Peel (tool)

A peel is a tool used by bakers to slide loaves of bread, pizzas, pastries, and other baked goods into and out of an oven.^[1] It is usually made of wood, with a flat surface for carrying the baked good and a handle extending from one side of that surface. Alternatively, the carrying surface may be made of sheet metal, which is attached to a wooden handle. Wood has the advantage that it does not become hot enough to burn the user's hands the way metal can, even if it is frequently in the oven. The word presumably derives from the French pelle, which describes both a peel and a shovel.

A peel's intended functions are to:

Transfer delicate breads, pastries, etc into an oven where transferring them directly by hand could deform their delicate structure.
Allow food to be placed further back in an oven than could normally be reached by the baker.
Keep the baker's hands out of the hottest part of an oven, or prevent the baker from burning their hands on the hot baked goods.

Prior to use, peels are often sprinkled with flour, cornmeal,^[2] or milled wheat bran, to allow baked goods to easily slide onto and off them.

A wood and thin metal peel can work well with flat breads, in this case pizza, and is also sometimes called a pizza shovel.

There are peels of many sizes, with the length of the handle suited to the depth of the oven, and the size of the carrying surface suited to the size of the food it is meant to carry (for instance, slightly larger than the diameter of a pizza). Household peels commonly have handles around 15 cm long and carrying surfaces around 35 cm square, though handles range in length from vestigial (~6 centimeters) to extensive (~1.5 meters or more), and carrying surfaces range in size from miniature (~12 centimeters square) to considerably wide (1 meter square or more).

Other tools

An alternative, and related, meaning of the word peel is a wooden pole with a smooth cross-piece at one end, which was used in printing houses of the hand-press period (before around 1850) to raise printed sheets onto a line to dry, and to take them down again once dried. The term is also sometimes used for the blade of an oar. All three meanings derive ultimately from the Latin pala, a spade.

References

^ Simmons, Marie (2008). Things Cooks Love: Implements, Ingredients, Recipes. Photographs by Ben Fink. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-7407-6976-4. OCLC 167764416. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
^ Owens, Martin J. (2003). Make Great Pizza at Home. Taste of America Press. p. 3. ISBN 0974447005.

External links

Media related to Peel (tool) at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of peel at Wiktionary

[Simmons-1] Simmons, Marie (2008). Things Cooks Love: Implements, Ingredients, Recipes. Photographs by Ben Fink. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-7407-6976-4. OCLC 167764416. Retrieved 6 September 2012.

[2] Owens, Martin J. (2003). Make Great Pizza at Home. Taste of America Press. p. 3. ISBN 0974447005.

[1]

[2]

v t e Bread
Types	Brown bread Bun Flatbread Multigrain Quick Rye bread Salt-rising Sandwich bread Soda bread Sourdough Sprouted Unleavened White bread Whole wheat
Ingredients	Baker's yeast Barm Calcium propanoate Dough conditioner Eggs Fat Flour Leavening agent Milk Salt Sugar Water
Equipment	Oven Bread machine Bread pan Dough scraper Farinograph Lame Peel Stand mixer Warmer Toaster Weighing scales
Processes and techniques	Autolysis Baking Biga Chorleywood bread process Kneading Leavening Maillard reaction No-knead bread Proofing Pre-ferment Pre-slicing Sponge and dough Steaming Straight dough Vienna process
Uses	Bread crumbs Bread bowl Bread pakora Bread pudding Croutons French toast Rusks Stuffing Sandwiches Toast
Other	Bakery Breadmaking Baker percentage Bread and salt Bread in Europe Bread clip History of bread
List articles	American breads Brand name breads Bread dishes Bread rolls British breads Buns French breads Indian breads Pakistani breads Quick breads Sourdough breads Sweet breads Swiss breads Toast dishes
Category

v t e Kitchen tools
Kitchenware Cooking vessel Cookware and bakeware Cutlery Dishwashing Eating utensils Food preparation utensils Food storage container Tableware Teaware
Apple corer (Apple cutter) Baster Beanpot Blowtorch Bottle opener Bowl Bread knife Browning tray Butter curler Cake and pie server Candy thermometer Can opener Cheese cutter Cheese knife Cheese slicer Cheesecloth Chef's knife Cherry pitter Chinois Chopsticks Citrus reamer Clay pot Cleaver Colander Mated colander pot Cookie cutter Cookie press Corkscrew Crab cracker Cutting board Edible tableware Egg piercer Egg poacher Egg separator Egg slicer Egg timer Fat separator Fillet knife Fish scaler Fish slice Flour sifter Food mill Funnel Garlic press Grapefruit knife Grater Gravy strainer Honey dipper Honing steel Ladle Lame Lemon squeezer Lobster pick Mandoline Measuring cup Measuring spoon Meat grinder Meat tenderizer Meat thermometer Melon baller Mezzaluna Herb chopper Microplane Milk frother Milk watcher Mortar and pestle Nutcracker Nutmeg grater Oven glove Pastry bag Pastry blender Pastry brush Pastry wheel Peel Peeler Pepper mill Pie bird Pizza cutter Potato masher Potato ricer Pot-holder Poultry shears Roller docker Rolling pin Salt and pepper shakers Scissors Scoop Sieve Slotted spoon Spatula Spider Strawberry huller Tamis Tomato knife Tongs Trussing needle Twine Weighing scale Whisk Wooden spoon Scraper Dough Zester
Categories Kitchenware Commons Kitchen utensils Types of tools Cleaning Cutting and abrasive Forestry Garden Hand Kitchen Machine and metalworking Masonry Measuring and alignment Mining Power Woodworking

Other tools

See also

References

External links