Pizza Peel

[Bradley Gray]

Anybody made one?

[johnny means]

Actually have made them for restaurants I've done the millwork for. Nothing fancy. Just glue up a panel out of whatever is available and cut to shape.

[Doug Garson]

I've made two using Marc Spagnuolo aka the wood Whisperer's video as a guide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ1W8_q3FDk&t=967s

[roger wiegand]

I've thought about it but haven't done it. Problem is you can buy a perfectly serviceable one for twelve bucks and, in my hands anyway they get pretty beat up pretty quickly. Between scraping on the bricks, having pizza cut on top of them, and various other hazards (I managed to catch one on fire not paying close enough attention) they generally have a lifetime of a year or less in service before they're too charred and nasty looking to take out in front of company. If I made a nice one I'd be too afraid of wrecking it to actually use it.

I now use wooden peels only for sliding pizzas into the oven, they are a lot less sticky than metal. For manipulation inside the oven I've acquired some Italian stainless steel paddles with a neat sliding handle that, although crazy expensive, work very well indeed. The sliding handle lets me reach all the way into the oven but still be able to lift and manipulate the pizza without inadvertently grabbing a red hot handle. I have the one with about a 5 ft handle which lets me reach everywhere in my 42" oven without singeing off all the hair on my arms.
palino_small_perf_68-AC-1016.jpg

[Jamie Buxton]

Roger, the link you gave goes to a peel whose description reads in part "This item is either made of wood or designed to mimic the look of natural wood." What's up with that "designed to mimic"? Surely these things aren't made from plastic are they?

[roger wiegand]

The one's I've bought at a similar price are wood; I just grabbed a picture, I know nothing about that particular one. Plastic would be a disaster in a wood fired oven.

[John TenEyck]

I've made a couple. I used clear pine to keep the weight down and hand planed a gentle taper from the handle to the front, and then a steeper bevel all around the edge of the peel over the last 2" or so. Fun project.

John

[John C Bush]

Hi Roger,
Do you deliver to Seattle?? I'll take the meat lovers extra large--easy on the pepper flakes!!
I made one as a gift--I think it's hanging on their wall now-- but is was a fun project.

[Patrick Kane]

I made two out of some scrap crotch walnut leftover from some project. They are 3 years old, and i find them to be very excellent users. When they arent in use, they hang from two brushed stainless pegs framing a window in my kitchen. Part wall decor, part pizza making bliss. They are quite long, so they almost have to be hung up. I think the handles are close to 3' long.

Overall, they are great. They look stunning--walnut with a bit of figure, how could they not?--and the performance is really quite good. I hand planed a primary top bevel with a small back bevel. The back bevel lets you cut in under the pizza with ease. I planed the front edge down to a very thin and crisp edge, which gives it very similar performance to a metal peel. I never once wished for a different material or type of peel. In the warmer months, we cook pizza on my Primo XL once a week. During the winter, its probably more like once a month when its above 40. I dont cut on my peels, and ive never had them catch fire or burn. I usually keep the kamado to 550-600.

[Bradley Gray]

Thanks everyone, I think I have enough to wing it now.

My daughters brought me a pizza oven add on for my Weber grill for father's day.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks everyone, I think I have enough to wing it now.

My daughters brought me a pizza oven add on for my Weber grill for father's day.

Bradley, my youngest daughter sent me a Skilsaw shaped pizza cutter for Father's Day..........Rod.

Pizza Cutter.jpg

[Bradley Gray]

Lucky you! I just use my worm drive...

[Mike Soaper]

I once made a peel out of some scrap red birch with a couple of strips of purple heart, there was some matched cathedral grain on each side.

It was for a friends annual handmade/craft swap where most bring a handmade craft be it woodworking, painting, photography, glassworks, fabric etc. some folks bring food, some play music. I's a nice mid winter break/party

Craft participants get a number when they enter and at some point numbers are drawn from a hat and that number gets to pick whatever item they want. fwiw the peel gathered a lot of attention, questions, and went first. I don't know how well it held up.

fwiw I'm what I would call a pizza novice. I was using dough with 75% cupto's '00' chefs flour and 25% white lilly all-purpose flour, but found 2 types of organic '00' at Central Milling that some may want to try if you are into pizza. Flour is heavy, so shipping from Caif is high.

[Mark Rainey]

Brad, here is my pizza peel I made. I am passionate about pizza making and have been a pizza maker for many years. My wood fired oven is fueled by my wood scraps.

pizza peel.jpg