How to Make the Most of New Pizza Peels

So, you want to purchase new pizza peels for your kitchen or restaurant? Whether you are just starting out in the hospitality industry, looking to change methods in your restaurant kitchen, or simply trying something new at home, you may need some direction on how to use your new restaurant tool.

Pizza peels are simple kitchen devices in terms of look and construction. Even the basic use is straightforward. However, if it is your first time cooking with a brick or stone oven pizza, you might not find the proper techniques as easy to master. These basic tips can go a long way towards incorporating wooden, aluminum, or wood composite pizza peels into your kitchen or restaurant routine.

Most Common Technique for Using This Tool
In most modern day pizzerias and restaurants, the pizza is prepared on a cool, clean surface and a pizza peel is slid beneath the dough. Both the cool, solid surface and the cold aluminum pizza peel prevents the stretchy pizza dough from sticking to either surface. Sometimes, parchment paper or flour is used to help keep the dough separate from the pizza peel. When parchment paper is used, it is called the “baker’s technique.” Pizza bakers will move the dough across the peel with a small, swift motion. This prevents some of the sticking. A final, short slide forward frees the pizza into the brick oven.

Once the pizza is placed inside the brick oven, you will need to use the pizza peel to turn the pizza and ensure it heats evenly. In larger brick ovens, like those found in restaurants, you might cook more than one pizza at a time, but the oven doesn’t always heat evenly. Using pizza peels to shift and rotate pizzas will ensure proper cooking.

Using a Pizza Peel in Your Home
Many restaurant supply stores also sell a smaller version of the peel that can be used at home or for individual pizza pies. Often these peels are wooden, which are excellent for preparing smaller, family-sized pizzas.

However, these wooden versions are best used for preparing the pizza not placing pizza in your home oven or removing them. First, you never want to use a pizza peel that is too small for the size of your pizza. If the dough droops over the edge, it becomes much harder to remove. Also, wooden peels are more difficult to maneuver in a home oven. If you are up for a challenge, though, it is the most traditional way to make a pizza in your own home.

Alternatives to the Modern Aluminum Pizza Peel
The latest and greatest pizza making tools are constructed of aluminum and even have perforation along its flat surface. This perforation helps to prevent the dough from sticking when you place the pizza in an oven. The traditional pizza peel was wooden, however. Larger, wooden peels are very heavy to use, particularly when carrying a pizza. Unfortunately, pizza dough is also more likely to stick to a wooden surface.

In traditional kitchens, a sprinkling of flour and chilling of the peel would alleviate some of this problem. Today, restaurants that want have the best of both worlds, without the inconvenience, use peels that are made of a wood composite.

Where to Buy a Pizza Peel?
If you are still looking for the perfect pizza peel or set of pizza peels for your restaurant or home, look no further than Gator Chef Restaurant Supply. A range of these kitchen tools, and other pizza supplies can be found in our online store.