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Metal vs Wooden Pizza Peel
Author: Siobhan Thomson Date Posted:14 November 2023
A pizza peel is a tool that lets you place pizzas in an oven, and it is used to slide pizzas in and out of a hot oven or a pizza stone. It often resembles a large, flat shovel or paddle. It’s a must-have for all pizza enthusiasts, be they professional or the pizza expert at home.
A pizza peel is used to place pizzas in the oven without spilling any ingredients or toppings. It also lets you remove pizzas from the oven once they are cooked. Because of their long handle, these tools help to reduce the risk of injury or burns during the pizza-making and cooking process.
There are 2 main types of pizza peels: wooden or metal, but what sets these two apart???
Wooden Pizza Peel:
Often considered the more traditional of the pizza peels because they have been used for centuries when it comes to making and cooking pizzas. Wooden peels reduce the risk of dough sticking to the peels surface due to the textured surface of wood. This allows air to pass and keeps the dough from sticking. This also means that there is also an easier transfer of dough to a pizza stone or into a preheated pizza oven. The down side is due to the weight of wood, these peels are oftern heavier than others so you need to ensure you have the strength to be able to mainpulate this weighted peel. Some wooden pizza peels also require regualr oiling to prevent warping and they are more difficult to clean than their metal counterparts.
Metal Pizza Peel:
Generally a metal pizza peel is thinner and flatter than the wooden version. They are usually made of Aluminium or Stainless Steel, and as such are lightweight which makes it easy to manipulate in and out of a pizza oven. However, the metal surface is easier for dough to stick to so you need to make sure you learn to use them correctly. Metal pizza peels can also be cleaned with the greatest of ease, requiring minimal scrubbing and soaking.
If you have concerns about your dough sticking to your Pizza Peel there are a few different methods you can employ:
- Dusting: dust your pizza peel to prevent dough from sticking to it.
- Dough Preperation: prep your dough on a different surface to the pizza peel. Preparing the dough on the pizza peel may feel like it is saving you time but it can also be the cause of your pizza dough sticking to the peel later on.
- Change your peel: as discussed using different peels at different times of the cooking process could help reduce dough sticking to your peel.
What option works best for you will come to down to personal preference. Some say wooden peels are the best option for placing the pizza into the oven, given they are generally non-sticky, therefore ensuring the pizza is safe, without damaging the dough. And metal peels are the best choice for retrieving the pizza from the oven as it slides under the pizza easily due to their thin metal surface.
BCE have a number of pizza tools for any pizza enthusiast. Check out what we have on offer here or feel to get on contact with our experts today. They will be more than happy to help.
