March 23, 2014 - 1:11pm
Peel (esp. for Mini Oven)
Thanks to the moderators for removing the spam and hopefully the spammer yesterday.
Inevitably with it went a nascent thread on peels.
I just wanted to say that I eventually jumped and bought EXO's Super Peel.
Works as advertised - and worth every penny. Good luck!
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The peel now has blinky lights! I have to work the weight into my luggage.
Oooo! a super peel! fancy!
Looks very cool.
Is it only 14" wide? I thought they had a larger one at one time?
The one I have is indeed 14" wide… just checked.
I used it without (pre)washing the cloth. I suspect it'll be even more effective with a tighter grip. Good luck!
Took a little while to get used to it. Like the idea of practicing on a T-shirt.
Used it for my Tartine Country loaves today to get the dough into the dutch oven. It was great because I could turn the dough I to the Peel and then score it at my leisure before putting the bread on the hot cast iron.
David,
You must have achieved the impossible! Well done :-)
May I trouble you to explain how you got dough on the SuperPeel to slide right into a Dutch Oven, please?
Did you just let it approach and drop into it?
Didn't it tip onto its side as it came off the peel? Deform?
What were you peeling it from?
(One of my biggest difficulties has been avoiding collapse/mis-shaping as I extract proofed dough from a banneton.)
Thanks!
So that may be the trick here. I use the shallow portion for the bottom of the dutch oven. So from my proofing bowl you can either put the peel on top of the bowl/basket and then turn it all over so the dough comes out, OR just flip the bowl/basket over and let it drop on the peel.
I suggest the former if you have dough that keeps collapsing.
But if you have a deep dutch oven it may not make sense to use a peel to drop in the dough. On the combo cooker it is just like putting it into a frying pan so it is not too difficult to just out the peel over the pan and pull it out to drop the dough onto the pan.
David,
Thanks! This?
So you:
So in fact the full Dutch Oven isn't actually used?
I don't always have dough collapse. But when it's risen above the banneton upside-downing the latter (onto the peel) would certainly squash it!
Your help appreciated :-)
after the dough is in the skillet I use the deeper pan as the cover. Works beautifully.
I see. Thanks, David! Yes. It's as though the shallower skillet portion was made for (using such) a peel. Good luck…
Mark,
I just found this post and am curious why this peel is so much better than a regular peel used with parchment paper?
Hard for me to tell by merely looking at photos.
Thanks,
Janet
Janet,
I'm not sure it is better. The 'Super Peel' gets/got good reviews and I'm happy with it. The older I get, the less dextrous I become.
But a regular peel worked just as well, I'm sure, with parchment paper and/or cornmeal etc. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply. After asking you the question I found a video of one being used. A very clever idea for a pizza loaded with toppings. I always love seeing what people create to make jobs easier and this in pretty ingenious :)
I find if hard to cook the dough unless it is first baked partially without a topping. I use it just for pizza dough, to get it on my cast iron lodge pizza pan. A regular peel would give me trouble until I ruined a lot of pies practicing as you need to be very precise to get the pie on the pan with a wrist flick.
If parchment paper lets you just drag the paper onto the pan that would work too, at least for me. I take the hot pan out and add the dough on top of the stove. but I don't like using parchment paper because the curl annoys me.
Janetcook,
I confess, I wondered whether the 'good ole' traditional methods needed improving upon.
But the Super Peel does work very well (for me). Good luck!