger question to me of how I intended to get all the ash out of there. This brought up another question in me of how I was intending to push all the wood around when I was starting the fire.

    It will be another week I think before I can really take this thing up to a good temperature so I wanted to learn a little bit more about good tools to use in the oven that I should probably have at the ready when it is time. I already have a pizza peel, but that was the easy part.

    We have a nice hoe here that might push the wood around, and I initially was using it to scrape out the sand, but I couldn't get it into the curves right at the edges, so a lot got left behind. I am assuming there is a kind of brush that is like 45 degrees to the handle, all made of materials capable of withstanding high heat. I guess it could be like a workshop broom you'd use at home. But so far I haven't found one. When I looked up fireplace brushes on Amazon they all appeared to point straight out from the pole. Is that normal? Is that better?

  • #2
    Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

    You really need about five specialized tools for oven management and pizza handling.
    For fire handling you need a long handled shovel and rake. For floor cleaning you need a long handled brass brush. For pizza handling you need a large peel to place the pizza, and a small one to turn it and remove it. You can improvise if you are good at metal fabrication, or you can spring for professional tools. A good food service supply that handles pizzeria stuff may have it locally, or you can buy it from FB:

    Residential Pizza Peels | Pizza Oven Tools
    My geodesic oven project: part 1, part 2

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    • #3
      Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

      To get the sand out I would suggest using a shop vac. After that, a brush will work fine. I don't mind a little ash on my pizza but sand and mortar - no way.
      Check out my pictures here:
      http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/les-build-4207.html

      If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving isn't for you.

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      • #4
        Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

        Here at Forno Bravo we have the tools you need. Feel free to check out our website
        Fornobravo.com.

        Thanks
        Heidi

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        • #5
          Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

          I made an 8" round aluminum pizza retrieval tool on a long copper handle which I also use for moving logs, coals, and embers around and also for shoveling ash. It's a very versatile tool.

          As for clearing ash for pizza I blow away ash using a long 1/2" copper pipe flattened on the end.

          So basically, I only use 3 tools for the oven, the third being a wooden peel.
          Last edited by fxpose; 03-02-2011, 04:40 PM.
          George

          My 34" WFO build

          Weber 22-OTG / Ugly Drum Smoker / 34" WFO

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          • #6
            Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

            i use a 3-knott roofers brush to clean ash out of my oven after it has cooled, a brass brush when it's hot

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            • #7
              Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

              I use a shop vac to clean the ash out

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              • #8
                Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

                Originally posted by stonylake View Post
                i use a 3-knott roofers brush to clean ash out of my oven after it has cooled, a brass brush when it's hot
                "3-knott roofers brush ".....? What does that look like? 3 knots is how fast I walk, must be a real fast brush
                Lee B.
                DFW area, Texas, USA

                If you are thinking about building a brick oven, my advice is Here.

                I try to learn from my mistakes, and from yours when you give me a heads up.

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                • #9
                  Re: Tools for cleaning out the oven?

                  Hello All,

                  You can make pizza oven tools from discarded garden tools. I have a lathe so was able to cut long handles to the length needed and turn the ends to a nice shape then drill a long hole for the metal shank. I did a hoe and poker that way. Shop around on eBay for metal bristle oven brushes. I got working part shipped for roughly $20 and put it on a threaded wooden handle.

                  Peels are not difficult to make with basic hand tools but a better way is to shop around for an inexpensive wooden peel, then thin the front edge and add a handle to suit the length you need. This is another item I found locally and modified for less than $10 and an hour of work.

                  The metal peels I saw on eBay seem to be priced by the length of their handles, though I don't know why that should be. I bought three of various design and size but with the shortest length handles. Shipping was low because they were all under a critical postal shipping dimension. I removed the short wood handles and installed custom length handles that I made myself. This made for an easy and fun project. There were a variety of round, wooden, handles at Ace Hardware. I cut them to length and fitted them to the metal peels with rivets.

                  Cheers,
                  Bob

                  Here is the link to my oven number 1 construction photos!

                  Here is the link to my oven number 2 construction photos!

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