Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This peel costs about twice as much as aluminum peels, and about 50% more than wood. I think it's worth it: 1) Smoother than wood so the pizza slides easier. I was afraid aluminum would scratch my counters. 2) Dishwasher safe / NSF approved 3) Much lighter than wood - my wife can easily sling a 14" pie with it. 4) Much thinner than wood and short handled design means it stows more easily - space is at a premium in our kitchen. 5) Looks nice - we serve right off the peel - The aluminum ones don't look as nice and typically have long handles which can be a hazard when serving. I have to admit that at first I felt the price wasn't justified as it's an "engineered" material. After using it for a year it's clear that the material they use is very good. Some reviews mention a chemical smell. I'm very sensitive to these smells but have not been able to detect any. Perhaps they got a bad batch? Note: I've never run it through the dishwasher, as it really doesn't fit. We've been making homemade pizza once a week for several years. Here are my top tips: 1) Check out "Good Eats" Season 3 Episode 9 "Flat is Beautiful" for an instructional video. YouTube is your friend. 2) A Pizza stone is best and the only way to get super thin crust pizza (my favorite) I have a traditional stone, my sister uses a cast iron griddle as a "stone" with excellent results. Pan pizza in a cast iron skillet works really well too (no peel or stone needed) - use oil with no cornmeal. 3) Use the hottest setting on your oven (ours is 500F)and pre-heat for AT LEAST 30 minutes. I checked with some pizza shops and they are all > 650F. This gives a crispier crust without burning the cheese. You want the stone in one of the lower racks - not the top rack. 4) Brush or spray a thin layer of olive oil on top of the crust before the sauce. This helps keep the crust from getting soggy. 5) Corn meal only - no oil - on the bottom. Get stuff which is fairly coarse. It acts like little ball bearings. Something like Masa Harina is too fine. No oil - it will smoke and set off your alarms. If your smoke alarms tend to go off, crack a window in a different room and turn on your kitchen exhaust fan. 6) Build your pizza directly on the peel. No matter how much corn meal you use you will not be able to slide the peel under smoothly if you build the pizza on the counter. 7) Give your peel a good shake to confirm that the pizza isn't sticking before you put the toppings on (After the sauce and cheese). If it's sticking at all, use a spatula to lift up the edges of the pizza and put some more corn meal down, then shake again. If you have to shake it hard after you've put the toppings on, they will get all over the place. 8) You can make pita bread with any extra pizza dough. Roll it out super thin (~1/8") and throw onto a hot stone. Check it in 2 minutes or so and flip over after it has puffed up. Be careful, they cook VERY QUICK! We use the Kitchenaid stand mixer pizza dough recipe, but double the salt and olive oil. Alton Brown (Good Eats) also has a great recipe (note - he calls for Kosher Salt, which is less dense than table salt - if you use a tablespoon of table salt, it will be too much) Bon appetit! If you've found this review helpful, please let me know!