I need some opinions on what Pizza Peel to buy. Aluminum, or wood? I will be using it with an oven attachment on a Pellet Grill.
Thanks in Advance
Scott
My wife made two wooden ones out of birch from a wrecked piece of furniture. Biscuits for joining strips parallel to each other. Finished with the mighty belt sander. But she was a carpenter - not so sure I could have done it. Those things are still in use 10 years later!
I would say AL. Wood was great. But after the flood, when I finally found it floating around, it was the shape of a toilet seat it had warped so bad! LOL.
Big Green Egg aluminum pizza peel and their rocking pizza peel is what gets used the most here (and we don't even have a BGE). It's lightweight and both hang from the same hook in the rafters in our storage area. Its bamboo predecessor gets used as a cutting board and serving tray now. Only down side to the aluminum is if you use it for a cutting board too much downward pressure can cause permanent impressions in it but even that isn't a big deal.
The only problem with the GMG pizza attachment is that it ruins you for other pizza. Small learning curve and you'll impress yourself with the quality. I use an aluminium peel for in, out and turning. I keep a spatula close by in case the pie sticks a little to the peel then I can lift with the spatula before I launch. I'm using flour as a release agent, use as little as possible, tried corn meal but had issues with the cooked pizza, may try a combo of both at some point. Have fun
Have you tried parchment under the dough to prevent sticking? Just put the parchment on the peel, then place the stretched dough on the parchment. If you use an extremely hot fire, you can trim the parchment to leave as little exposed as possible.
LSG Adjustable Grill/Smoker, MAK Pellet Grill, Large BGE with Several Attachments from the Ceramic Grill Store, Weber Gasser, Cast Iron Pans & Griddle, Grill Grates, Mostly Thermoworks Thermometers, Anova SV Stick, BBQ Guru Controller and Fan
I agree with those using parchment under the dough. I only have a wooden peel which works well with the parchment both on and off the pizza stone, then as a cutting and serving board for the cooked pizza.
I tried parchment for my last pizza. My oven gets to 900. I trimmed it up before launch. It worked. I removed the parchment about 30 seconds in. Not sure I'll keep using it though unless I'm making multiple pizzas ahead of time.
I don't think the parchment will burn, but if you are worried, remove it after the bottom has cooked slightly.I do prefer to remove is after ~ a minute - you might get by with less or more time.
I'm still in the learning process. We have a large wooden one for the oven, used it for years with no worries. I just got a smaller aluminium one (Weber) for the PK and I experienced the dough sticking when trying to get it off the mat my wife uses for rolling out dough and off onto the stone.
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