first pizzas

[gerry speirs]

Well today I threw my first pizzas and it was harder than I thought lol. Things I learned...

More heat isn’t necessarily better. I was worried that my heat would die down so I kept stoking it...too much.
Dont use cornmeal to help the pizza slide of the peel because it burns, any recs on what else? Maybe semolina?
I definitely need a smaller peel for turning the pizzas.
white oak seems to be doing much better than apple wood for me although I mix them when the oak gets established.
practice makes perfect but I know how to cook so at the end of the day I still ended up with some tasty pizza. Napoletano - Salami with chicken sausage and red onion- pancetta mozzarella and Parmesan all with my homemade sauce

[deejayoh]

I just use a little flour on my peel to keep the skin from sticking. Both cornmeal and semolina will leave a blackened mess on your cooking surface. The other advantage of using flour is that you need to have it around to form the pie anyway. Rice flour will burn the least, but to me the advantage is not great enough to keep another product in my prep area.

[SableSprings]

I agree with Deejayoh, having extra products around can be a pain sometimes. That said, I use rice flour and keep it in a little stainless steel shaker can. What I didn't like about using flour, was that if you get a drop of two or moisture (sauce, etc.) on the peel's flour base, it will form a sticky spot. I use the rice flour a lot for my bread making (baskets & couches), so for me it's not really an extra product. When I'm making pizza, I use flour to get the skin ready but lightly sprinkle the peel and transfer the skin onto it, then add my toppings.

I use a banjo peel for all my pizza turning and pulling loaves of bread out when done. There are several sizes available, but the smaller 8" diameter and shorter handle 47" works really well for me and doesn't whack anybody in the head that's behind me while I'm working the oven .

Forno Bravo sells them ( https://www.fornobravo.com/store/8-r...al-pizza-peel/ ), but they are also available elsewhere. I used Frankie G's ( http://www.fgpizza.com/ ) company in California when I first started and before I knew about this site (yes, I actually bought my peel before I had started my oven......guess I thought it would secure the completion of my envisioned project. ). ( http://shop.fgpizza.com/Short-Banjo-...ch-Handle.html ). People with metal working skills, or that have friends that like pizza and have metal working skills have posted here pictures of pretty awesome homemade models.

Hope that helps...