pizza peel brain trust

[Rob Young]

I've been asked to make a pizza peel.  Pretty sure I can work this out but looking for advise/critique based on the following thoughts:

1) For home oven so just a decent length of handle, doesn't need to be 12' long like the ones you see in stone oven restaurants.  Thinking 12" to 14" handle length seems about right.  

2) Maple, about 1/2" with nice taper at the lip.  No sharp edges, etc. Mineral oil and keep it clean and floured.

3) I'll get some basic size from a pizza stone I have and then make it maybe 2" or so wider and longer.

4) Perhaps cut up some cardboard to prototype.

5) Any good plans out there that you've used and can demonstrate successful peeling of a pizza?

[BloomingtonMike]

Woodcraft magazine made one I believe.

[Lynden]

Woodcraft magazine made one I believe.

From Woodsmith Magazine....

https://www.woodsmithplans.com/plan/pizza-peel/

From Instructables....

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-M...izza-Peel/

[starkw1]

I have made a bunch of peels and the width is limited by the size of my planer and drum sander... but 12" wide seems to be just fine.  As for length, think about where it will be stored.  22"  overall length is OK for my kitchen cabinet;  longer is OK if you are going to hang in on a wall.  Shapes:  Be a creative as you wish.

[jteneyck]

I would not use maple, for two reasons.  One, it's too heavy.  Second, it's hard to hand plane the taper needed to make it function well.  Peels have a long taper from shank to tip and the easiest way to create it is with a hand plane.  This said from a guy who prefers a power tool option whenever possible, too.  Clear pine is much better choice, IMHO, and with no finish of any kind.

John

[FS7]

I would not use maple, for two reasons.  One, it's too heavy.  Second, it's hard to hand plane the taper needed to make it function well.  Peels have a long taper from shank to tip and the easiest way to create it is with a hand plane.  This said from a guy who prefers a power tool option whenever possible, too.  Clear pine is much better choice, IMHO, and with no finish of any kind.

John

I've never done it so I'm speaking from a position of ignorance, but wouldn't a raised panel router bit do a pretty good job of creating the proper taper? It certainly seems like it would be a lot easier than using a hand plane.

[Carl Grover]

I've been asked to make a pizza peel.  Pretty sure I can work this out but looking for advise/critique based on the following thoughts:

1) For home oven so just a decent length of handle, doesn't need to be 12' long like the ones you see in stone oven restaurants.  Thinking 12" to 14" handle length seems about right.  

2) Maple, about 1/2" with nice taper at the lip.  No sharp edges, etc. Mineral oil and keep it clean and floured.

3) I'll get some basic size from a pizza stone I have and then make it maybe 2" or so wider and longer.

4) Perhaps cut up some cardboard to prototype.

5) Any good plans out there that you've used and can demonstrate successful peeling of a pizza?

I used to work in a pizza place when I was a kid. Maybe I can help a little.

Draw the size pizza you want to make on a piece of paper. Make the peel an inch wider on each side and back and maybe 1 1/2" longer in the front. Handle length seems about right.

Don't put any finish on it. Ours was plain and was used/abused all day, every day. We always put cornmeal under the pizza to help slide it off the peel and to keep it off the stone a bit when cooking.

I don't know what ours was made of. I remember it was lightweight, light in color and had little, if any grain showing. The taper on the front is more like a really gradual roundover. Don't gasp when I say this but if you took a belt sander to it with 40 grit for a minute or two and sort of eyeballed the roundover you would have it.

Pizza peeling takes a lot of practice. You will wreck a bunch of them learning. There is a method of yanking the peel back all at once that can be done but that takes way more practice than sliding it off. Good luck and I'll take mine with pepperoni and mushrooms.

carl

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

I think I’d try to cut the taper close to final dimension on the BS. Even if I had to do two slabs with a glue up in the middle. Then I’d clean it up with hand planes taking it down to a marked line.

A homemade jig attached to the BS fence would really help with accuracy.

I’d probably still use hard maple despite the weight. I agree with John, it’s not the easiest to plane but it’s still doable. I’ve went straight to a low angle jack after glueing up end grain maple cutting boards and although it’s quite the workout, you can get excellent results. A freshly sharpened iron with a very slight camber will leave it plane track free. Wax on the sole makes a huge difference as well. After doing one or two this way the itch to do another is gone for a while.

[Rob Young]

I've never had problems with planing maple.  Sharp cures all.

To put on the taper I'd be working cross grain until it was about done then a little scrape and sand to blend.  Easy peasy. 

Anywho, I'll dig through the bin for stuff besides maple.  But I do want to keep it a nice, tight close-grain wood.

All good ideas and if it requires practice to get the peel-action right, then so be it.  We will just have to eat the rejects.

[jteneyck]

The peels I have seen, and the one I made, have a long taper, not just the last 3 or 4 inches.  If the peel is 3/4" thick, it tapers from 3/4" at the handle to maybe 5/16" at about 3" from the rim, and then more steeply until it's about 1/16" thick at the rim.  This helps take weight out of the peel, and make it easier to slide the pizza, bread, etc. onto the peel.  Also, the taper is on both sides, equally.

John