One of the best tools for a pizza aficionado is a peel: a tool used by bakers that looks like a shovel, with a wide paddle and a handle.
A pizza peel serves to slide your pizza in and out of the oven from on your best pizza stone, but it can also be used for loaves of bread, pastries, pies, or other types of baked goods.
It’s flat with a handle extending from one side. It’s perfect for handling your homemade pizza, and also to re-heat pizza or cook a prepared or frozen pizza.
While all the pizza peels reviewed will do what they’re designed for, we are attracted to the Pizza Royale Natural Bamboo Pizza Peel. It’s a fantastic peel that is low maintenance and multi-purpose.
So how do you select the best pizza peel for your kitchen? We’ll look at the top five pizza peels to help you make your decision.
Our Favorite Pizza Peels For Homemade Pizza
1. Heritage Acacia Wood Pizza Peel
The Heritage is made of beautiful, natural acacia wood, which makes it an effective tool that’s also attractive enough to hang in the kitchen. It has a tapered edge that allows you to slide it under the pizza or bread to get it out of the oven easily.
Despite being thin enough to slide under a pizza, it’s also thick enough that it won’t warp with heat or the weight of the pizza. It’s about ½ an inch thick at the thickest point – near the handle – and beveled to 1/8 of an inch thick. The bevel starts 3/4 of an inch from the edge.
The length of 22 inches includes the handle, which is strong and fits your hand well. The actual board is about 14 inches by 14 inches. The end of the peel that slides under the pizza is “U” shaped to make it easier to scoop the pie or bread.
The beauty of this peel is that it’s also attractive enough to prepare a cheese platter or serve as a charcuterie board. The wood is good quality and sanded to a smooth finish.
It is possible to cut right on the board, although, depending on your knife, it may make marks in the wood.
2. Epicurean Pizza Peel
The Epicurean peel is made of a modified material, rather than pure wood, which makes it knife-friendly and dishwasher safe. It’s also lightweight while being durable, and is non-porous.
The other qualities that make it somewhat unique are that it’s reversible and comes in several colors, with different options for the color of the handle as well.
You can choose from natural (light brown) or slate for the board, and the handle colors are natural, brown, red, slate or grey.
It has a beveled front edge – also in a “U” shape – and measures 23 inches by 14 inches.
The type of material means you can prep, cut and serve right on the peel, without dulling your knife. It’s also temperature resistant to 350F, so it can serve as a trivet.
Epicurean has an interesting history in that it was founded by custom skate park manufacturer TrueRide to repurpose excess skating surface material used by the company.
They knew the wood fiber composite used in skate park ramps was durable, non-porous, and dishwasher safe, so they repurposed it for kitchen use.
3. Pizza Royale Natural Bamboo Pizza Peel
The Pizza Royale is made with bamboo, which means it’s also ideal as a cutting board. The antimicrobial properties of bamboo naturally fight against bacteria and it’s hard enough to prevent deep knife grooves where bacteria thrive.
It’s easy to clean as it just needs hand washing in warm water, and with such care, it won’t split, warp or crack. It can also serve as a bread and cheese serving board and is practical for everyday use.
As a pizza peel, it has an easy grip handle and measures 19.6 inches by 12 inches, with a thickness of 0.6 of an inch. The design is sturdy but not too heavy, and the handle has a contoured design that’s easy to hold.
4. Pizzacraft Aluminum Pizza Peel w/Folding Handle
This product is made of aluminum and has a wooden folding handle. The aluminum material means it isn’t as versatile as the other peels, in that it isn’t as attractive to use as a cheese board, a serving board or a trivet.
The substance does make it lightweight to maneuver, and the folding handle makes it easy for storage and portability. It’s 23 inches by 12 inches with the handle open.
This product is an accessory designed for use with the Pizzacraft PizzaQue 600 series pizza oven, so it’s ideal if you have that specific oven or want to give it as a gift to someone you know has the oven. The peel is sized specifically for the 600-series oven.
5. Checkered Chef Stainless Steel Pizza Peel With Folding Handle
This option is made of stainless steel, with a thin composition that makes it easy to slip under a pizza or a pie to lift out of the oven. It can also be used as an extra larger turner for a grill or barbecue.
The Checkered Chef is 22 inches long from the handle to the end of the peel, while the peel itself is 13 inches by 9 1/2 inches.
The handle has a comfortable grip made of black rubber and is also foldable for easy storage. The rubber handle means the peel can’t be left in an oven, but the peel is dishwasher safe.
Final Thoughts
If you often make pizzas at home or bake bread, pies or other pastries, a peel is a great addition to your kitchen.
There’s nothing worse than trying to get a pizza out of the oven and flipping it on to the oven door, or worse – the 10-second rule doesn’t apply when the toppings are splattered across the floor.
The peels we reviewed are all capable of serving their main purpose – lifting a pizza into and out of an oven. They are each made of a different material: wood, composite, bamboo, aluminum and stainless steel.
If you have a personal preference for any of the materials, that may weigh into your decision.
Although it’s a little smaller than the other models, our favorite is the Pizza Royale Natural Bamboo Pizza Peel. We like the bamboo material, which is antimicrobial, so we’re confident about cutting right on the board without damaging the board or attracting bacteria.
It’s also sturdy while being attractive and multi-functional enough to use as a bread or cheese serving board.
