Wooden Pizza Peel Question

[aciurleo]

Folks,
there is nothing wrong with blowing under the dough to "free" it up.
I suggest using durum semolina flour underneath the dough when on the wooden peel.
If the inevitable stick occurs I have a method of retrieval that might save the day. take a pie tin or other similarly shaped plate to the pizza and place it over the top of the entire pizza. Turn the entire peel and plate over(together) onto the pie tin and you now have the underside of the pizza exposed( used to be stuck to peel).
Place more flour under the now wet/sticky pizza and reapply to the wooden peel by transfering the same way to the tin. make sure the entire pie is free from the shovel by lightly pulling at the crust around the diameter.
I've stuck quite a few pizzas teaching would-be pizzamen during my time in the kitchen.
Angelo

[dmun]

The pie pan trick sounds good, the only problem is that by the time it sticks it's usually loaded up with sauce and toppings. I blow under the edge, too.

Welcome! We need more Jersey boys in here.

[aciurleo]

you're welcome Dmun,
Let me know if there is anything else I can help with. trust me there isn't too many other things you can do at that point(pie stuck to peel). It will look slightly mashed because of the upside down- against the pan effect but hey it still tastes great !!!
I'm new to the oven building side of things but I have about 25 years of pizza building...
Angelo

ps. I just visited your website. those are some very cool machines you get to play with everyday !!

[tgm]

Well, here's our solution to the 'peel sticking' issues we used to have. I make the pizzas in the kitchen and my son-in-law cooks them outside in the oven. He passes the wooden peel back thru the window for a new pizza after he loads one or two in.
I have found that after I initial shape the 275g ball into a 12 round I load it onto a waxed round cardboard cake plate and then dress it from there. Once the peel gets back in the window I just slide it off the cake cardboard onto the peel and into the oven it goes. Never a sticking issue as it's only on the peel for seconds.
This also allows me to get two or three pizzas ahead when we are real busy with a party, as we are cooking 90sec pizzas and sometimes I can't keep up.
I regularly keep these cake rounds handy, just in case they are needed.

Hope this helps,

Tom in PA

[TDVT]

I make mine right on a white pine peel I made that doesn't have a finish of kind; not oiled, sealed, etc.

I flour it down, spreading it with my hand like the OP, sometimes adding a little corn meal, which I actually like the taste of. I'd like to try the rice flour but haven't found any yet.

Anyway, I make the pie as the one cooking is nearly ready to come off & keep the dough loose by sliding it back & forth between adding ingredients. The only time I have a problem is if a little sauce get over the edge & onto the peel & it will stick in that spot. Otherwise they slide off every time.

[david s]

I use semolina flour it acts like mimi ball-bearings and the pizza slides of really easily. Be careful not to get anything liquid, like olive oil or pineapple juice, on the wooden peel, it will make your dough stick.

[MapMaker]

I use corn meal - liberally. It acts like little ball bearings. Good luck.

[david s]

I use semolina flour, it works the same as corn meal, like little ball bearings. A thicker base will slide easier too. A thin base with lots of toppings is the hardest to slide. Also be very careful not to get any liquids (tomato sauce, pineapplle juice etc) onto the wooden peel as this will also make it stick.

[nissanneill]

Another option that I got from the forum wheen I posted my first pizza was to dust the peel with a little table salt.
This works a treat and I use it continuously. I normally don't like salt in my food but it is not transferred nor ingrained into it.
Roll the dough ball on a lightly floured granite slab, lift it off and place it on a dusted aluminium pan or a 3mm sheet of customwood. Tomatoe paste the base, assemble your preferred toppings and then slide it onto the salted peel into the oven. My wife simply does her pizza on aluminium foil which he removes once cooked.

Neill

[Rivernook]

Try Polenta. My local school has a WFO and they were taught to use polenta to stop the bases sticking. The tiny balls make the pizza base slide off very easily. I used it in my trial run of first pizzas last weekend and it works really well.