Transferring From peel to the stone has been my biggest problem

[JM183]

I want to make a big pizza maybe 14 inch but I don’t have a big enough peel but even using the Small peel I have I still have trouble. I want my pizza to come out with as little flour on it as possible but I haven’t found the right balance yet. Do you think it’s just a practice makes perfect thing? Also i hate having my pizza get smaller when I shake it off the peel and into the stone, any technique suggestions?

My first attempts at pizza I actually used 2 baking sheets. One as a stone and the other as a peel, I’ve had both success and total disasters this way

[Pizza_Not_War]

Sometimes it's a practice thing, other times the dough might be too sticky or not enough flour. You can try rice flour, semolina, etc. instead of regular flour.

You can also swallow your pride and go the parchment paper method. Pull the paper as soon as the crust starts to set.

As to size, you often see the pros pulling on the dough after putting it on the peel to get the size as they want it.

[MadMatt]

Shape dough, put on parchment. Put it on peel then slide it off onto stone. Shouldn't even need shaking.

Maybe dough too sticky too high hydration?

[The Dough Doctor]

I don't know how much you are referring to when you say that your dough "shrinks back" when peeling the dough into the oven but there are two things than can be done, one is to ensure the dough has been properly fermented (insufficiently fermented dough has a greater tendency to exhibit memory characteristics) and to open the dough up to a slightly larger diameter that what you are targeting with the knowledge that the dough will shrink back to the target diameter as you peel it into the oven. Additionally, during the baking process you can expect the pizza to contract by something between 1/4 and 1/2-inch in diameter.
Other things which can/will impact the way the dough handles on the peel:
Dough temperature (warm dough tends to be more problematic)
How thin the skin is (very thin skins are more problematic)
Amount and viscosity of the sauce used. (heavy sauce application and thin sauce viscosity tend to be more problematic)
Length of time needed to assemble/dress the pizza/skin. The longer it takes the greater the propensity for the dough to stick)
Type of peel being used. (In my experience wood peels are easier to use and more forgiving)
Failure to shake the skin on the peel during and after building the pizza can result in the dough sticking to the peel.
Just some ideas for consideration.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[JeffShoaf]

I couldn't bear wasting good pizza on bad launches, so I got a super peel: https://superpeel.com/

i started off with the wfo version for my pizza party passione, but none fit the Breville Pizzaiola. The super peel creator says he's working on a narrower one for smaller ovens but doesn't have an eta on when they'll be available so i bought a composite super peel and cut it down to size.

[ARenko]

Is this in a home oven?  When I was cooking in the home oven I'd use parchment paper.  No flour required and it's super easy to launch and after a couple minutes you can pull it out and finish cooking the pizza on the stone.

[CobaltHex]

I always give my peel a pretty heavy dose of cornmeal, havent had any issues since.

[pizzaboyfan]

Sounds like the dough is too cold, which is why it contracts.
Let is sit out for 2 hours before you stretch, and see of that helps.

Perr,y

[The Dough Doctor]

Just for the record, I'm not a big fan of composite peels, they tend to be overly heavy for their size and the dough tends to stick to them. I'll take a good wood peel every time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[AJ33]

Semolina has worked very well for me. It’s like tiny little balls for the pizza to roll on.

I have been opening my dough balls up on a thin layer of it and also dusting every inch of my wooden peel.

[miv]

A wooden peel is a good solution, thought I'd share some issues that still persist with one:
Dough can be too warm - ie. it becomes sticky at around 24 C and I need a lot more flour.
It's just much easier to handle dough at around 20 C.
Tomato sauce/any liquid falling on the peel - the dough will stick in a horrible way when it touches it.

[Johndough]

Sorry for undigging the old topic, but this dough sticking was really a big issue for me!

First up, one issue is speed. Have everything ready, put it on the pizza and onto the stone. The faster the better.

But sometimes things take a bit longer, then looking into other helpful things....

Sometimes it's a practice thing, other times the dough might be too sticky or not enough flour. You can try rice flour, semolina, etc. instead of regular flour.

Flour/Semolina did not work for me. It goes wet fast and sticks. However, rice flour does not sucks much water and stays dry. Hence your pizza does not get stuck on the peel - even without lightspeed work! And rice flour has one more added bonus: it can handle heat! Flour/Semolina goes black on the stone in no time and starts to smoke - rice flour goes just a little bit darker.

Took me really a long time to find out about that.

[gdepozsgay]

Got the super peel some time back and now use it exclusively. There are some problems using it in the Blackstone oven though. The 16" peel can't be inserted far enough into the oven (the oven is round in the back) to deliver a 14" pie without some of the pie hanging over the edge of the stone when deployed also handling the slider is uncomfortable due to the heat. I'm going to cut some off the corners of the peel and that should solve the first problem (and exacerbate the second) but am still pondering what to do about the slide and the handle could be longer too for comfort. In a conventional/home oven it works like a charm.

[Pizza_Not_War]

The truth of the matter is that millions of pizzas a day are sliding off peels around the world. Using the Super Peel isn't bad, nor is my using parchment paper evil, but doing it the old fashioned way works with a bit of practice and learning what your dough needs to slide off easily. Rice flour is pretty slick. 

The only reason I bother with parchment paper is that I don't have to clean my steel in the oven, so it's a different kind of laziness. 

[02ebz06]

Also, shake it on the peel occasionally to see if it is sticking in a particular spot.
Lift the dough there and toss a little flour under there and shake again.  Rice flour is a good choice as others have said.
 

[depothaldol]

I'll second the suggestion about using rice flour on a wooden peel. This can work perfectly every time.

Rice flour lets the dough slide off, because it doesn't form sticky glutenous connections with the moisture in the dough, but at the same time it does get incorporated into the pizza somewhat, meaning you don't have any visible flour left over (like you do with cornmeal), and you don't get a mouth full of flour when you bite into the crust.

[jenea]

for a few weeks I had a lot of issues with pizza sticking when using my peel. turned out, my poolish was severely over fermented, with the acidity causing issues with my dough. once I got that issue under control, I have had no issues. also, my sourdough experiment gave me issues as well.

john

[Jackitup]

BEST use of a Super Peel! I made a homemade one. Build on the Super Peel, take your time as no need to rush, then transfer on to a lightly dusted wooden peel, and immediately into oven. On the peel for 5-10 seconds, no chance to stick, much less awkward!!!