Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one they
had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also made
of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like it end
up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.

I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the
> one they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a
> business end that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a
> pizza. It was also made of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier
> than balsa. Seemed like it end up gouged all to hell by the pizza
> cutter. Made in China, of course.
> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how
> thick is it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?

I have a metal one with a wooden handle. The metal part is about 18 inches
square and the handle is perhaps 2 feet long. Very hand for rising bread or
developing pizza. The metal is thin enough that it slips easily under
anything.
Janet

"Janet Bostwick" > wrote in message
...
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the
>> one they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a
>> business end that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a
>> pizza. It was also made of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier
>> than balsa. Seemed like it end up gouged all to hell by the pizza
>> cutter. Made in China, of course.
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how
>> thick is it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
> I have a metal one with a wooden handle. The metal part is about 18
> inches square and the handle is perhaps 2 feet long. Very hand for rising
> bread or developing pizza. The metal is thin enough that it slips easily
> under anything.
> Janet
>

Anything? What about under a house?

"JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
> they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end
> that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also
> made of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like
> it end up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of
> course.
>
> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?

Mine is metal with a wooden handle. I still wouldn't be cutting pizza on
it. That's not what they are for. Slip it in, slide the pizzo onto the
oven floor, slip it under and slide the pizza out and onto the surface where
it gets cut or not.

"Giusi" > wrote in message
...
> "JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> ...
>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>> they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end
>> that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was
>> also made of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa.
>> Seemed like it end up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in
>> China, of course.
>>
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
> Mine is metal with a wooden handle. I still wouldn't be cutting pizza on
> it. That's not what they are for. Slip it in, slide the pizzo onto the
> oven floor, slip it under and slide the pizza out and onto the surface
> where it gets cut or not.
>


Thanks.

The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my pizza
stone. I used the heavy stone for the first time last night. The pizza crust
was so delicious, we went into some sort of trance state. :-) This is going
to become a habit around here.

"JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> "Giusi" > wrote
>> Mine is metal with a wooden handle. I still wouldn't be cutting pizza on
>> it. That's not what they are for.

> Thanks.
>
> The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my
> pizza stone.

Or make single serving sized pizzas. OTH, if cut you must, kitchen shears
do a fine job on any surface.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
> "Janet Bostwick" > wrote in message
> ...
>> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the
>>> one they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a
>>> business end that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a
>>> pizza. It was also made of some kind of wood that wasn't much
>>> heavier than balsa. Seemed like it end up gouged all to hell by the
>>> pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.
>>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how
>>> thick is it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>>
>> I have a metal one with a wooden handle. The metal part is about 18
>> inches square and the handle is perhaps 2 feet long. Very hand for
>> rising bread or developing pizza. The metal is thin enough that it
>> slips easily under anything.
>> Janet
>>
>
> Anything? What about under a house?

With a good lever . . . sure! ;o}
Janet

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
snip
> The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my
> pizza stone. I used the heavy stone for the first time last night.
> The pizza crust was so delicious, we went into some sort of trance
> state. :-) This is going to become a habit around here.

My cutting board is not quite that big so I turn the pizza and then cut the
other half.
Janet

In article >,
"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote:

> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?


Several years ago Robin Ringo (used to post here) sent me a peel that
her husband had made. There's a pretty good picture of it at
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com , click on the "Yeast is Yeast. . . ."
note and scroll down for the pic. It is two kinds of wood; you can see
that it is tapered. I would describe the edge as sharpish rather than
blunt, though it's certainly not going to ever cut anything. :-) It's
not especially heavy. I don't cut pizza on it; I slide the pizza to my
cutting board and do the deed on that. I'm guessing (from afar) that
it's maybe 1/2" thick. FWIW.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
Pray for the abatement of her pain.

