Do I need to clean my pizza oven? While most experts would answer that it depends on your oven, the general answer is yes. If you are burning solid fuels like kindling, charcoal, or wood pellets, your pizza oven should be cleaned regularly. Otherwise, you may end up with a soot-flavored pizza.
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As time progresses, soot gathers inside the pizza oven’s components like the chimney and the hopper. This will reduce the performance and efficiency at which your oven operates. You may discover that the oven doesn’t obtain the same level of heat, no longer provides consistent results, or set up times takes longer. These are all signals that it should be cleaned.
Soot can additionally gather on the pizza oven’s ceiling. When this occurs, soot can fall onto the pizza while cooking. This creates a sooty flavor and look to the pizza.
If you are using gas, you may not need to clean your oven as much. Since there won’t be a soot buildup, the only thing that you may need to clean is the pizza stone.
Cleaning the Pizza Stone
While many customers prefer to allow the high temperatures of their pizza oven to burn off debris, there is a recommended way provided by the manufacturer as to how to clean it.
To clean the pizza stone, all you need to do is remove excess food with a peel or a spatula. If the pizza stone requires cleaning, attempt to turn the stone over and begin using the opposite side. Most users discover that the high temperatures produced by the oven will successfully clean the stone for them without any effort.
To fully clean the stone, remove the debris, then place the stone with the dirty side up. Heat up the oven using a full flame. The flame then burns the debris closest to it. Once cooled, rotate the stone until all debris close to the stone has been removed. Most customers cite that this takes 30 minutes at the highest temperature.
Also, once the stone has completely cooled, you can take a dry paper towel and wipe the inside of the oven. If you have an Ooni Koda 16, you can wipe down the outer shell with soapy, warm water and dry it immediately.
If the pizza stone is stained, some experts recommend that you create a paste using equal parts baking soda and water. The baking soda acts as a scrub to eliminate the stains. Then, you apply the paste to the stains and wipe using a damp cloth. Allow the stone to fully dry before putting it back into the oven.
It should be noted that you should never wash a Cordierite pizza stone with soap. The stone is porous, which allows it to evenly distribute heat and retain moisture for a crispy crust. However, if it is washed with soap, the pores absorb the material, which will cause you to taste it when you create your next pizza.
You should also never oil your pizza stone. Oil added to the stone will generate a horrible smell and create smoke. Additionally, it may cause it to crack. The stone should season itself over time, so it doesn’t require anything extra.
Cleaning Burned Cheese
Burnt cheese is the most difficult thing to have on your stone. It may end up cracking the stone. While it can be challenging to clean, it is not entirely impossible.
Once cooled, remove the stone, and clean it with water. To get off the rest of the cheese, bring the stone up to temperature. Use the sharp edge of the peel to scrape off burnt bits from the stone. Do not press too hard on the stone, as you don’t want to break it. Once the cheese is removed, it should burn to ash if you have left it in the oven.
Cleaning the Pizza Oven
To clean the pizza oven, dismantle all the pieces. Then, scrub everything using a sponge/brush and soapy water.
After you clean with soap, be sure to thoroughly rinse each piece. Otherwise, when you use the oven next time, you will taste hints of soap on your pizza. Definitely not a tasty treat!
What You Will Need:
- Garden hose (the spray gun is optional, but recommended)
- A location to clean it away from other items
- A high table so you are not hunched over
- Rubber gloves
- Bucket of soapy water
- Kitchen sponge
- Pizza Oven Brush
It is recommended that you use an Ooni pizza oven brush to clean your oven. The brush itself serves a dual purpose. One side allows you to brush excessive flour while cooking, and the other scrapes away stuck on food. This brush is the only one that is soft enough not to cause damage to the oven.
Also, keep in mind that these materials, and yourself, will get sooty. Don’t use anything that you will mind damaging.
The Ooni 3
For the Ooni 3, the most important part to clean is the shield that surrounds the top of the pizza. This is what guides the flames across the pizza to cook it thoroughly. Most models will allow you to remove this part. However, with later models, this part may be fastened.
If you are unable to remove it, then be sure your arm can reach inside and scrub it with a brush to remove the soot. Soot collects the most on this part as it really is the ceiling of the oven.
Next, be sure to remove the hopper located at the rear of the oven. Dismantle it, place the components inside the bucket of soapy water, including the grate, then thoroughly clean and rinse them using the hose.
Soot additionally builds up inside the chimney. Be sure that you remove it and clean it thoroughly as well. Once it is removed, scrub the inside with a brush from each end so that you can clean the entire length of the chimney.
The Ooni Pro
To clean this model, do it similarly to the instructions outlined above. The difference with this model will be that cleaning the Ooni Pro is easier, as the Ooni 3 is a larger model. Your arm can easily reach the length of the chimney and inside the oven. You will also be better able to see inside.
With the Ooni Pro, you will need to clean four pizza stones instead of just one. Stones should be carefully taken out and cleaned individually. Once cleaned and thoroughly dried, they can be put back into the oven. Then you can begin on the next one.
These are some general ways to clean a pizza oven including how to clean the Ooni pizza stone. Cleaning is not difficult, but it’s necessary to keep the oven in top working condition.
Hey there, I’m Greg Palmer, and I’m thrilled to share my story with you. Together with my brother Tim, I run the website GoodLifePizzaOvens.com, and it’s been quite the journey!
Our roots run deep in a beautiful countryside where we spent our childhood surrounded by nature’s wonders. Those were the days of horseback rides, fixing fences, rounding up cattle, and the never-ending quest to catch chipmunks raiding the grain barrel. But among all the adventures, that one special summer stands out, etched in our hearts forever—a time we both cherish dearly.
