Making the perfect pizza is easier if you have the right tools and accessories. Without them, your pizza making life is going to be difficult. So, let’s give you some tips on what are the essential tools and accessories for your pizza oven, and describe why you need them. Whether you are looking to upgrade your pizza making tools and accessories or are new to pizza cooking, read on and we will help you select what you need.
PIZZA PEEL
Arguably, the most important item is the Pizza Peel – you need one (or two) to launch, spin and retrieve your pizzas from the oven.
The first and most essential item is a pizza peel – the sort of tool you use to launch, turn/spin and remove those pizzas.
Pizzas peels come in a variety of widths. All pizza ovens have a different width entrance, so make sure you choose the correct one. As the entrance sizes are different, the internal dimensions will vary as well. For this reason, you need to determine the correct length of the pizza peel handle. When launching your pizza (particularly in a wood fired oven) it is suitable to have a handle that has a relatively short length. This is because launching is a quick action – you won’t have your hand/arm in the oven for very long time, if at all. However, when turning/spinning the pizza inside the oven, and retrieving it, you will want a longer handle to keep your arm out of the oven. If you have a smaller/compact pizza oven, then the long handle will not be necessary.
The shape of the pizza peel is also important. They will generally be either round or square. The round pizza peel is used to turn or spin your pizza whilst in your pizza oven. The square peel is used for launching your pizza. Your pizzas will fit a lot better on the wider, square shaped peel.
INFRA-RED THERMOMETER
Knowing the temperature of your pizza oven is important when cooking different styles of pizza. For example. The Neapolitan style will require an extremely hot over, whereas a Sicilian style will require a slightly cooler oven (as the dough is thicker, it will require a longer cooking time).
PIZZA OVEN BRUSH
Making a mess on your pizza stone? You will need a pizza oven brush to clean it properly. Melted and burnt cheese, sauce, meats, etc left on the stone will affect the cook and taste of pizzas that you try to cook after you have made the mess. Clean it off! You can get metal bristles or natural bristles. Obviously the metal bristles will clean a lot more, but you risk damaging your stone if not done properly. Natural bristle pizza oven brushes are much more kind on your stone, but they tend to wear down/burn after a while.
PIZZA CUTTER
Making a pizza? You will need to cut it! There are a few main styles of Pizza Cutters – Wheel Pizza Cutters, Rocker Pizza Cutters, and Scissors
Wheel cutters are easy to use, generally child safe (if they have covers), and there are an endless number of options to buy.
Rocker cutters make you feel like a professional pizza maker. One swift movement and you have cut right through that pizza! With handles on either end of the rocker cutter, they are so simple to use.
With these essential tools and accessories in your pizza making arsenal, you will be on your way to cooking the perfect home-made pizzas.
PIZZA OVEN COVERS
Protect your assets! If your pizza oven is used and stored outside (most likely), then you will extend its life if you cover it. Wind, rain, sun and any exposure to the elements will all have an affect on your oven. I would say a pizza oven cover is a ‘must have’.
The above is a small list of home pizza oven tools and accessories. There are so many others available that it is worth your time to do a little research to find what it is that you need and want. Here is a short list of extra pizza oven tools and accessories that you may also be interested in:
- Heat resistant gloves,
- Cast iron pans,
- Pizza cutting boards,
- Pizza Cookbook,
- Scales.
Good tools will make your pizza making experience so much better. Enjoy!
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