I went to a local old fashioned Italian deli on Saturday and ended up
with all the fixings for pesto pizza... refrigerated pizza dough,
house made pesto, house grated parmesan cheese and a ball of fresh
mozzarella. I made this as an appetizer yesterday at DD's house. I
used her *round* pizza stone and her peel. That was the first time
I'd ever used a stone (I line my oven shelf with tile) or a peel. Oh,
man... I'm gaga over that peel! There was no sticking what so ever
and I hit the mark on that itty bitty stone accurately. I want one!
The problem is that I've never seen a peel big enough for the size
pizzas I make, so if I found a smallish piece of plywood and beveled
the edges - I wonder if that would work? I want a wooden surface
that's at least as large as the airbake cookie sheet I use as a peel
now.

Kent: I got the San Marzano tomatoes while I was there too. Thanks
for the head's up. I didn't buy porcini though. $50 a pound (not
sold by the ounce) and I have a lot of dried porcini at the moment,
but I will not be so scotch with them anymore.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:11:03 -0800, sf > wrote:

>
>I went to a local old fashioned Italian deli on Saturday and ended up
>with all the fixings for pesto pizza... refrigerated pizza dough,
>house made pesto, house grated parmesan cheese and a ball of fresh
>mozzarella. I made this as an appetizer yesterday at DD's house. I
>used her *round* pizza stone and her peel. That was the first time
>I'd ever used a stone (I line my oven shelf with tile) or a peel. Oh,
>man... I'm gaga over that peel! There was no sticking what so ever
>and I hit the mark on that itty bitty stone accurately. I want one!
>The problem is that I've never seen a peel big enough for the size
>pizzas I make, so if I found a smallish piece of plywood and beveled
>the edges - I wonder if that would work? I want a wooden surface
>that's at least as large as the airbake cookie sheet I use as a peel
>now.
>
>Kent: I got the San Marzano tomatoes while I was there too. Thanks
>for the head's up. I didn't buy porcini though. $50 a pound (not
>sold by the ounce) and I have a lot of dried porcini at the moment,
>but I will not be so scotch with them anymore.


Why not go to a restaurant supply store and get one of the metal ones.
I like my metal one better than the wood and the metal will fit a Papa
Murphy's family size pizza.
they aren't expensive.
Janet

"sf" > wrote in message
...
>
> I went to a local old fashioned Italian deli on Saturday and ended up
> with all the fixings for pesto pizza... refrigerated pizza dough,
> house made pesto, house grated parmesan cheese and a ball of fresh
> mozzarella. I made this as an appetizer yesterday at DD's house. I
> used her *round* pizza stone and her peel. That was the first time
> I'd ever used a stone (I line my oven shelf with tile) or a peel. Oh,
> man... I'm gaga over that peel! There was no sticking what so ever
> and I hit the mark on that itty bitty stone accurately. I want one!
> The problem is that I've never seen a peel big enough for the size
> pizzas I make, so if I found a smallish piece of plywood and beveled
> the edges - I wonder if that would work? I want a wooden surface
> that's at least as large as the airbake cookie sheet I use as a peel
> now.
>
> Kent: I got the San Marzano tomatoes while I was there too. Thanks
> for the head's up. I didn't buy porcini though. $50 a pound (not
> sold by the ounce) and I have a lot of dried porcini at the moment,
> but I will not be so scotch with them anymore.
>
> --
sf: I buy pizza peels at the East Bay Restaurant Supply in Oakland.
"http://www.eastbayrestaurantsupply.com/oakland.html They're the same as the
peels used in pizza parlors and their prices are very reasonable.

If you buy a stone make sure it's hefty and 16" in diameter The cheaper
stones don't hold the heat well enough. I bought a very cheap stone at
Walmart; it doesn't do the job.

If you do go to the above supply place about 500 feet away and somewhat
hidden is Cash and Carry,
http://www.smartfoodservice.com/location.aspx?id=202 a restaurant food
supply place that's fun to explore. I have purchased some food there,
including whole pork butts, and ribs. Don't concern yourself with individual
purchase rather than bulk purchase. They're friendly and don't mind a bit.

