Using Pizza Peels

There are several pizza peel options in terms of type, and how to use them. Choice is dependent on application – for example, a restaurant environment has different demands to home cooking. You could use a wooden pizza peel to build your pizza on, and then set it in your oven. You could also make your pizza on a flat bench surface or stone slab, and use a square-fronted metal peel to place it in your oven. There are three schools of thought, so you can try them all, and decide what works for you.

The Professional Pizzaiolo

Restaurants and professional pizzaiolo’s usually build their pizza on a solid, cool counter (such as marble or granite), then slide a metal pizza peel under the pizza to set it in the oven.

Aluminum or stainless steel is preferred for the placing peel you use to place the pizzas in the oven. That’s because it’s slippery and your bread and pizza will slide  off cleanly. With a pizza oven large enough for multiple pizzas, you will want to arrange them in the back or sides. For that, you will require a peel with a long handle to keep the peel level and not burn yourself. Hollow aluminum tubing is good for longer handles because it’s lighter than both steel or wood.

Home-made Pizza

Home owners may find that assembling pizzas on short wood pizza peels first, then sliding them onto a metal placing peel to set them in the oven works best. This technique also minimises the possibility that you or your guests will spoil a pizza when it sticks to the counter. You could keep several short wooden peels at home for social gatherings, which your guests could use to assemble their own pizzas

Aonther option is use a long-handled wood pizza peel to both assemble your pizza, and slide it into your oven. Whilst this technique largely eliminates the risk of kitchen disasters, those long wood peels can be awkward to move around in the kitchen.  However, if you are only going to make a few pizzas it can be a convenient method to use.

Pizza Peel – Size Matters

Make sure your placing peel is large enough to hold the pizza! Otherwise, uncooked pizza will droop messily  over the edge of the peel. The placing peel must be rectangular, as you will use the flat, squared  front edge to slide under the assembled pizzas. Sliding a round peel under pizzas that your friends or children have carefully concocted can be a serious challenge for the home pizzaiolo.

To prevent sticking, you can use cornmeal, which is the Italian tradition, or flour on the assembly bench or wooden peel. Rice flour is also good at keeping your pizzas from sticking to the peel.

Turning & Removing Pizza

You will need a round metal peel to turn pizza in the oven, and remove them from the pizza oven. It is extremely difficult to do this with either a wooden, or rectangular metal peel. To turn or move the pizzas in the oven, its best to use a small round peel. This can be as small as 40cm – this makes it easy to rotate the pizza to cook evenly facing the fire. The small size round peel also works well for removing your pizza, as the cooked pizza comes out flat and doesn’t sag over the edge.