The kamado pizza peel is the part that usually goes wrong with homemade pizza. The stone is hot, your kamado's opening is small, and a topped pizza wants to stick to the worktop. With a peel you lift the pizza and slide it onto the stone in one straight motion, without the toppings sliding to one side or your forearm brushing the edge of the lid.
What a kamado pizza peel does for you
A kamado bakes pizza at high temperature with the lid closed. That means little time and little space: the longer the lid stays open, the more the stone temperature drops and the less crispy the base turns out. A peel turns that moment into one smooth movement.
- Get pizza on and off the stone without bringing your hands near the fire
- The lid stays open only briefly, so the stone keeps its temperature
- Toppings stay exactly where you put them
- Also handy for giving the pizza a half turn halfway through
- Usable for flatbread, focaccia and sheet loaves
How to actually get a pizza to slide off
Dust the peel with semolina, coarse cornmeal or flour before you place the dough on it, and only add toppings once the pizza is on the peel. The longer a topped pizza sits on the peel, the more likely it is to stick. Give the peel a short shake just before sliding it in: if the pizza moves with it, you're good to go. Set the tip of the peel at the back of the stone and pull the peel out from under the pizza in one firm motion.
Care
Wipe the peel down once it has cooled after use and store it dry. Don't leave leftover dough and flour on it: that burns on immediately the next time. Find the matching stone in our 36cm pizza stone, or for a medium kamado the 16-inch pizza stone. The rest of the toolkit is under BBQ tools.