Kent

sf > wrote:

>
>I went to a local old fashioned Italian deli on Saturday and ended up
>with all the fixings for pesto pizza... refrigerated pizza dough,
>house made pesto, house grated parmesan cheese and a ball of fresh
>mozzarella. I made this as an appetizer yesterday at DD's house. I
>used her *round* pizza stone and her peel. That was the first time
>I'd ever used a stone (I line my oven shelf with tile) or a peel. Oh,
>man... I'm gaga over that peel! There was no sticking what so ever
>and I hit the mark on that itty bitty stone accurately. I want one!
>The problem is that I've never seen a peel big enough for the size
>pizzas I make, so if I found a smallish piece of plywood and beveled
>the edges - I wonder if that would work? I want a wooden surface
>that's at least as large as the airbake cookie sheet I use as a peel
>now.

Here you go-
http://www.wasserstrom.com/restauran...Product_119974


They put it on sale just for you- 39" handle- 16" aluminum peel.

I'm a happy Wasserstrom customer. [I have the same peel]

The plywood has a couple problems- even after you forget about the
labor.
1. You don't know what sorts of things lurk in the adhesive that
holds the plys together.
2. It will likely start to de-laminate when you stick it on the hot
stone a few times.
3. I like my wooden peel-- but got talked into getting an aluminum one
to remove the pizzas from a hot stone. Glad I did. It picks them
up a lot better than the wooden one. If I only had one peel, it
would be the metal one.

Jim

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:25:15 -0700, Janet Bostwick
> wrote:

> Why not go to a restaurant supply store and get one of the metal ones.
> I like my metal one better than the wood and the metal will fit a Papa
> Murphy's family size pizza.
> they aren't expensive.

I don't want metal, I want wood - and I've already looked at what
restaurant supply houses supply around here.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Feb 28, 1:33*pm, Jim Elbrecht > wrote:


I concur with what everyone has said. Go to a restaurant supply
store and get a metal peel. They aren't expensive and you will be
glad you did.

"sf" > wrote in message
news
> On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:25:15 -0700, Janet Bostwick
> > wrote:
>
>> Why not go to a restaurant supply store and get one of the metal ones.
>> I like my metal one better than the wood and the metal will fit a Papa
>> Murphy's family size pizza.
>> they aren't expensive.
>
> I don't want metal, I want wood - and I've already looked at what
> restaurant supply houses supply around here.
>
> --
>
I just checked with East Bay Rest. Supply. They have them in several sizes.
Ours is what you see in all pizza parlors, 16" wide by 26" long[including
the handle] and is $23. One of the two we have is at least 25 years old and
in perfect shape. The wood holds up just fine.

Go for it,

Kent

"Jim Elbrecht" > wrote in message
...
> sf > wrote:
>
>>
>>I went to a local old fashioned Italian deli on Saturday and ended up
>>with all the fixings for pesto pizza... refrigerated pizza dough,
>>house made pesto, house grated parmesan cheese and a ball of fresh
>>mozzarella. I made this as an appetizer yesterday at DD's house. I
>>used her *round* pizza stone and her peel. That was the first time
>>I'd ever used a stone (I line my oven shelf with tile) or a peel. Oh,
>>man... I'm gaga over that peel! There was no sticking what so ever
>>and I hit the mark on that itty bitty stone accurately. I want one!
>>The problem is that I've never seen a peel big enough for the size
>>pizzas I make, so if I found a smallish piece of plywood and beveled
>>the edges - I wonder if that would work? I want a wooden surface
>>that's at least as large as the airbake cookie sheet I use as a peel
>>now.
>
> Here you go-
> http://www.wasserstrom.com/restauran...Product_119974
>
>
> They put it on sale just for you- 39" handle- 16" aluminum peel.
>
> I'm a happy Wasserstrom customer. [I have the same peel]
>
> The plywood has a couple problems- even after you forget about the
> labor.
> 1. You don't know what sorts of things lurk in the adhesive that
> holds the plys together.
> 2. It will likely start to de-laminate when you stick it on the hot
> stone a few times.
> 3. I like my wooden peel-- but got talked into getting an aluminum one
> to remove the pizzas from a hot stone. Glad I did. It picks them
> up a lot better than the wooden one. If I only had one peel, it
> would be the metal one.
>
> Jim
>
>
I just burned the surface of one of ours on a hot burner and the wood held
up fine. Regarding adhesive, what I have is used by thousands of pizza
parlors around the world. It's hard to imagine a problem wouldn't have been
discovered if there is one.