"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote:
>
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
>
> Several years ago Robin Ringo (used to post here) sent me a peel that
> her husband had made. There's a pretty good picture of it at
> http://www.jamlady.eboard.com , click on the "Yeast is Yeast. . . ."
> note and scroll down for the pic. It is two kinds of wood; you can see
> that it is tapered. I would describe the edge as sharpish rather than
> blunt, though it's certainly not going to ever cut anything. :-) It's
> not especially heavy. I don't cut pizza on it; I slide the pizza to my
> cutting board and do the deed on that. I'm guessing (from afar) that
> it's maybe 1/2" thick. FWIW.


Wow....that thing's a work of art!

In article >,
"Giusi" > wrote:

> "JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> ...
> > "Giusi" > wrote
> >> Mine is metal with a wooden handle. I still wouldn't be cutting pizza on
> >> it. That's not what they are for.
>
> > Thanks.
> >
> > The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my
> > pizza stone.
>
> Or make single serving sized pizzas. OTH, if cut you must, kitchen shears
> do a fine job on any surface.

I make individual pizzas -- we each prefer different stuff. My method
is, I am sure, unorthodox and will probably elicit gasps of horror ‹ but
it works for me and it is what I will continue to do. It is based on
less than satisfactory experience doing it a more traditional way.

I use a piece of dough about the size of a tennis ball for each pizza.
I roll the dough very thin - perhaps the square inch total of a 9"
round, though not exactly round. :-) I slide it to my baking tiles
(unglazed terracotta, 1/4" thick) and bake it on the bottom rack at 550
deg F for 2-3 minutes just to set the crust a bit. I dock the dough
first.

I put the toppings on the baked side of the crust and slide it back into
the oven with the peel for about 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is as I
like it. Or until the crust edges are brown (Rob has his without
cheese). The crust is crisp (as he likes it).

I'd had a flippin' Alexawful mess with one. My dough was too thin for
what I was putting on it and I had not prebaked it as described above.
The dough stuck to the peel and let's just say I wound up with a heckuva
mess in my oven due to slippage and sloppage and stickage. :-/

Prebaking the crusts as I do allows me to prepare them a bit in advance
-- when Small Child was in residence we could have one in the oven while
we arranged the topping on the next.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
Pray for the abatement of her pain.

In article >,
"Janet Bostwick" > wrote:

>The metal is thin enough that it slips easily under
> anything.
> Janet

Does it bend from the weight?

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
Pray for the abatement of her pain.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one they
> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also made
> of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like it end
> up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.
>
> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?

They are normally made of light weight wood. My peel tapers along it's
entire length somewhat and then more significantly at the front edge. It
starts at about 3/4" at the handle and tapers to about 1/2" near the
front before the final taper to about 1/8" in the last 3/4".

You *DO NOT* cut a pizza on the peel! A peel is a transfer device, just
a big spatula really and you don't cut stuff on a spatula either. The
peel is used to transfer the uncooked pizza into the oven and remove it
from the oven once cooked, that's all. Once you remove the cooked pizza
you put it on a platter or disk of some type which is where you do the
cutting.

"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote

> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?

I don't have a pizza peel. I use a large metal offset spatula, get it
under there and just slide the pizza onto a cutting board.

nancy

"Pete C." > wrote in message
. net...
>
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>>
>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>> they
>> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
>> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also
>> made
>> of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like it
>> end
>> up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.
>>
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
> They are normally made of light weight wood. My peel tapers along it's
> entire length somewhat and then more significantly at the front edge. It
> starts at about 3/4" at the handle and tapers to about 1/2" near the
> front before the final taper to about 1/8" in the last 3/4".
>
> You *DO NOT* cut a pizza on the peel! A peel is a transfer device, just
> a big spatula really and you don't cut stuff on a spatula either. The
> peel is used to transfer the uncooked pizza into the oven and remove it
> from the oven once cooked, that's all. Once you remove the cooked pizza
> you put it on a platter or disk of some type which is where you do the
> cutting.


I sorta had a feeling that wasn't a great idea. But, my mind was momentarily
swayed by the descriptive text for a nice looking peel at the BB&B web site,
which claimed the product wouldn't be damaged by knives, or something like
that. I've come to my senses, though.

