The variety of available materials, dimensions, alternatives in the shape of the heads, the head-handle hooking system and the solid or perforated type of surface allow each one to choose the best peel to suit their needs.
1. USE: TO SLIDE IT IN OR TAKE IT OUT?
The peels are designed to pick the pizza up off the worktop and slide it into the oven. They have sizes and shapes to hold different types of pizza and must have lengths suited to diffeent workspaces: if a peel is too long, it would be cumbersome, whereas if it is too short, it would be difficult to manage the oven properly.
Gi.Metal small pizza peels are agile and precise to handle: they are used to turn the pizza inside the oven, check its cooking by raising the bottom and taking it out when cooked. Dimensions identified by Gi.Metal guarantee the right support surface.
2. MATERIALS:WOOD, STEEL OR ALUMINUM?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of these three different materials with which a pizza peel is made? Let's see them in detail:
Wooden pizza peels. Wood is a material linked to tradition, easily workable even with hand crafting technologies. Its drawbacks are related to a shorter lifetime and the problems connected to maintaining hygiene. The wood used for the Gi.Metal peels is evaporated beech treated without any glue and with special natural non-toxic treatments certified for food use.
Steel pizza peels. Unlike wood, they have longer life characteristics, have a greater smoothness and are more robust: they resist well to impacts that occur between the worktop and the oven. In contrast, they have a higher specific weight compared to aluminium. The steel used for the Gi.Metal peels is strictly stainless, of European origin, with a low percentage of nickel in compliance with allergies.
Aluminium pizza peels. They are lightweight and reduce the friction between the dough and the peel, making the loading and the unloading of the pizza in the oven a smooth and natural movement. The strength and durability are ensured by the structure of the peel itself. The weight is reduced further thanks to the design and the creation of the perforation on the surface of the pizza peel. Aluminium alloys undergo special treatments to increase the performance of resistance and hygiene.
Golden anodizing (Gold), hard and neutral anodizing (Azzurra, Napolitana, Gluten Free and Alice) are some of the treatments adopted by Gi.Metal, which make the surface even, aesthetically pleasing and protects it from oxidation. Real disadvantages are not identifiable in the use of this material, if not greater delicacy and processing with very sophisticated machines during production..
3. PERFORATED OR SOLID?
There are those who prefer the version without holes because they are looking for maximum stability and greater rigidity, and those who have converted to the perforated version, appreciating the extreme lightness, the flexibility of the tool on the worktop, and the advantage of releasing excess flour.
Gi.Metal is in fact the first company to devise and realise the pizza perforated peels, which allow you to release more excess flour, which is stuck to the bottom of the dough, before putting the pizza in the oven. During preparation and filling of the pizza, the excess flour on the work bench gets stuck to the bottom of it, then gets transported inside the oven and gets burnt, causing numerous problems.
The perforated peels allow you to eliminate or at least greatly reduce these disadvantages (smoke, residue, bitter taste of pizza).
THE ADVANTAGES OF PERFORATED PEELS
Maximum smoothness: Less surface means less friction. The holes are smooth and rounded at the ends of the cut, so that even the dampest dough slides smoothly. You can also use less flour on the counter.
Lightness: The perforated sheet has less material and therefore weighs less.
- Less smoke: less flour burning means less smoke in the room.
- No more burning and bitter taste of the pizza: the flour burning under the pizza creates black burns and makes the taste bitter.
- Less cleaning: less flame burnt in the oven means less cleaning of the floor.
4. SHAPE: RECTANGULAR OR ROUND?
Gi.Metal peel is designed as a safe and accurate accommodation for pizza and allows easy and safe loading. The rectangular peel is a safe, traditional choice; it offers a larger surface area in contact with the pizza and the grip point, with which to lift the pizza, is only milled at the front.
The round peel has an extended grip point with a gentle, regular milling over a large extension of the curve, enabling the pizza-maker to take up the pizza even from the side and thus not only from the front. Furthermore, as there have bevelled corners, the pizzas are closer to the inside of the oven, ensuring the correct handling and increasing the efficiency of the oven.
5. DIMENSIONS
The size of the head of the pizza peel should be chosen according to the size of the pizza that is to be produced. A standard size pizza ranges from 33 to 36 cm in diameter. The maxi/family size pizzas reach up to 45-50 cm.
If the size increases and the shape becomes oval we are talking about "peel pizza", also called "spianata", "stirata" or "pizza alla romana". This type of pizza requires large rectangular pizza peels.
The size of the handle instead is chosen based on the depth of the oven with which you work. The handle must be long enough to avoid burns. A handle shorter than 30 cm is recommended for tunnel ovens and small bar ovens. The 60 cm handle is recommended for professional electric ovens, while the lengths from 120 up to 200 cm are suitable for large-scale artisan ovens.
6. PRICES
The Gi.Metal pizza peels have very different prices to meet the needs of the various users.
The criteria for the determination of the market price is based on the type of pizza chef to which it is addressed (professionals or pizza enthusiasts) to the use that they make of the instrument (the frequency of use and how many pizzas are produced in an evening is fundamental), the quality of the raw materials used and the processes that the materials undergo.