Cleanliness is key to making a great-tasting pizza. It’s crucial to regularly maintain your type of oven to ensure that it works efficiently and that your fresh pizza doesn’t take on any smells, flavours, or textures of the ghosts of past pizzas. Plus, a clean oven will keep any food cooked in future from sticking to the sides and oven surfaces while increasing airflow for better all-around cooking. An added bonus is the reduction of the risks of possible fire and other cooking hazards. Whether your pizza oven is wood-fired, brick, or a high-volume conveyer belt variety, steps must be taken to keep it all in working order, with cleanliness as the top priority. Each type of pizza oven needs slightly different TLC methods to get back to good working order after cleaning – yes, even incorrect cleaning practices can impact your oven’s longevity!
While this may seem like somewhat convoluted information, all we’re trying to say is to know your oven and what it needs and, when in doubt, get professional assistance to keep it in tip-top shape. It doesn’t matter if you have a commercial oven pumping out hundreds of pizzas a day or a domestic type for special occasions. Both need love if you want them to last to their fullest possible lifetime.
Getting Started
Pizza ovens work hard – they must withstand heat from open flames or electric heat elements and create a tasty pizza. They also must not crack or warp while being exposed to high heat. In addition, they must distribute heat evenly, so it doesn’t go straight up to the ceiling, causing problems in the ventilation system. This heat must focus on warming the pizza without burning the pizza cooking to a crisp.
As a result of all this heat and pounds of lovely greasy, cheesy goodness, pizza ovens get dirty quickly. Unfortunately, it can be a bit of a chore to clean any kind of oven regardless of the type; however, pizza ovens often take the cake with their various shapes and styles. Wood-fired pizza ovens are said to pose the most significant challenge with the added charcoal and soot elements from the fire that cause the blackening of brick, stone and metal parts. Most cookers will have instructions that came with them when the oven was purchased. This cleaning guide is essential to do the job right every time. But for those that don’t have that or for additional clarity, we’ve made a great list below to get started.
Never Attempt to Clean a Hot Oven
Businesses, venues, and homes must have a ventilation system that works well and to full capacity, especially in the summer heat. The installation of an industrial ventilation control system will help reduce indoor temperatures while cleaning and recirculating air – or by bringing clean air in and removing old, stagnant air. A ventilation system is the lungs of a building, and its function in summer and beyond will determine staff health and productivity.
A well-functioning ventilation system stops building users from inhaling high Co2-laden air that contains chemicals, odours, toxins, or pollutants lurking in the building while also cooling the space. This is so important in the heat, which often activates building materials to release fumes and other catalysts for poor health. A healthy ventilation system also helps people concentrate and work well because they don’t feel stifled and overheated in the work environment.
An additional bonus is that virus droplets, including COVID that may hang in the air, are also eliminated in a cleansing ventilation system, which reduces cross-contamination and illness. A good quality and functional ventilation system indeed does it all.
Choose the Proper Tools
This is a tiny tip that can make a substantial long-term difference to the life of your oven. Choosing the right tools is an important step in cleaning your pizza oven without inflicting any damage in the process. Cleaners need to be non-abrasive so as not to scratch and mark the metal, steel, brick, or any other surface yours might be made of. In particular, these tiny scratches can turn into rust spots on a metal surface and destroy the oven sooner than you would expect.
Chemicals are another tool to approach with caution as some cleaners cause bubbling or react with inner oven components and metals, causing corrosion, and quick wear and tear. In addition, harsh chemicals seldom help remove nasty stains and often escalate the issue, rendering the oven ruined. Chlorine, for example, can damage brickwork and metal parts. There are exceptions, however, and some are effective at eliminating crusty and caked bits of food – always check with your manufacturer when selecting chemicals that may be appropriate for use.
When To Clean Pizza Oven
To keep your oven clean and usable, all food that has flicked on the sides must be removed on the day it landed in the oven. This helps keep the inner workings free of contaminants, baked-on bits, and sticky goo that can ruin an oven and affect the pizza taste. Unfortunately, it lodges in hard-to-reach parts of the oven, posing a massive challenge to clean.
Always be sure to clean your oven when you spot dirt and grime accumulating or stains forming. This includes soot or blockages, which must be cleaned as soon as possible.
Maintenance is Key
All these tips and cleaning, in general, are made far more manageable if you keep on top of cleanliness on a day-to-day basis. For example, don’t let pizza oven grease and grime escalate to catastrophic proportions that make cleaning so much harder, don’t leave food particles in the oven, and always let it cool thoroughly before starting to clean. It is a matter of consistency, but doing this will ensure your pizza is delicious and your oven lasts for many years.
Book A Deep Clean For Your Pizza Oven
Cleanliness is vital for any pizza or restaurant venue. Even minor changes to your pizza oven cleaning schedule can make all the difference between good pizza and great, ultimately influencing the business’s popularity and bottom line. When you need help doing a deep clean, contact the pizza-loving team at Grease Gone Commercial Cleaning London. We help companies, restaurants, and pizza oven owners across London and the UK with deep cleaning services. We are experts in every aspect of cleaning so call us to get a professional company on your side.