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >,
> "Janet Bostwick" > wrote:
>
>> The metal is thin enough that it slips easily under
>> anything.
>> Janet
>
> Does it bend from the weight?
>
> --
> -Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ

No, it is similar to a cookie sheet in guage.
Janet

On Mar 28, 6:57*am, Melba's Jammin' >
wrote:
> In article >,
>
> *"Giusi" > wrote:
> > "JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> ...
> > > "Giusi" > wrote
> > >> Mine is metal with a wooden handle. *I still wouldn't be cutting pizza on
> > >> it. *That's not what they are for.
>
> > > Thanks.
>
> > > The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my
> > > pizza stone.
>
> > Or make single serving sized pizzas. *OTH, if cut you must, kitchen shears
> > do a fine job on any surface.
>
> I make individual pizzas -- we each prefer different stuff. *My method
> is, I am sure, unorthodox and will probably elicit gasps of horror ‹ but
> it works for me and it is what I will continue to do. *It is based on
> less than satisfactory experience doing it a more traditional way.
>
> I use a piece of dough about the size of a tennis ball for each pizza. *
> I roll the dough very thin - perhaps the square inch total of a 9"
> round, though not exactly round. *:-) *I slide it to my baking tiles
> (unglazed terracotta, 1/4" thick) and bake it on the bottom rack at 550
> deg F for 2-3 minutes just to set the crust a bit. *I dock the dough
> first.
>
> I put the toppings on the baked side of the crust and slide it back into
> the oven with the peel for about 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is as I
> like it. *Or until the crust edges are brown (Rob has his without
> cheese). *The crust is crisp (as he likes it). *
>
> I'd had a flippin' Alexawful mess with one. *My dough was too thin for
> what I was putting on it and I had not prebaked it as described above. *
> The dough stuck to the peel and let's just say I wound up with a heckuva
> mess in my oven due to slippage and sloppage and stickage. *:-/
>
> Prebaking the crusts as I do allows me to prepare them a bit in advance
> -- when Small Child was in residence we could have one in the oven while
> we arranged the topping on the next.
> --
> -Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJhttp://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
> Pray for the abatement of her pain.

No gasping from me- your method sounds like a great idea!

>
> I'd had a flippin' Alexawful mess with one. *My dough was too thin for
> what I was putting on it and I had not prebaked it as described above. *
> The dough stuck to the peel and let's just say I wound up with a heckuva
> mess in my oven due to slippage and sloppage and stickage. *:-/

It stuck, even with a sprinkle of cornmeal under it to to ease the
sliding?

I LOVE thin-crust pizza - but I'm afraid if I get a stone for the
oven, I'll just eat too much of it.... ;-)

N.

"Nancy2" > wrote in message
...

>
> I'd had a flippin' Alexawful mess with one. My dough was too thin for
> what I was putting on it and I had not prebaked it as described above.
> The dough stuck to the peel and let's just say I wound up with a heckuva
> mess in my oven due to slippage and sloppage and stickage. :-/

It stuck, even with a sprinkle of cornmeal under it to to ease the
sliding?


=============


I had that same problem last night. Without a peel, I used an inverted
baking sheet for assembling the pizza and (theoretically) sliding it onto
the baking stone. I put a LOT of cornmeal on the surface first, but that
pizza would not budge, no matter how I tried to assist with a really long
spatula. So, I ended up putting the baking sheet on the stone. It still
turned out delicious, except the bottom didn't get to the color/crispness I
wanted.

The recipe said "dough should be somewhat wet". I probably made it TOO wet.

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:15:17 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
> wrote:

>"Giusi" > wrote in message
...
>> "JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
>> ...
>>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>>> they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end
>>> that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was
>>> also made of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa.
>>> Seemed like it end up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in
>>> China, of course.
>>>
>>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>>
>> Mine is metal with a wooden handle. I still wouldn't be cutting pizza on
>> it. That's not what they are for. Slip it in, slide the pizzo onto the
>> oven floor, slip it under and slide the pizza out and onto the surface
>> where it gets cut or not.
>>
>
>
>Thanks.
>
>The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my pizza
>stone. I used the heavy stone for the first time last night. The pizza crust
>was so delicious, we went into some sort of trance state. :-) This is going
>to become a habit around here.
>
I don't use a pizza peel, I use a sideless cookie sheet which is
bigger than most peels I've seen. It works for me, plus it does
double duty. I think pizza joints use wooden peels to place the pizza
into the oven and metal peels to move them around and remove when
cooked.

