The Best Baking Peels

Equipment expert Adam Ried discusses the best baking peels for baking pizzas, breads, and more.

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[californialove]

i have a stainless steel 16x16 peel. I don't need to use a ton of flour under my pizzas, but if I'm going to make a pizza that's fairly heavy, I'll just toss a piece of parchment paper underneath that I remove when I go back in to rotate the pizza. I've never had a problem.

[brendanstanford]

You don't need a fancy peel. All you need to remember is that the dough can sense fear

[eckankar]

I use the thin metal peel with a piece of parchment under the pizza. It slides off easily, when I rotate the pizza I use tongs to lift the pizza up a bit and then pull the parchment paper out. No sticking, no corn meal, no flour. Works perfectly.

[davidkuhns]

The best peel is the one I made myself in my shop. Maple and walnut, for beauty and only 1/8 inch thick at the edge. Looks so nice, my daughter-in-law keeps it hanging in her kitchen. She bakes all the time.

[richards.]

I have the wooden peel and always build my pizzas on parchment. No sticking or cooking issues, cooks crispy on the stone, easy to turn. Just grab paper and pull onto peel to remove from oven. Parchment paper also helps (a little) to keep stone from getting sauce/cheese burned on it.

[marzsit]

i've been using american metalcraft aluminum peels for decades with cornmeal and have never had a problem getting anything to slide off. and i never have to worry about charring my peels and they also work great for loading and unloading baking and roasting pans. i rarely use pot holders to take anything out of my oven.

[tony_orto]

Don't use flour, use corn meal.
It works way better.
Corn meal or semolina rolls.
Flour gets gummy and has a raw flour taste.

[georgiabeaverson]

I have the metal peel. I spread my dough atop a square of lightly oiled parchment paper, sauce that up, add toppings, slip the peel beneath the parchment, and slide the parchment & pizza onto a preheated pizza stone. The parchment doesn’t interfere with crust browning at all, and the stone doesn’t stain either. That metal peel makes it easy to turn the pizza too.

[mfiola]

Use cornmeal. The raw pizza will slide right off.

[Paelorian]

Putting my arm into the back of my 550°F oven with the broiler switched on to put the pizza on the baking steel at the top of my oven is not going to work for me. It does, however, look like it makes the hardest part of pizza making much easier and more reliable. It takes skill and practice to perfect a pizza launch with the other peels. I'd consider buying it if I had the right oven for it.

I recommend buying two peels, one wooden and one metal (they're usually aluminum). You can get cheap ones for around $10-15 each that are nearly identical to the ones in the video, perhaps a little rougher around the edges. Wooden peel for putting the pizza in the oven, metal peel for taking it out. You can get by with the wooden peel alone, using tongs or a fork to pull the pizza onto the thick peel, but the metal second peel makes things simpler, you don't have to dirty another utensil or stick you hand in the oven, and most importantly you avoid cross-contamination from raw flour and keep the wooden peel clear and clean for subsequent pizzas if you're making more than one in a session. You want to keep the launch peel dry. I also have a non-stick coated metal peel with divots to hold and catch flour, and it works better than a regular metal peel for putting the pizza in, but I much prefer the wood and plain metal combo.

Wood is so much more forgiving than metal, you have more time for the pizza to lie on the peel before it sticks and ends up ruined, a potential disaster and big mess. You have no more than a minute of safety with a metal peel, but the pizza can sit on the wooden peel for a few minutes as you add toppings. Before putting the pizza on the wooden peel, usw your hand to spread a very thin layer of the flour you made the dough with and on top of that a very thin layer of coarse semolina flour (I use Bob's Red Mill). If you didn't overly sauce the pizza, and have the bottom floured and not stick when it touches the peel, you have, I roughly estimate, 2-4 minutes before it sticks. If your toppings are prepared and ready to go and you work fast, and you didn't make a big mistake along the way, you'll be safe from sticking, with a little extra leeway in case your forgot to slice your pepperoni or take something out of the cabinet.

Working fast between putting the dough on the peel and sliding it off is the most important, but topping the pizza on a metal peel before transferring it to the oven is a recipe for disaster. I've had many pizzas turn into calzones or more often pizza-like objects. When I take these misshapen ruined pizzas out of the oven, they're often half burnt, half undercooked. Don't set yourself up for failed pizzas by using a pizza peel inappropriate for the task of getting the pizza into the oven. You do not want your pizza toppings sliding off and burning into a pizza stone or steel. If it saves you from a few pizza disasters, it will have been a good investment. Whether it's a deluxe fabric super-peel or a simple generic wooden peel.

[sociopathmercenary]

I have one of those non-stick airbake cookie sheets that has no edges. Works so good that I never felt the need for a specialized peel

[Faustustopheles]

We've had the composite one for a few years now and I've always loved it. I have never had the sticking problem. I do use flour and cornmeal generally make pizza about three times a week or usually. Our paddle did come with a nice removable grip which I like a lot. I recommend the composite any day.

[jayerscios]

I inherited a round open mesh SS pizza baking sheet from a pizza delivery who left my pizza on it! I use my Oster extra big toaster oven so sliding it in is no problem. Tongs work to rotate my pizza... works like a charm! But if I had a pizza oven... I might need a peel.

[brendakrieger]

We use Checkered Chef pizza peel from Amazon. I think it was $12.99

[thecaneater]

As someone who actually worked in a pizza kitchen, I can tell you that the metal ones are superb and work expertly.

[gatewaysolo]

Pulling the stone out after it's super hot and building your pizza on the stone is easy and works great if you work fast. Stone won't lose too much heat so the crust still gets crispy.

[bruschi]

Have and love the super peal...also have a metal one to retrieve

[OutOfNamesToChoose]

I use the aluminium one with a mixture of flour and course semolina. Works a treat.

Edit: it has a somewhat long arm, too, so you don't get burned by steam if you use the 'tray of boiling water' trick to get a better crust on bread-based doughs!

Edit 2: It's also dirt cheap to buy

[Teelirious]

I use the thin particle board one with parchment. 👌

[Arisaema]

Thought the use of cornmeal under a pizza was preferred...???