Using A String To Check/Loosen the Pizza On The Peel?

[chickenparm]

Im not sure if this belongs here,but this is something I have only seen done in NY pizza shops,so I figure it may be a NY thing to do with thin pizza crusts ala NY style.

I recall seeing a few pizza makers in NY use a long white string to slide under the pie(front to back sliding) to make sure it was not stuck to the peel before they put/slid it into the oven.

I was also wondering,do they also do this to help remove excess corn meal or flour before the pie cooks?

Does anyone do this or even seen it before yourself?

 

[Pete-zza]

Bill,

I have used string and baker's/butcher's twine to help free a skin/pizza that has stuck to the peel. I also recall reading that one of the elite NY style pizzerias used dental floss to do the same thing, as I noted at Reply 43 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2223.msg20656/topicseen.html#msg20656. pftaylor also mentioned that he saw Jose at Patsy's in Harlem use a length of string to free a pizza that stuck to the peel. I don't know if Patsy's does that for all pizzas but Pete mentions Patsy's use of a string at Step 7 of Reply 210 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1053.msg10550.html#msg10550.

Peter

[chickenparm]

Thanks Peter!

Growing up in NY,and eating at so many different pizza shops,one tends to see different methods.It's Just back then,I never really paid attention to what or why,they did so,I just wanted to EAT.
 

These days,Im trying to recall what certain places did and why.In some places,the string was the same red/white string that they used to tie up the pizza boxes in back in the days.Bakerys in NY did the same thing,they would tie that candy cane looking string around the boxes of cookies and cakes!Im sure some still do today!

Thanks for the links,gonna read some more!
 

[chickenparm]

Peter,
Do you have a Photo graphic memory or something?
 
I read those replies at the links you gave me,and wow,you were so fast to post them here.Some of them replies are 5 years old!

Just wanted to say many many thanks!...your ability to answer and post topics that were covered a while back is nothing like I have seen on other forums I belong to.
 

[Pete-zza]

Peter,
Do you have a Photo graphic memory or something?
 

Bill,

I think I have a pretty good memory but, as I have noted before, it is largely the use of the forum's Advanced search feature that leads me to posts, including those that are several years old. Over the course of the years, I have used the forum's Advanced search feature thousands of times, usually several times a day, so I feel that I have learned how to use the feature most effectively. Also, as a Moderator, I try to read or at least scan all the new posts (we have days where they number over a hundred posts) to be sure that they are filed in the right places, so this exposes me to the content more than others who are more selective in their reading. I am more likely to cite my own posts because I know how I think and articulate things, plus I have posted on so many topics, sometimes more than once, as the same topics keep coming up over and over again, especially from new members. In the case of the string question you posed, I used the keywords butcher's, string, and dental floss under my forum's user's name. Those are terms that I recalled using in my posts on that topic. I try as much as possible to use the longest string of keywords possible to keep from getting hundreds of posts to sort through.

I have discussed how to use the forum's Advanced search feature at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,3101.0.html. It is one of the sticky threads under Forum Info.

Peter

[JConk007]

Yes that sneaky pete is Fast 
There is a local shop by me on rt 23 south boonton NJ? just before Green pond road. not sure of name? but they use the string thing on every pie.  I was also interested in the technique and think I posted somewhere here years ago when I saw it done. ? Really dont see the need to blow string or ball bearing the pie off any more. Just takes some practice and youlll be slipping them rigt into postition with jus a little four on the peel.
John

[Pete-zza]

There is a local shop by me on rt 23 south boonton NJ? just before Green pond road. not sure of name? but they use the string thing on every pie.  I was also interested in the technique and think I posted somewhere here years ago when I saw it done. ?

John,

The post where you discussed this subject is Reply 6 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7272.msg62734/topicseen.html#msg62734. It is interesting that there are some pizza operators out there using the string method.

Peter

[chickenparm]

Interesting enough,I was talking to a few people that eat at a few specific places of NY style pizzas,and they say the pizza maker uses the string every single time he makes a pie.Just out of habit,to ensure it is ready to slide off and not stuck.

I guess some use the shake method on the peel and some others(mostly old timers in the biz for 30+ years) use a string.