I've been thinking about getting a wooden one though because you have
to be very careful about sticking with metal, since you assemble your
pizza on the peel and it tends to expand if your kitchen is warm... so
I have to go round with a cake spatula to make sure it's not sticking
anywhere - otherwise, my toppings end up in the oven and part of my
dough sticks to the pan. BTDT, not fun to clean up.

I have a huge cutting board, so cutting the pizza is easy enough to do
w/o damaging knives.

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smile first

<sf> wrote in message news
> On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:15:17 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
> > wrote:
>
>>"Giusi" > wrote in message
...
>>> "JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
>>> ...
>>>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>>>> they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business
>>>> end
>>>> that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was
>>>> also made of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa.
>>>> Seemed like it end up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in
>>>> China, of course.
>>>>
>>>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick
>>>> is
>>>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>>>
>>> Mine is metal with a wooden handle. I still wouldn't be cutting pizza
>>> on
>>> it. That's not what they are for. Slip it in, slide the pizzo onto the
>>> oven floor, slip it under and slide the pizza out and onto the surface
>>> where it gets cut or not.
>>>
>>
>>
>>Thanks.
>>
>>The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my
>>pizza
>>stone. I used the heavy stone for the first time last night. The pizza
>>crust
>>was so delicious, we went into some sort of trance state. :-) This is
>>going
>>to become a habit around here.
>>
> I don't use a pizza peel, I use a sideless cookie sheet which is
> bigger than most peels I've seen. It works for me, plus it does
> double duty. I think pizza joints use wooden peels to place the pizza
> into the oven and metal peels to move them around and remove when
> cooked.
>
> I've been thinking about getting a wooden one though because you have
> to be very careful about sticking with metal, since you assemble your
> pizza on the peel and it tends to expand if your kitchen is warm... so
> I have to go round with a cake spatula to make sure it's not sticking
> anywhere - otherwise, my toppings end up in the oven and part of my
> dough sticks to the pan. BTDT, not fun to clean up.
>
> I have a huge cutting board, so cutting the pizza is easy enough to do
> w/o damaging knives.


You just gave me an idea: I have no use for a non-stick cookie sheet, but
I'll bet a pizza would slide off one very easily. And, if I use one of those
very thin plastic spatulas to help it off, the sheet wouldn't get damaged,
and heat wouldn't be an issue with the plastic because I wouldn't use it for
anything but the "cold side" of the whole operation.

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:10:40 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
> wrote:

>You just gave me an idea: I have no use for a non-stick cookie sheet, but
>I'll bet a pizza would slide off one very easily.

I think you need to use the same precautions... flour the cookie sheet
and sprinkle some cornmeal on it first. Run your spatula around
*just* before you put the pizza into the oven and remember it's all in
the wrist! Forward motions to get contact with the baking stone, then
one quick back motion.... like a magician taking the table cloth off a
fully set table.

>And, if I use one of those
>very thin plastic spatulas to help it off, the sheet wouldn't get damaged,
>and heat wouldn't be an issue with the plastic because I wouldn't use it for
>anything but the "cold side" of the whole operation.

I just use a regular pancake turner to lift my pizza enough to slide
the cookie sheet under and remove it from the oven. The crust is
crispy enough that all I need is the pancake turner, but it's 6-7 feet
to the counter, so I don't take chances.

