Pizza peel... sand or no?

[rickgregory]

So i have a wood peel. It's inexpensive but... it's a pizza peel. However, the wood has a noticeable texture and I think I should sand it. Any reason NOT to?

[Oak Smoke]

I vote for sanding. It’s so much easier to use a smooth one.

[rickgregory]

That's my thinking. I grabbed a cheap Winco on from the restuarant supply store and I think it's just... not really finished. (grabs sander)

[RonB]

Don't forget to sand with the direction the pizza will slide off the peel.

[rickgregory]

(puts away rotary sander)

[RonB]

rickgregory - you can use the orbital, but the final sanding should be by hand with the direction of "pizza travel".

[rickgregory]

Actually it wasn't too bad. I think the wood just furred a little when I washed it since it wasn't oiled at all. Hand sanded, oiled, will do another layer of oil and then it should be good.

[Richard Chrz]

I have one, I vote for seasoning. But, I have a good one from The Bakers Board, also, learn semolina flour.

[Uncle Bob]

Smoothing it won't hurt, but if you use semolina you'll also notice better results.

[rickgregory]

Yeah, will grab some of that. I was just surprised it wasn't smooth already.

[Sid P]

Is the semolina part of the crust or just sprinkled on the peel?

[Uncle Bob]

Sid P for this discussion it's "lubricant" for the peel. The way it's ground makes it perform like mini ball bearings, and the mouth feel is "softer" than typical corn meal that some use.

[mnavarre]

A bit of texture is actually helpful, since it helps keep the crust from just completely adhering. Unless it's really rough I'd soak it down with mineral oil and see if it improves, since it's probably dried out from sitting around in the store for god knows how long.

[rickgregory]

Yeah did some light sanding to remove some furring, oiled it.

[Attjack]

I don't even use my wooden peel anymore because I use parchment paper so my metal ones work like a charm for launching and retrieving.

[pkadare]

Like Attjack, I don't use a wooden peel as I prefer a perforated metal peel. I find that it launches just as well as any wooden peel I've used and I love the perforations as it allows excess semolina/flour to drop through the perforations so less chance of excessive charring of the bottom of the crust.

[BarbecueBob]

I would be concerned about oiling the wood and then sticking it in a pizza oven at 900 degF. It may just end up as a giant candle.....

I also use a metal peel with semolina flour. My first attempt had the pizza sticking to the peel and looked more like an unintended Calzone. I added more (regular) flour on the peel only to find that the excess flour sat between stone and pizza. It burnt leaving an unpleasant bitter taste. A perforate peel as pkadare mentioned is a good alternative.

[DTro]

I have sanded my inexpensive wood peel twice. Once when it was new because the dough kept sticking and once after it accidentally ended up in a full kitchen sink. No problems. Not sure about the upper end models but I will suggest never dunking them in water.