Tool storage

[james]

Where are you storing your tools? Do you have a hook or a special slot designed into your oven enclosure?

A designer just asked me for ideas on how to store and hide the tools when they aren't being used.

Any ideas?
James

[CanuckJim]

James,

A few years ago, I worked on a kitchen reno. The homeowner had limited space for a pantry-like arrangement, but sorely needed the storage. Turns out that there are vertical storage units on sliders that pull out of a narrow opening between, say, a fridge and a wall. We got ours from Lee Valley Tools (in the hardware catalogue section of their web site), though doubtless there are other sources. Seems to me one of these could be easily adapted to hold pizza tools. It's a really slick setup, and I think they come in different sizes.

Jim

[Hendo]

I saw the sliding storage unit when we were looking at alternatives for our new kitchen - very neat if you've got a spare section of wall with enough depth behind it.

In my planned outdoor kitchen area, I'll have a full length bench with the oven entrance in the middle, so I like the idea of a compartment above the dome, to the left of centre. The image below shows a similar setup, but in a different location. I'd like mine smaller if possible, so that it doesn't predominate too much. I'm planning to attach wall brackets to the inside face of the external brickwork, clear of the dome, lay some cement sheet on them as a 'floor' of the compartment, and box it up somehow before the roof goes on. The brickwork at the front face of the oven will have an opening / slot to put the utensils in by.

Cheers, Paul.

[Chris]

I've got a little shed over the oven. (Actually, I will be moving it next to the oven, so I can cover the dining area, not the oven, which really doesn't need it's own cover.)

I plan to hang the peel, brush, etc. from the joists.

[Fio]

I have peel hangers mounted on the side of the oven. I keep the peels there when the weather's nice.

I'm planning to build a mobile tool storage cart/dough pressing work surface. When I do so, all my problems will be solved.

[Hendo]

As an addendum to my post of 19 Feb 2007 regarding a tool storage slot, I need to know how long these instruments typically are so that I can make a suitable sized receptacle for my pizza peel and other tools.

At the end of the day, I wonder if the depth of my oven enclosure will be long enough to accommodate my equipment? Obviously I will need some length sticking out to grab them by, but three feet would look a bit silly! So how long are yours?

Also (without the benefit of experience), is it advisable to have a rack or somewhere to put these utensils while in use, as well as a separate place for storage?

Cheers, Paul.

[CanuckJim]

Paul,

I guess the general rule of thumb for oven tools would be somewhere in the range of the depth of your cooking floor plus about a foot or so. You don't want your hands or forearms too close to the oven mouth for obvious reasons. Originally, I went with the depth of my hearth (4 feet), plus 2 feet, for my wooden peels but this makes for unwieldy tool length. I made them myselft, and I'm considering cutting them down a bit, although I'd stick with the 2 foot additional for the ash rake, because you have to reach way to the back.

I'm going to have a rack built by a blacksmith to hold my tools: three peels, brush, ash rake, swab, poker, so I can organize them next to the oven and keep them off the foundation, expecially in wet weather. In winter, I store the wooden bits on an enclosed porch to keep them out of the snow.

Jim