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I'm not cooking with a special pizza oven; I'm just using a regular oven with a pizza stone. However, I don't have a pizza peel. What can I use to put the pizza onto the stone? Any way I can make a makeshift pizza peel?

Some Guy
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    This feels like a duplicate of https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/40973/how-to-remove-pizza-pan-from-oven-without-a-peel?rq=1 – FuzzyChef Oct 18 '22 at 00:52
  • @FuzzyChef not really - in the other question, the asker is working with mini pans and needs to maneuver them around. – Stephie Oct 18 '22 at 10:41

2 Answers2

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Use a cookie tray. Turn it upside down. Place a piece of parchment on the upside down tray. Build your pizza on the the upside down, parchment covered tray. Slide the parchment, with pizza, onto your pizza stone. You may find a spatula or tongs helpful to reverse the process once the pizza is cooked.

Edit: In an attempt to make those of you with concerns feel a bit better, just wait a few minutes, until the crust firms up, then slip the parchment out. Finish cooking without parchment. Use tongs or spat to remove cooked pizza back to underside of tray.

moscafj
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  • Doesn't parchment paper break down at high temperatures and release toxic chemicals? – Some Guy Oct 18 '22 at 02:05
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    @SomeGuy news to me. Do you have any documentation to support that? It is fairly common practice to use parchment paper in an oven. – moscafj Oct 18 '22 at 02:17
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    Most parchment paper is rated to somewhere around 420-450F. Going higher will definitely cause it to smoke and turn brown, perhaps in rare cases even catch fire (depending on where it's located in the oven, where the heating elements are, what it's touching, etc.). So, it depends on what temperature you bake your pizza. I bake my pizzas at 550F (the max my oven will allow) and wouldn't use parchment at that temp. – Athanasius Oct 18 '22 at 02:20
  • It's what I heard from other people while I was looking at pizza tutorials. It is common practice to use parchment, but the temperatures for baking cookies and stuff like that is usually low. For baking pizza, you need to get the temperatures really high to simulate an actual pizza oven. – Some Guy Oct 18 '22 at 02:21
  • I frequently bake bread in a 500F oven, with parchment between the bread and stone. Sure, it brown a bit around the edges, but I've never experienced burning. That would be a much longer time than it would take to cook a pizza – moscafj Oct 18 '22 at 02:22
  • @Athanasius Exactly, I want to try cooking a 550F pizza because I heard they taste better. I usually cooked mine at 425F before without a stone, but now I am using one, so I can't use parchment paper because it will definitely burn when I'm preheating the stone – Some Guy Oct 18 '22 at 02:23
  • You said you are using a typical oven with a pizza stone. – moscafj Oct 18 '22 at 02:23
  • @moscafj I am the OP and I never said I was using a pizza oven. I'm just saying that I'm setting the oven temp really high to SIMULATE a pizza oven – Some Guy Oct 18 '22 at 02:24
  • @moscafj I see now that parchment paper is safe, so thanks – Some Guy Oct 18 '22 at 02:25
  • Exactly..... I doubt you are getting to 550...even if you are, I would be surprised if the parchment between the pizza and stone burns. – moscafj Oct 18 '22 at 02:25
  • As I noted, it would be a "rare case" if it actually caught fire. However, I will still remark this is an "off-label" use for parchment paper. In my experience, going over 500F with parchment (depending on brand) can cause it to blacken and turn brittle to the point that it falls apart. From what I understand, it's not a *safety* issue (no noxious chemicals), but I still personally avoid it for very high-heat applications. – Athanasius Oct 18 '22 at 02:37
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    You may even have success by using corn meal & treat the cookie tray like a regular pizza peel – fyrepenguin Oct 18 '22 at 07:17
  • @Athanasius edited to reflect your concerns (and lots of references to using parchment with pizza online...yes, and some against, but primarily because they feel it keeps the crust from crisping.) – moscafj Oct 18 '22 at 11:47
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    You say to put it upside down, but that’s only needed if it has sides. When I cook pizzas at a friend’s house, she has cookie sheets that just have one side lifted slightly, so that’s what we use. I’ve also used wooden cutting boards that aren’t too thick. And I work close to the edge that I’m going to slide off of, so when it sticks (it always does a bit), I can get that edge onto the stone, then work on getting it off the pan without too much mess – Joe Oct 18 '22 at 13:01
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The cookie sheet suggested above is a great option—if you don't have one, or don't have one large enough (only have quarter-sized sheets, etc), can also recommend a large cutting board + cornmeal, if you have those instead.

Emily Chapman
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