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smile first

<sf> wrote in message ...
> On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:10:40 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
> > wrote:
>
>>You just gave me an idea: I have no use for a non-stick cookie sheet, but
>>I'll bet a pizza would slide off one very easily.
>
> I think you need to use the same precautions... flour the cookie sheet
> and sprinkle some cornmeal on it first. Run your spatula around
> *just* before you put the pizza into the oven and remember it's all in
> the wrist! Forward motions to get contact with the baking stone, then
> one quick back motion.... like a magician taking the table cloth off a
> fully set table.
>
>>And, if I use one of those
>>very thin plastic spatulas to help it off, the sheet wouldn't get damaged,
>>and heat wouldn't be an issue with the plastic because I wouldn't use it
>>for
>>anything but the "cold side" of the whole operation.
>
> I just use a regular pancake turner to lift my pizza enough to slide
> the cookie sheet under and remove it from the oven. The crust is
> crispy enough that all I need is the pancake turner, but it's 6-7 feet
> to the counter, so I don't take chances.


Yeah...that's what I figured (normal metal spatula) once the pie's been
cooking long enough to get crisp.

Nancy Young wrote:
> "JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote
>
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
> I don't have a pizza peel. I use a large metal offset spatula, get it
> under there and just slide the pizza onto a cutting board.
>
> nancy
>
>
>
>
>
>
I've been on a pizza kick the last month or so - I've been semi
pre-baking the dough on a pizza stone, then taking out the hot stone,
assembling the pizza on the half baked crust on the stone, then sticking
the whole thing back in the oven. It works great, and no need for a peel.

Sharon

On 2008-03-28, JoeSpareBedroom > wrote:

> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?

If you watch any tv, you'll notice most commercial pizza kitchens use a
metal peel. I think the wooden ones are just for romantics. I had two.
One actually worked pretty good and I used it. The other was way too thick
and even advertised as doubling as a cutting board. Junk!

I should point out that the good one I used, I used as a tool to get my
pizza pie pan out of the oven. Yep, I use a pizza pan with holes. I could
do without the peel and just use hot pads, but a peel was handy. I have
neither, since the move.

nb

JoeSpareBedroom <JoeSpareBedroom >> wrote:

> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one they
> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also made
> of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like it end
> up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.
>
> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?

Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
why would you need a pizza peel?

-sw

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> JoeSpareBedroom <JoeSpareBedroom >> wrote:
>
>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>> they
>> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
>> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also
>> made
>> of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like it
>> end
>> up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.
>>
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
> Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
> why would you need a pizza peel?
>
> -sw


I need some sort of flat thing on which to assemble the pizza, and then
slide it into the preheated stone. Pizza peel, very slippery cookie sheet,
something.

"Sqwertz" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> JoeSpareBedroom <JoeSpareBedroom >> wrote:
>
>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>> they
>> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
>> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza.

> Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
> why would you need a pizza peel?
>
> -sw

For me it is because my oven is a 5 foot stone dome and without a peel and
ash rake I can't get anything in or out of it.

"Giusi" > wrote in message
...
> "Sqwertz" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> ...
>> JoeSpareBedroom <JoeSpareBedroom >> wrote:
>>
>>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>>> they
>>> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
>>> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza.
>
>> Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
>> why would you need a pizza peel?
>>
>> -sw
>
> For me it is because my oven is a 5 foot stone dome and without a peel and
> ash rake I can't get anything in or out of it.
>

I have to see that! Can you post a picture?

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote
>
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
> I don't have a pizza peel. I use a large metal offset spatula, get it
> under there and just slide the pizza onto a cutting board.


Me either, I just have no place to store a peel.

Paul

"JoeSpareBedroom" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> "Giusi" > wrote
>>>> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza.
>>
>>> Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
>>> why would you need a pizza peel?
>>>
>>> -sw
>>
>> For me it is because my oven is a 5 foot stone dome and without a peel
>> and ash rake I can't get anything in or out of it.
>>
>
> I have to see that! Can you post a picture?

It just looks like a stone ell to the house, but I can try to shoot inside
the oven. You did know that's what original pizza ovens were like, didn't
you-- the wood fired oven that takes 8 hours to heat up by burning 4 foot
long wood?
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

JoeSpareBedroom <JoeSpareBedroom >> wrote:

>> Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
>> why would you need a pizza peel?
>
> I need some sort of flat thing on which to assemble the pizza, and then
> slide it into the preheated stone. Pizza peel, very slippery cookie sheet,
> something.

