ovenboy,
you'll be surprised how easy it is to sweep the coals aside (with something like a shovel) and then tidy it up with the brush or slightly damp mop methods.
I assume the metal tray idea would have no holes/perforations underneath. 2 things:
- I've found with my oven, having the coals burning evenly across the oven (more central than rear) it gets to the "white hot" stage quicker and more evenly.
-As the fresh air for the oven comes in down low its good to have areas of your wood up off the hearth (maybe an inch or 2, here and there). James sells a log holder here which is the go:
http://www.fornobravo.com/store/Pizz...p-1-c-249.html
You want to encourage cold air(relatively) to come in underneath but you don't need all the wood off the hearth.
Once you get to white hot, the coals can go along one side (useful for browning off the pizza crust). Plus if you have any spills where toppings of pizza end up on the hearth and burn(yep I still have them). You can then rake some coals from the side back over the spill, let it burn off, then you can push the coals aside, brush again and then reuse that area.
Each and every oven has its differences so part of the fun is experimenting with different things......which is probably part of you suggesting the tray in the first place......
