tools for my pizza oven

The best place I know for tools is Al Forno Bravo, an online store for all things related to ovens and baking. We got an ash rake, long handled peeled, and several wooden peels from them.

Try a local restuarant supply store.  Most sell to the general public.  Here in Toledo, they have wood and metal peels, brush/scraper and bubble popper and they are cheap.    For a ash shovel, I found a all metal small snow shovel at a garage sale for a dollar.  I also use a metal sickle for pushing coals around.

Thomas,

You might want to compare prices at www.fgpizza.com.  The best Italian tools are made by GI Metal in Tuscany, www.gimetal.it, and they do have an English language page.  These are wonderful to use but not cheap.  Sites like www.empirebake.com sell more utilitarian, commercial versions for less money.  In some cases, I've found building my own is the way to go.

CJ

Frankie visits here and runs a nice site. I recommend patronizing him if possible.

As for alternatives, I got my pizza peel years ago from a local restaurant supply and added a longer handle. Same deal with the brass brush and rake -- they still work, but I'll get one from FGP when the time comes. I mostly use a garden hoe for raking hot coals.  I made my ash sweep out of a leftover piece of ipe (a highly flame-resistant, heavy wood) deck board (this is the tool that's just a long board with a handle that I use to push the coals off to the side of the oven.) I made my mop out of a scrap of oak that I fastened a binder clip to the end of, and I clip a damp towel onto it to mop the floor. I made a baguette peel from some leftover 1/2" maple board. I made a pizza bubble popper from a maple stick with a stainless steel screw driven through the end. I use some old fireplace tongs to move burning logs around. I store most of these in a piece of clay flue liner standing on the floor near the oven door.

Maybe if I get some time, I'll post some pics.

Hey, if you can build a WFO, you can make/improvise a couple of tools. ;-)

ClimbHi
Pittsburgh, PA

I got a 17" metal dust pan and screwed it onto a long pole (pole from Lowes $3) for a shovel to get the ashes out.  Also a straight hoe not the bended one, works great for taking ashes out too!  At Lowes they had this little kids rake for $3, we cut all the little "tins" off and screwed in a "natural bristle brush head" (also at Lowes), the kids rake was just the right length for a shorter handle.  But, since I've used the oven, just cleaning it out with the hoe and dust pan, then wiping it down with a damp towel attached to a mop thing ( at Lowes) works just fine.  You don’t really need a brush, even though I made two (long and short)!  Also we had these long pole things that fork at the end.  Something you would cook hot dogs/marshmallows on at a campfire?  We just bent the two tips downward, WORKS AWESOME one of my favorite tools so far!!  You can pop bubbles, push pans, pull pans, and pick up fallen bagels! ;)  Maybe they have them at Wal-Mart in the camping section?  I’m sure they probably got them there?  I got a metal peel at a restaurant store works great too.

faith