I have a flat, Teflon air-bake cookie sheet, usually with a slightly
cornmealed bottom.

-sw

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> JoeSpareBedroom <JoeSpareBedroom >> wrote:
>
>>> Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
>>> why would you need a pizza peel?
>>
>> I need some sort of flat thing on which to assemble the pizza, and then
>> slide it into the preheated stone. Pizza peel, very slippery cookie
>> sheet,
>> something.
>
> I have a flat, Teflon air-bake cookie sheet, usually with a slightly
> cornmealed bottom.
>
> -sw


Yeah...that was my alternate idea. Certainly cheaper, and easier to store. I
tried using the bottom of a regular aluminum sheet last night, with lots of
corn meal, but it didn't work well.

In article >,
"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote:

> "Nancy2" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> >
> > I'd had a flippin' Alexawful mess with one. My dough was too thin for
> > what I was putting on it and I had not prebaked it as described above.
> > The dough stuck to the peel and let's just say I wound up with a heckuva
> > mess in my oven due to slippage and sloppage and stickage. :-/
>
> It stuck, even with a sprinkle of cornmeal under it to to ease the
> sliding?

O yeah. I had fresh tomato slices involved and they were not a roma or
a paste tomato. Too wet. Thin dough. By the time I got the rest of
the stuff on, the dough was getting gooshy and it went south from there.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
Pray for the abatement of her pain.

In article >,
"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote:

> "Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >,
> > "JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote:
> >
> >> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> >> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
> >
> >
> > Several years ago Robin Ringo (used to post here) sent me a peel that
> > her husband had made. There's a pretty good picture of it at
> > http://www.jamlady.eboard.com , click on the "Yeast is Yeast. . . ."
> > note and scroll down for the pic. It is two kinds of wood; you can see
> > that it is tapered. I would describe the edge as sharpish rather than
> > blunt, though it's certainly not going to ever cut anything. :-) It's
> > not especially heavy. I don't cut pizza on it; I slide the pizza to my
> > cutting board and do the deed on that. I'm guessing (from afar) that
> > it's maybe 1/2" thick. FWIW.
>
>
> Wow....that thing's a work of art!


It is that. I regret I don't remember Robin's husband's name. I'd sent
her some jam I think -- or talked to her about it and she wanted to send
me something -- her husband does the woodworking involved in their gifts
and she does the food. It was not my custom to make pizza from scratch
and it has been unused these several years. When I started with the
artisan-type bread a couple months ago, and after my first pizza, I've
not had a commercially-prepared one. :-)
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
Pray for the abatement of her pain.

"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote:
>
>> "Nancy2" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>> >
>> > I'd had a flippin' Alexawful mess with one. My dough was too thin for
>> > what I was putting on it and I had not prebaked it as described above.
>> > The dough stuck to the peel and let's just say I wound up with a
>> > heckuva
>> > mess in my oven due to slippage and sloppage and stickage. :-/
>>
>> It stuck, even with a sprinkle of cornmeal under it to to ease the
>> sliding?
>
> O yeah. I had fresh tomato slices involved and they were not a roma or
> a paste tomato. Too wet. Thin dough. By the time I got the rest of
> the stuff on, the dough was getting gooshy and it went south from there.


Here, I had a friend "helping". She had a couple too many cocktails, and
then forgot that she had long fingernails. The dough was badly abused.

>>
>> Mine is metal with a wooden handle. I still wouldn't be cutting pizza on
>> it. That's not what they are for. Slip it in, slide the pizzo onto the
>> oven floor, slip it under and slide the pizza out and onto the surface
>> where it gets cut or not.
>>

> Thanks.
>
> The cutting is the next issue. Gotta get a cutting board as big as my
> pizza stone. I used the heavy stone for the first time last night. The
> pizza crust was so delicious, we went into some sort of trance state. :-)
> This is going to become a habit around here.
>
You always cut the pizza on the wooden peel, and then slide it onto the
pizza pan.

