need help, pizza now sticking to peel

[JeffShoaf]

I have been using a super peel in my home for years. Makes things so easy and no stress. I just got an outdoor small gas oven and can’t use my beloved super peel so learning  with a slotted peel and semolina. So far so good but definitely more work

I cut a bit off both sides of one of the composite super peels and trimmed down the cloth so I could use it with my Breville piazziola oven. It looks like Amazon has some in stock now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CLS8LLE/?tag=pmak-20

 I actually contacted the owner of SuperPeel about him making a narrower peel since there's so many smaller ovens now; he replied back that he had made a few for friends and was considering making it a production item but had no target date. I sort of got the impression that he isn't really trying to grow the business. This was pre-pandemic and I'm surprised to see any size in stock now; they were out of stock everywhere I looked during 2020-2021.

I have the wfo superpeel to use with my bigger Fontana Forni gas oven; I know I really should practice launching without a SuperPeel but I generally make just enough dough for the number of pizzas I intend to make and a bad launch can mean going hungry...

[jenea]

figured it was time for an update. the underlying cause for my prior issues was a wet dough. guess my hydration % was off someplace a while ago. also, not giving my dough enough time to come to room temp made a difference as well as cutting back the % of yeast which resulted in an over fermented slack dough. also, cornmeal, which I now figured out how to use properly, has worked in tandem with all the other issues being fixed, to allow many months of worry free pizza launching into the oven.

thanks for all you help guys, it kept me in the game and allowed me to fix MY issues (I always admit when I'm at fault).

john

[Bill/CDMX]

Lots of good talk here about ways to launch the pizza off the peel. But perhaps the problem could be the dough is too sticky because the water has not been properly absorbed by the flour. Proper dough management techniques during mixing, fermentation and proofing can help make a highly hydrated dough less sticky.

Recently TXCraig1 introduced me in his garage pizza kitchen to the joys of proofing in a wooden box. If timed correctly, you can get a proofed dough ball to have a bottom that is not one bit sticky. No bench flour is required. None. It is now the only way I proof Neapolitan-style dough (~65-68% hydration). I'm also careful during the mixing to add flour in stages to ensure maximum absorption. I also sift my flour into the water. Perhaps these steps don't matter much, but it is has been part of my process for so long that I'm reluctant to mess with the accumulated intuition about what adjustments I need to make.

[Travinos_Pizza]

Lots of good talk here about ways to launch the pizza off the peel. But perhaps the problem could be the dough is too sticky because the water has not been properly absorbed by the flour. Proper dough management techniques during mixing, fermentation and proofing can help make a highly hydrated dough less sticky.

Recently TXCraig1 introduced me in his garage pizza kitchen to the joys of proofing in a wooden box. If timed correctly, you can get a proofed dough ball to have a bottom that is not one bit sticky. No bench flour is required. None. It is now the only way I proof Neapolitan-style dough (~65-68% hydration). I'm also careful during the mixing to add flour in stages to ensure maximum absorption. I also sift my flour into the water. Perhaps these steps don't matter much, but it is has been part of my process for so long that I'm reluctant to mess with the accumulated intuition about what adjustments I need to make.

Any major difference between wood and plastic on the proof box?

[Bill/CDMX]

Any major difference between wood and plastic on the proof box?

If you're talking about the part of the box that contacts the dough - then, yes, that is the whole point. Plastic traps moisture in the dough. Wood absorbs moisture - just enough to create a dough that is still pliable, but requires little or no bench flour.

[Travinos_Pizza]

If you're talking about the part of the box that contacts the dough - then, yes, that is the whole point. Plastic traps moisture in the dough. Wood absorbs moisture - just enough to create a dough that is still pliable, but requires little or no bench flour.

Gotcha. So it only absorbs enough to avoid the stick then?

[Bill/CDMX]

Gotcha. So it only absorbs enough to avoid the stick then?

IIRC, Craig recommends no more than 12-24 hours (please correct me, Craig) in the proofing box. I had some balls in the box for 48 hours due to scheduling snafus, and a skin had formed on the bottom. The skin cracked while stretching, but I was still able to open it OK. Of course, your dough hydration and the dryness of the wood (I moisten the wood) make a difference. As with all things pizza, you have to learn how to get all the little factors right. But bottom line for me, the less bench flour I use, the better the bottom of the crust comes out.

[Travinos_Pizza]

IIRC, Craig recommends no more than 12-24 hours (please correct me, Craig) in the proofing box. I had some balls in the box for 48 hours due to scheduling snafus, and a skin had formed on the bottom. The skin cracked while stretching, but I was still able to open it OK. Of course, your dough hydration and the dryness of the wood (I moisten the wood) make a difference. As with all things pizza, you have to learn how to get all the little factors right. But bottom line for me, the less bench flour I use, the better the bottom of the crust comes out.

Makes sense to me. I wonder what health departments stances are on wood proof boxes… of course for private/catering I don’t think it’d matter as much.