Has anyone found an easier way of cleaning the carbon build up on pizza screens. So far we’ve found a degreasing solution and scrubbing but it takes long time.
Any suggestions?
I wouldnt clean the pizza screens (used to ) but now just wipe them down. If you strip them down the pizzas will stick to them causing a real mess.
If you really want to clean them though and get them back to storeshelf condition if you soak them in Castrol Super Clean for a little while then just use a wire brush over them it will remove all the seasoning and return to brite color when purchased. You can get it at any auto store or walmart 5 a gallon
While we normally don’t recommend cleaning screens, when you do, for whatever reason, remember to clean all of the screens because your cleaned screens will bake differently from the older. seasoned screens. And above all else, DON"t FORGET to reseason you screens innediately after cleaning, or your first baked pizzas on the cleaned screens will become a permenant part of the newly cleaned screens.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I agree with Tom here. If they are that bad, it is better to toss them and buy new screens. If you have just had a pizza stick to one, then a soak in water will loosen up anything stuck to it.
Castrol Super Clean is probably the last thing you want in your store, let alone being used as a cleaner for anything touching food.
When I’ve had to remove carbon from something, I’ve had good luck with a product called Carbon Off. You can check it out at <www.carbonoff.com>
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
We don’t wash our screens…ever. Once they are seasoned we scrape them with a metal spatuala to get the baked cheese or whatever off. If for some reason it won’t come off we burn it off by putting the screen in the oven until it burns and then we scrape.
Not sure why you would want to wash the screens…you want them to be seasoned…
Kris
totally agree with the ‘seasoned’ but but over time the ‘holes’ in the screens especially around the edges start to get blocked with carbon build up. obviously over time this will effect the bake of the pizza.
I know I could just thrown and buy new ones but there is nothing wrong with the screens other than carbon build up. I’d rather not throw 40-50 screens as either way I’m going to have season a new one or a cleaned one.
I’ve actually just soaked them in hot water with degreaser and then blasted them with a pressure washer. That’s got them clean and now I’ve just got to season then again - that’s the Royal ‘I’ as in the team in tonight! :). Shouldn’t be too much of a problem (no more than if I’d bought news ones anyhow).
thanks for the comments.
Wiz
No we don’t use the Castrol Super Clean on things normally. I do use it when tearing down the oven and the belt. but fire the oven up for 4 hours to ensure it “burns” off. Same idea with the screen anytime you would “clean” them burn off any residue of the cleaner whether it be Super Clean or dish soap. But as the other posts say you have to reseason them. We did the same oven cleaning ways when I was at the big box shops out west.
Another thought is do you use a wire brush on them at the end of the night. We do that on the built up spots the nwipe all down with a rag. That has cut down on almost all the build up but keeps them seasoned.
CM;
The use of a wire brush on those soft aluminum screens will probably scrape away sone of the seasoning, the seasoning isn’t fixed to the metal very tightly to begin with, much like a paint, so the abrasiveness of a wire brush would be pretty harsh on the screens unless you were to wipe again with oil and pass through the oven every night. Also, I’d have some real concerns over those metal bristles in my kitchen area. The combination of metal brush bristles, food, and Mr. Murphy is a recipe for disaster.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom I totally agree about the wire brush.
I bought a wire brush when we opened our first shop for cleaning certain oven parts (have I mentioned what a pig a MM is to clean?) but when I looked at the brush after it had been used a few times I saw that loads of bristles were missing so it went straight in the bin and has never been replaced.
I can just image a stray bristle getting lodged in the rim of a screen and turning up in a pizza that would be bad!
I’ve never washed a screen before unless its had a accident with a stuck pie but I think the screens certainly need something doing with them after a couple of years. I think the ‘seasoning’ argument starts to wear thin when the ‘seasoning’ starts to take over the screen!
Tom I agree it is not a all the time thing but when spots are bad! We do it over a trash can with a shelf on it so a-no contact with can b- all bristles (if any come out) go into can.
On another note what do you guys use to clean your ovens and conveyor belts with if not using a degreaser? We have to clean ours min of 2 times a year here and the inspectors hate the other options (scrub pads etc) I would think a degreaser involved has to be involved.
I find after a year or two they need to be thrown away/recycled. The last time I tried to clean them I brought them home and tried the 3500 PSI pressure washer. They got clean but I now have pizza screen imprints in my concrete. They were never quite flat after that either.
WW;
I agree that, after a couple years of use, the screens can begin liiking more like disks than screens as the holes begin to close up. Maybe a good soaking in Carbon Off or a sililar product, and then hit the screens with a high pressure sprayer, like you would use for cleaning your deck or patio would do the trick. Has anybody tried this yet? If you have, let us know how it worked for you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom, think you must have missed my comment.
I soaked them in a strong degreaser and then pressure washed. Was a bit time consuming but its got 99% of the build up off which has to be good.
WW;
I’m with you when it comes to seasoning screens and pans. What a pain! Its time consuming, and it smokes the place up. Tip, make sure you don’t have your oven temperature set above 430F when putting the screens through the oven on their first pass. The flash point of most oils is just above this at about 435F. When the oil reaches this temperature it can combust, making for some exciting moments around your oven. The way we typically season pans (pretty rare any more) is to set the oven at 430F and run the oiled pans/screens through for 20-minutes, wipe off the excess oil and pass through again at your normal baking temperature for about 10-minutes, this will completely “set” the seasoning and you will notice a slight amber tint to the pan/screen. As you continue to use the screens they will continue to darken.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor