How to Use a Metal Pizza Peel (So Your Dough Won’t Stick!)
Description
Both wooden pizza peels and metal pizza peels have their own advantages, but they each behave differently while in use. Pizzacraft chef Nick Wellhausen shows you how to use a metal pizza peel: how to prep the peel, prepare your pizza, and most importantly, how to make sure your pizza won’t stick!
| Brand | Pizzacraft |
| Products Used | PC0202, PC0408, PC0308 |
| Time | 2:53 |
| YouTube Link | https://youtu.be/KRL1FTQZMu0 |
| Upload Date | 01/29/2016 |
Transcript
Mastering a pizza peel is an essential skill for any pizza-maker. Wood peels and metal peels each have their advantages, but behave differently when in use. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your metal pizza peel.
Before we begin, I need to mention that I’ve got a pizza steel in the oven, preheating. It’s pre-heating on the oven’s hottest temperature, about 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s been in there about a half an hour, so I know it’s ready to go.
First, I’m going to prep my pizza dough on a separate work surface. You can use your counter or tabletop, but today I’m using a silicone mat. I’m gonna start by placing some flour on the silicone mat. Remove a dough ball, and we’ll cover it with more flour. Now that the dough is floured, we’re going to begin gently pressing it to start flattening the piece. Flip to the other side, repeat the process.
To stretch the dough, we’ll pick it up, put it on our hands, and slowly toss and pull outwards.
Once the dough is shaped and ready, it’s time to put it on the peel. Before the dough goes on the peel, we’re going to coat the peel with flour. With a metal peel, I like to use at least a tablespoon, maybe a tablespoon and a half. If you’d like to use cornmeal, that’s okay too. Personally, I prefer a 50-50 blend of all purpose flour and cornmeal. If you’re using cornmeal alone, try to use a minimal amount because it may smoke in your oven.
Once your dough hits the peel, you have to work quickly. At this point, you only have a few minutes before the dough starts to absorb the flour and sticks to the peel, so make sure you have all your toppings ready to go.
As you top your pizza, you’ll want to periodically shake the peel to keep the pizza moving. This will ensure the easiest transfer into the oven.
To transfer your pizza into the oven, we’re gonna use a quick, back-and-forth motion like this. Be careful not to leave the peel in the oven for too long, or the heat will transfer through and begin to bake the pizza. You’ll also want to move quickly so that you don’t lose too much heat when opening the door.
The metal peel is great at removing or turning pizzas. Its thin metal edge allows you to easily slide underneath the pizza.
Our pizza is done, and it looks great. When the pizza’s all gone, our metal peel is super easy to clean. Run the peel under warm water and scrub with soap, scraping off any baked-on bits, and that’s it!
For more tips and tricks, check out our other videos.
