Good Question: Should I Buy Mario Batali's Pizza Peel?

Here is a good question from Mary, who asks:

I've just started making bread and am loving it (even if I need some practice still), but my pizza peel split in half last night. I had a cheap wood version and am wondering if it's worth it to invest in a better quality one? Should I stick with wood or go with aluminum? I saw Mario Batali's, but am just not sure. Any advice or suggestions?

Mary, how often do you make pizza? If you make it regularly, say once a week, then a peel could be pretty handy. But if you don't make pizza very often, and it's the bread you're thinking of, then we would suggest sticking to the pot method where you bake your bread inside a Dutch oven or other heavy pot. It makes a wonderful crust, and a peel isn't necessary. Of course, if you are trying to make baguettes or other long shaped breads, a pot isn't practical. If you are making bread like that AND pizza on a regular basis, we say go for it.

The Batali pizza peel is especially suited for small kitchens, because it folds up. (See photo above.) The wood handle folds back onto the aluminum blade for easy storage.

• Mario Batali Pizza Peel, $29.95 at Food Network

So that's an excellent option if you have a smaller kitchen and little storage space. We also like how the aluminum edge is thinner and makes it easier to slide the pizza onto the baking rack or stone. It also isn't prone to cracking, although we might worry about warping. But we don't have direct experience with aluminum peels, so we can't say for sure.

The nice thing, on the other hand, about the wood peels is that they are great for serving all sorts of things -- you can use it to serve bread, cheese, snacks, or other small bites.

The peel pictured at the top is from Williams-Sonoma:
• Pizza Peel, $29.95

Looking for pizza recipes? Try these:
• Homemade Thin Crust Pizza
• Breakfast Pizza

(Image: Williams-Sonoma)

Comments (12)

Being the frugal chef that I am...I use a piece of cardboard. It never really gets dirty because I dust it with lots of cornmeal before I put the pizza on it. So I slide the pizza into the oven, dust off the cornmeal, and stash away the cardboard for next time.

ohhh the cardboard idea is fantastic!
An upside down sheet pan works in a pinch, too.

I've had the same cheapie wood peel for decades. I'm sure it came from Marshalls or TJMaxx for just a few bucks. I'd still go for a cheapie over spending $30 (?!) Don't let it get too wet, just a wipe down with a damp rag...water has been the downfall of more than one cheap wood cutting board around here so I imagine the same would be true of a peel.
I do like the idea of a folding one, but I don't think the aluminium would be as good as wood

I bake bread several times a week and the pot method does not work for me for a variety of reasons. I have a Sassafrass wooden peel that was relatively inexpensive. A wooden peel is easier to season than an aluminum one. Once you rub enough flour into in, neither pizza nor bread will stick (obviously, no washing if you want to keep it seasoned). An aluminum peel would require lots of cornmeal or semolina for dusting every single time you use it.

I've got an aluminum peel (Sur La Table) and I LOVE it. It's sturdy, capable of lifting heavier breads / loaded pizzas, and broad enough to pick up just about anything. The thin edge easily gets under everything. I've never had a problem with anything sticking to the surface, and I've never seasoned it either. I do use alot of parchment paper in baking so that likely helps. Still - awesome little tool, and it's going to last for years.

This is the one I have, from King Arthur. I have had it since 1992, and because it is aluminum, I can also use it to lift and flip huge, party-sized hamburgers I put on home made sourdough bread rounds. It has a nice, long handle and a loop to hang it up. It is about $20.00, the same price I paid 17 years ago.

I use a piece of cardboard covered in foil and dusty with cornmeal, that way when it gets yucky I just replace the foil. I've gone through 3 wooden peels at a variety of prices and have managed to break them all.

I use parchment paper and an inverted cookie sheet to move pizza and breads onto my stone in the oven. I slide the paper into the oven w/ bread or pizza on top. Has been easier for me than getting the bread to slide off because i tend to burn myself on the oven if I stand anywhere near it for very long. Anyway, this started as a in-between thing while I waited to find a cheap peel, but I still haven't picked one up and this method works fine for me.

I use a metal pizza pan (the kind with holes all over it) to hold the pizza and just place it right on top of the heated stone. It works great for me and is a lot easier than sliding pizza off a peel.

I was horrible at sliding breads off a peel, they always ended up turning sideways or something. (Granted I didn't actually have a peel, so I used various cutting boards and pans)

Then I started using parchment paper, way easier and I can't tell the difference in the crust. I just do my final rest on the parchment, then pick the whole thing up and plop it on my pizza stone.

I actually have the Batali peel, i bought it locally I don't remember what i paid for it, was part of a gift certificate purchase.

I was worried because it folds down it wouldn't be sturdy, but its great. I do a lot of grilled pizzas, and i've used some pretty ghetto methods to get pizzas off the grill, cause as any of you know with grilling pizzas you have a window of like a few seconds between perfect and burnt. This thing saved me a bunch of headaches. Its really sharp on the end so you can get right under it with no danger of pushing the pizza anywhere you don't want it to go which is my favorite part.

I feel a little ashamed of the gadgetry purchase I'm about to make. Cardboard really should do the trick. After going back and forth between flour and corn meal on a rimless aluminum cookie sheet, I've had too many aggravating experiences to use the same method again.

I've got a blog entry ( http://www.rvafoodie.com/?p=317 ) considering two options that aren't mentioned here: The Super Peel and Epicurean's dishwasher safe non-stick(ish) pizza peel. Has anyone tried these?

I bake pizza on a granite slab on the BBQ about once a week. I went to a granit store and bought a 16 x 16 granite tile for about $10, and it's been great. for a peel, I took the alton brown no uni-tasker route, and bought a non-stick, rimless baking sheet. it's thin enough to get under the pizza, although using enough cornmeal is important. even more important is not letting the pizza sit too long on the peel ( I dress my pizza on the peel, and if i'm lazy/rushed i'll grate the cheese right onto it, the extra time the pizza is on the peel seems to let it stick more than if you're quick).