Kent

"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote in message
...
> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
> they had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end
> that didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also
> made of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like
> it end up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of
> course.
>
> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
Go to a restaurant supply house and buy a wooden restaurant pizza peel with
a short handle. I use a 16" by 16" peel; I think it's best for the usual
home oven. I flour[not cornmeal] the peel, toss the round and put it on the
peel, check to make certain it will slide, top the pizza, and slide it onto
the preheated 18" pizza stone. After it's baked remove pizza with the peel,
slice it on the peel with restaurant pizza wheel type cutter, and slide that
onto a pizza pan. It's best and cheapest to purchase pizza pan at a
restaurant supply house as well. The peel, cutter, and pans are pretty easy
to find, even if you have to go to a mail order restaurant supply outlet,
such as this.
http://www.chefsfirst.com/Dept.asp?C...eels&lobby =1
I think the preceeding company is a subsidiary of East Bay Restaurant
Supply, where I do all my buying. I don't pay anywhere near as much as they
are asking online, so if you can find a restaurant supply house locally
that's where you should start.
The hardest item to find is a good thick stone. I've had mine for 25+ years
and can't remember where I got it. The wimpy ones, as you would get at
Walmart aren't adequate. They don't hold the heat.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,

Kent

"Pete C." > wrote in message
. net...
>
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>>
>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>> they
>> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
>> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also
>> made
>> of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like it
>> end
>> up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.
>>
>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick is
>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>
> They are normally made of light weight wood. My peel tapers along it's
> entire length somewhat and then more significantly at the front edge. It
> starts at about 3/4" at the handle and tapers to about 1/2" near the
> front before the final taper to about 1/8" in the last 3/4".
>
> You *DO NOT* cut a pizza on the peel! A peel is a transfer device, just
> a big spatula really and you don't cut stuff on a spatula either. The
> peel is used to transfer the uncooked pizza into the oven and remove it
> from the oven once cooked, that's all. Once you remove the cooked pizza
> you put it on a platter or disk of some type which is where you do the
> cutting.
>
>
The above just NOT true. You cut the pizza on the wooden peel, and slide the
cut pizza onto the pizza pan.
Sliding a cooked pizza onto a cutting board, cutting it, and sliding it
after cutting, in some fashion onto the pizza pan sounds almost impossible.
Even if it's possible it would be lot of extra work, and mess. What I do is
much easier; it doesn't adversely affect the peel. Just make sure you use a
restaurant grade peel. When you serve the cut pizza in the pan at the table
you will think you're at a pizza parlor.
Cheers,

Kent

"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote in message
...
> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
> ...
>> JoeSpareBedroom <JoeSpareBedroom >> wrote:
>>
>>> Stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday to get a pizza peel, and the one
>>> they
>>> had in stock was about as thick as two pencils, with a business end that
>>> didn't seem tapered enough to slide easily under a pizza. It was also
>>> made
>>> of some kind of wood that wasn't much heavier than balsa. Seemed like it
>>> end
>>> up gouged all to hell by the pizza cutter. Made in China, of course.
>>>
>>> I haven't had time to look elsewhere yet. If you've got one, how thick
>>> is
>>> it, and is the leading edge blunt, sharp, or what?
>>
>> Unless you're cooking multiple pizzas a day in a real pizza oven,
>> why would you need a pizza peel?
>>
>> -sw
>
>
> I need some sort of flat thing on which to assemble the pizza, and then
> slide it into the preheated stone. Pizza peel, very slippery cookie sheet,
> something.
>
My posts aren't quite in the right order, but in addition to the peel I
write about below you need a good stone that will hold the heat. This is
where I would get mine if I needed a new one.
http://search.chefsfirst.com/search?...zza+stoneWhile
While $39 seems pricey I would vouch for this store and its qualilty. It is
a genuine professional chef's source. It isn't a yuppie operation like
William Sonoma.

Kent