I am strongly in the camp that doesn't want corn meal on the bottom of my
pizza. I pad the peel with extra flour and slide that onto the stone. I
wonder if a metal peel would do the same.

Kent

"Kent" > wrote in message
...
>
> "sf" > wrote in message
> news
>> On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:25:15 -0700, Janet Bostwick
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Why not go to a restaurant supply store and get one of the metal ones.
>>> I like my metal one better than the wood and the metal will fit a Papa
>>> Murphy's family size pizza.
>>> they aren't expensive.
>>
>> I don't want metal, I want wood - and I've already looked at what
>> restaurant supply houses supply around here.
>>
>> --
>>
> I just checked with East Bay Rest. Supply. They have them in several
> sizes. Ours is what you see in all pizza parlors, 16" wide by 26"
> long[including the handle] and is $23. One of the two we have is at least
> 25 years old and in perfect shape. The wood holds up just fine.
>
> Go for it,
>
> Kent
>
>
Talking to myself again, here goes. Here's the exact peel I have, size wise.
http://www.amazon.com/16-17-Wood-Piz...8931835&sr=1-1
In Oakland, however, and probably from a different manufacturer it's $23.

I like restaurant outlets because they want their shoppers to become repeat
shoppers. They stand behind what they sell.

Kent

,constantly struggling with my level of ignorance

"Kent" > wrote:

>
>"Jim Elbrecht" > wrote in message
.. .
-snip-
>>
>> The plywood has a couple problems- even after you forget about the
>> labor.
>> 1. You don't know what sorts of things lurk in the adhesive that
>> holds the plys together.
>> 2. It will likely start to de-laminate when you stick it on the hot
>> stone a few times.
>> 3. I like my wooden peel-- but got talked into getting an aluminum one
>> to remove the pizzas from a hot stone. Glad I did. It picks them
>> up a lot better than the wooden one. If I only had one peel, it
>> would be the metal one.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>>
>I just burned the surface of one of ours on a hot burner and the wood held
>up fine. Regarding adhesive, what I have is used by thousands of pizza
>parlors around the world. It's hard to imagine a problem wouldn't have been
>discovered if there is one.

A home made one from plywood- or a commercial one? The commercial
ones are *made* for food and for high heat. Plywood isn't. [and it
might be fine-- but I wouldn't risk it. The de-lamination is easy
enough to check on. The gases put out by the adhesive is a bit more
tricky]

>
>I am strongly in the camp that doesn't want corn meal on the bottom of my
>pizza. I pad the peel with extra flour and slide that onto the stone. I
>wonder if a metal peel would do the same.

I like the corn meal, and use my wooden one to load the pizza anyway,
so I can't say for sure. But the metal one is more slippery, so I
would think flour would work fine.

Jim

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:13:14 -0800, "Kent" >
wrote:

> I just checked with East Bay Rest. Supply. They have them in several sizes.
> Ours is what you see in all pizza parlors, 16" wide by 26" long[including
> the handle] and is $23. One of the two we have is at least 25 years old and
> in perfect shape. The wood holds up just fine.
>
> Go for it,

Thanks! I was really happy to find out there was no hint of sticking
with a wooden peel. I've wanted to try one out literally for decades,
but never had the opportunity before yesterday and now I'm sold.
Gonna get one soon. We have a place called Economy Restaurant
Fixtures on this side of the Bay, so I'll give them a call tomorrow
and see if they have the 16 inch size in stock.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:30:48 -0800, "Kent" >
wrote:

> Talking to myself again, here goes. Here's the exact peel I have, size wise.
> http://www.amazon.com/16-17-Wood-Piz...8931835&sr=1-1
> In Oakland, however, and probably from a different manufacturer it's $23.
>
> I like restaurant outlets because they want their shoppers to become repeat
> shoppers. They stand behind what they sell.
>

Thanks Kent!

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.