Norpro Pizza Peel and Paddle

I bought this peel to make grilling pizzas easier, and its done what I hoped it would do. It makes a convenient surface for rolling out half-pound dough balls and placing toppings, and when properly prepared, the dough releases easily from the peel. Its great for pulling off finished pizzas, and much less cumbersome than trying to use an overturned cookie sheet.This is a very basic peel though. The wood is unfinished, and I've found that it absorbs water and oils very easily. If you don't properly prep the wood with corn meal or flour prior to putting the dough on top, or you don't have the dough oiled well enough, its going to stick, and tear apart. For a basic peel though, this one does a good job.

Bought this peel and a baking stone together - had found a recipe for 'artisan' bread - the nice dense, crusty kind - but the cookbook author was extremely specific about having to have both the stone and the peel.I almost bought the stone and not the peel - surely I could manage to get dough into my oven and bread back out without ruining anything? But...had a bad feeling that there was a reason author was so specific, and went ahead and bought it anyway.After reading other reviews, was really a bit concerned about what some of the people who ranked the product so poorly had said. But figured Amazon is good about returns when product is defective, and went ahead and ordered this particular peel anyway.Examined it closely out of the box. Very nice, smoothly sanded surface. 'Knife-edge' sharp enough to get under baked item, but not sharp enough to cut (or splinter).Once I'd baked the baking stone for an hour, as directed, got out the dough I'd prepared, and prepared the peel as indicated in the recipe - smoothing cornmeal on it. Put my ball of dough on the peel, put peel onto hot baking stone, 'flicked' the stone as I'd read, and dough slide directly onto stone, and peel came out of the oven nice and clean.Have only used it once now - both to put bread dough into oven, and remove hot bread from oven. But it worked like a charm. Had I used my oven mits to put dough in and remove bread from a 450* oven, I'm quite certain I would have burned myself on some part of oven - wouldn't be the first "brand" I'd gotten while hauling things in and out.The peel I received appeared to be a nicely-manufactured wooden peel that is free of defects. I have no qualms about using it again and again for bread making. Will probably not use it for pizza making - counter-intuitive, I know. But I don't want to stain it's pretty surface with tomato sauce. May use it just to slide pizza from stone onto a pizza pan for oven removal though.Overall, this seems like a quality product, and I would certainly buy it again.

It seems funny to me that "It won't warp or crack" is clearly written on the packaging of the product, while mine is warped and cracked. I washed it before the first use and dried it with a kitchen towel immediately, but it warped right away. I put the heavy Le creuset pot with water to sit on it, see if it can become flat again, it didn't. When it dried completely I oiled it. Then after the first use it cracked about two inches from the top. I personally don't know if it's possible to keep a piece of thin wood like this from warping and cracking, especially if it touches water. I definitely don't think it's a good idea to advertise this on the packaging. I will see how long it will last.

I like my pizza peel quite a bit. I use it to put pizza into the oven onto a stone and out of the oven from the stone. The long handle keeps me from getting burned. It is really handy to have. I also use the peel when I bake bread on the stone. I would have given this review 5 stars except that after 2 weeks, the end of the peel cracked about 1/6 of an inch. The crack didn't go any further so I didn't bother to return it and the peel still works great.

I had read reviews on this before buying, and bought it in spite of negative reviews about cracking.First time i used it, it did what its supposed to do. Second and third time, same deal. Fourth time, my GF slid the pizza onto the stone in the oven, then handed it to me, who promptly but absent-mindedly rinsed the cornmeal off in the sink.THIS is probably everybodys problem with this product. When we used the damp peel to pull the pizza out, the heat from the oven and then the pizza resting on it caused it to bow. Big time, like a pringles chip. Thats what happen to woods like spruce when exposed to big changes in humidity.We let the peel cool, rinsed the entire thing and wiped it down, then hung it to dry with both sides exposed. It returned to flat in about 30 minutes.SO TAKE NOTE: Do not use a wet or even slightly damp peel to cook. Always make sure it is dry through the entire pizza making process. And when drying after use, try to hang or stand the peel up in a rack, so the moisture doesnt try to escape through the exposed side only (when its flat on a counter).

The first paddle arrived in it's platic wrap and was cracked all the way thru. Emailed Amazon and they sent UPS to pick it up at our house. We received the replacement within 3 days. The person that helped me with the return was very helpful and polite. The paddle does seem to be not the highest quality. Will have to use it more to make a final decision.

Finally... great, one piece homemade pizza! I use a Lodge cast iron pizza pan as my pizza 'stone' which I leave in the oven to help stabilize temperature swings as well. Transferring homemade pizzas onto and off of the Lodge pan was hit or miss. Now, with the use of a dusting of cornmeal, the transfers are a breeze plus I can use the peel as a serving tray.

Very nice pizza paddle. The thinned edge makes it easy to slide under pizza and bread.