Pizza sticking to *^*#@ peel

[timmus]

OK, I am fairly new to pizza cooking and keep having a problem with the dough sticking to the peel where I can't get it to slide on the stone.  I -am- using cornmeal sprinkled on the peel before putting the dough on it.  Am I using too little?  Or might there be something wrong with my dough recipe?  I had maybe 2 tbsp all around the peel.  Lately the only way I can get it to go on the stone is to have me wrangle it and someone helps me with a spatula to lift the different parts onto the stone (which of course makes a bit of a mess).

Tim

[Pete-zza]

timmus,

If you can give us your dough recipe, I'm confident we should be able to help you out.

Peter

[billneild]

timmus, rather then cornmeal try this:  Buy a roll of parchment paper at the local megamart.  Cut off a square piece and fold it in half then half again, etc. forming a wedge.  Cut off the wide end, unfold and you will have a perfect circle.  Place on peel, place skin on paper, dress.  This will slide perfectly into the oven.  Depending on temp. the paper may brown.  It will not impart any off flavors.  works like a charm.  No mess in the oven.  Pete thinks it is a tad expensive.  Compared to the rest of the ingredients it is trivial.  Paper can probably be reused once.

Bill

[bakerbill]

Lately I have been using rice flour, having tried semolina before that. It works well for me. It's important not to let the dough rest too long on the peel before putting it in the oven. Before placing toppings, jiggle the peel a bit.  It the pizza doesn't slide, lift it up and place more flour under the edges.  Also, don't load the toppings too heavily.  Finally, I spray the dough with olive oil before putting on the toppings so liquid from the toppings doesn't soak the dough.  When we were in Naples, the pizza man formed the dough on the counter top, quickly slid it onto the peel, topped it off and had it in the oven in less than a minute.

bakerbill

[gottabedapan]

Did you prepare your peel before using it?

No cornmeal, flour, rice flour, semolina, or parchment paper necessary.

[billneild]

Prepare a peel?  Tell us more.

[billneild]

The posts cited all look like at least as much work as anything else.

[gschwim]

I used to have the same problem when I put the doughball directly on the peel.  Now, as at my neighborhood pizzerieas, I initially put the doughball on a floured board, pick up the dough to stretch it out over my knuckles and then put the dough on the (unfloured) peel.  I give the peel a short, sharp jerk to make sure the dough is not sticking and, so far, it never has.  Then I add the ingredients.

Basically, as long as I do any pressing down on the dough, on a separate surface and just lay the fully-stretched dough gently on the peel, I don't have a problem.  Also, because I didn't flour the peel, I've virtually eliminated the problem of excess flour covering my fingers when I eat the finished pizza.

Gene

[iceman3876]

I had this problem often in the beginning. I went to Home Depot, got a thin piece of oak plywood and sanded it with an extra fine piece of sandpaper and sanded the bejus-us out of it. Then I wiped it clean and worked flour into the surface. When putting the pizza on peel...I made sure that the dough ball was floured completely and then shaped and finally placed on the flat board. The board was given a generous sprinkling of semolina and generous means just that. My guess is that it was a nice handful followed by flat hand spreading of semolina across the entire surface of the homemade peel. Between placing the pizza and each step of preparation ( sauce, cheese, pepperoni, onion) I gave the peel movement to insure that each step wasnt causing the dough to weigh down and bond to the board. Thus, I have never had a problem. But remember, I am just learning myself..so give it a try and I promise no more sticky pizza dough to peels. Good Luck and Good Pizza