Pizza Sticking to the Pizza Peel and Not Sliding Off

#1

I have an issue sliding my raw pie from the pizza peel.

Often I end up with my ingredients on the floor and half the pie dough on the floor and the other half still on the peel. What’s the trick to a smooth transfer?

I have tried steel peels, peels with holes and wooden peels. Nothing seems to help really.

#2

Hi Ernst and welcome back!

Your peel needs some kind of a “medium” between the dough and the peel. In a cooler oven (and some even use it in a BWO), you can sprinkle corn meal on the peel before you stretch your dough on it. Corn meal will scorch, though. Most use a good thick layer of all purpose flour. Especially on a wooden peel, rub it in and make an opaque (not thick) layer, and don’t neglect the beveled edge that goes into the oven.

Another trick is the two peel method. When you are unloading your peel, tilt it up about 20 degrees, then use the second peel to break the suction at the end closest to you. Don’t start to pull back until the leading edge of your dough is on the oven floor, then slide it out. If you sense things are going to start heaping up, a side to side motion with the handle will also help.

And I hope this helps as well. Keep at it and you’ll be flipping pies in and out of your oven like a Roman street vendor!

#3

I usually use a generous sprinkling of semolina on my peel, followed by the raw ready for topping dough, then I sauce and top the pizzas on the peel.

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#4

I know this may sound like a “have you turned the computer off and back on” or “is the computer plugged into the wall” type of comment… but I just have to check.

Did you remove the translucent blue protective vinyl from the front of the
pizza peel?

#5

I also use semolina but I put it in a shallow dish and then dip the doughball before forming, flip it over and dip it again to cover both sides. Then I form the pie on a marble pastry board, sauce it and top it. Then I lift the near edge of the pizza an inch or so and quickly slide the peel under the pie. Shake the peel gently when the pie is on it. It should move around freely. If not, lift the edge where it’s sticking and sprinkle a little more semolina on the peel.

Before using this method I also used the double peel method with good success.

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#6

Thank you all; a lot to try next weekend.

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#7

I use semolina as well. Works great. Also make sure you flour the board/ table you use you first start turning the dough ball into a pie.

As others have said, the dough should slide freely on the peel before you attempt the “dismount.” If it doesn’t, there is no technique that will save it (the tilt and shove matters way less than the right dough consistency, flour and semolina).

Once you get it down, you will wonder why you ever struggled!
Good luck.

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#8

Could be a couple of different issues.

  1. Not enough flour on the peel. Put some on the peel and spread before putting the dough on.
    Or
  2. The pizza is sitting on the peel too long where the sauce will start sticking to the peel though the dough.

Before putting your pizza in the oven, shimmy the peel back and forth with the pizza on it and the dough should slide a little while on the peel and you know you’re good.
If it doesn’t, pinch the end of the dough closest to you and lift slightly (maybe an inch or 2) while still on the peel and lightly blow underneath it. This will create an air pocket and then shimmy the peel and the dough should start to slide.

Hope this helps

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#9

Just another thought that I now remembered helped me.
Try more flour when you first take the dough ball out and start to shape it. Use what you think is too much. If that works and solves the problem, start backing off the flour until you find the right amount. I used too little at first because a lot of directions say “lightly flour”, but when you watch the videos its not “heavy flour”, but perhaps more than I thought “lightly” was…

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#10

Watch the hydration ratio of the dough 64 to 68%, Dust a wooden peel with 00 flour
Stetch dough on the peel, flip and check that the dough will slide. top the dough and give it a
second shake. It is sticks lift the edges and blow under the dough to create air space
When loading into oven be quick shake it on the floor and pull quickly. Also not too much toppings. Brick oven pizza’s are lightly topped. Get the elements of pizza cook book for how much to put on a pie. If you want to load it up make a pan pie. which is great in the brick oven. Get Andrea Mungainis book " The art of wood fired cooking: It is all in there
Take care Dino

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