How to launch pizza into the oven

In this article I’ll go over the best ways to get the pizza into the oven. It may seem tricky at first but it’s actually quite easy once you know how.

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The best way to transfer pizza to the oven

Undoubtedly, the best way to transfer the pizza is by using a pizza peel (or a paddle as some people call it). Peels have been using for baking bread and pizzas for centuries and I can highly recommend getting one. If you don’t have one, keep reading and I’ll explain the alternative.

Basically, a peel is just a thin piece of wood or metal which is designed specifically for the job of loading the bread or pizza. The pizza is shaped and topped, dragged onto the peel, and then it slides off the peel and into the oven (more on the technique later).

Pizza peels are typically around 11 inches wide. This is handy because if you stretch the pizza to the edges, you know the size of your pizza. This helps with consistency since you know your pizza will be the same size each time (and therefore the same thickness too).

How to transfer pizza to the oven without a peel

If you don’t have a peel, the next best thing is a large chopping board (or a flat baking tray). Wood is probably the best option but plastic or even glass should work. Just be sure to use plenty of flour on the board. This is not really a longterm solution but it’ll work in a pinch.

However, if you are cooking in a pizza oven I’d say a peel is a must. Not only does a peel help you get the best possible launch, and therefore the best pizza, it also helps to protect your hands from the red hot open flames!

If you’re cooking the pizza in a regular oven, though, you could probably get away with using a chopping board (or a flat baking tray). That’s how I did it when I first started making pizza. But be careful, it’s easy to burn yourself, I found out the hard way!

In fact, I used to remove the hot baking tray and place it on top of the oven. This made it easier to get the pizza off the chopping board and prevented me from burning myself!

If you don’t have a large chopping board…

Another option is to transfer the shaped pizza onto the baking tray before topping. Just be sure to preheat the baking tray and top the pizza quickly before the tray cools down too much. Also, be careful not to burn yourself!

Of course, if you’re using a pizza stone this is trickier and I probably wouldn’t recommend trying it. The risk is cracking your stone. This is why I have a pizza steel in my regular oven.

The beauty is that they are basically indestructible so I’m not worried about moving it around the oven depending on what I’m cooking. Usually, I’ll use the pizza steel for baking bread (and occasionally pizza) but I just leave it in the oven all the time.

Should I build the pizza on the peel or not?

There are two basic methods of using the peel. You can either get the pizza onto the peel after topping it or place it on the peel before topping it. One is not necessarily better than the other.

The most traditional method is to shape and top the pizza on the counter before dragging it onto the peel right before launching it into the oven. The benefit to this method is that the pizza stretches again (under the weight of the toppings) as it is dragged onto the peel. This creates a very thin crust.

The downside is that the pizza can rip as it is dragged onto the peel (if it is too thin, the dough is too weak, there are too many toppings, or the technique is poor).

This is why many people choose to place the dough on the peel before topping the pizza. The main dowside to this is that the pizza doesn’t get stretched again. However, you can grap the pizza just inside the crust and give it a final stretch (whilst it’s on the peel) just before loading.

For beginners, it’s probably easier to top the pizza on the peel. It’s entirely up to you. Use both methods and see which you prefer.

Whichever technique you use, be sure to sprinkle plenty of flour onto the peel before adding the pizza.

How to get the pizza onto the peel

I’ll go over the basic ways to get the pizza onto the peel. Feel free to try them all out and find out which works best for you.

If you’re going to use the traditional method of sliding the topped pizza onto the peel then it’s much easier if you get someone else to hold the peel for you. While they’re holding it, you can use two hands to carefully drag the pizza onto the peel. You can then take the peel off them and launch the pizza.

Tip: Before trying to slide the pizza onto the peel, it’s a good idea to grab the pizza with two hands and slide it away from you slightly. Firstly, and most importantly, this helps to free the pizza so that it isn’t stuck to the counter. Secondly, it gives you a bit more room to get your peel in.

If you plan on topping the pizza on the peel then there’s an easy way to transfer the untopped pizza to the peel. Shape the pizza on the counter. Once it’s ready, flip the pizza over your arm and then hold your arm over the peel and flip it back off.

Because the pizza has only just been shaped, and because it doesn’t have any toppings, it will be easy to move. Unless your dough is very weak (due to poor kneading maybe) then there is almost no chance of it ripping. Once the dough is on the peel you can use both hands to stretch it into a nice round if it’s lost it’s shape slightly.

Advanced peel techniques

I don’t recommend the following techniques for beginners as they are difficult and can go wrong, ruining your pizza. Feel free to skip this section if you’re not an experienced pizza maker!

Loading the topped pizza solo

This method allows you to load the shaped and topped pizza onto the peel without any assistance. I don’t recommend it unless you already have plenty of experience with the method where someone holds the peel for you.

Gently hold up the front of the pizza with your left hand (for righties) and place the peel underneath with your right hand. Then, still holding the pizza with your left hand, gently but quickly pull the pizza backwards, sliding it onto the peel. It also helps to move the peel forward at the same time. There is a knack to this.

Once you’ve got the pizza on the peel, it may have an elongated shape (since it’s been dragged). You can just fix this by resting the peel on the bench (it should balance with the weight of the pizza on top). Then, you can use both hands to stretch the pizza (left and right) to make it round again. Just try not to spoil the crust while stretching (grab the pizza inside the crust).

Sliding the peel under the pizza in one!

This technique is probably the trickiest of them all but it can be fast. It also helps to maintain the round shape of the pizza nicely. However, for this, you will need a thin metal peel.

With the topped pizza on the counter, you can place the peel on the counter right at the edge of the pizza. Then, with one quick motion, push the peel under the pizza.

The trick is to angle the peel slightly and press it down into the counter a little. The peel will bend slightly and the force will help the peel to stay low to the conter as you slide it under.

Also, during the motion, as the pizza is around half way on the peel, you can give the peel a little “jiggle”. This helps to shake the pizza onto the peel using the momentum of the motion.

If all this sounds difficult, it’s because it is! In practice though, the move happens in seconds and with practice, it becomes much easier.

How to transfer a pizza to the oven without sticking

The key to prevent sticking is to use plenty of flour. Use plenty of flour during the shaping and then use plenty of flour on the peel.

With experience, you can reduce the amount of flour you use, since excess flour can lead to the base burning. However, for a beginner, I would recommend using a lot of flour to prevent accidents!

If enough flour isn’t used during shaping then the dough may stick to the counter. If enough flour isn’t used during launching, the pizza may stick to the peel. It’s also possible for the pizza to stick to the stone though I’ve never had this happen and it’s probably more a result of the stone being cold.

Also, it’s very important to work quickly when making the pizza. If the pizza is left on the counter or the peel for too long it will stick. I would aim to take just 1 to 2 minutes to shape and top the pizza. Again though, flour is a good preventative measure.

Which flour to use on the peel

The flour used isn’t that important really. You can just use whichever flour you used for the dough. In my case, I tend to use Caputo 00 pizza flour which is an excellent flour made specifically for Neapolitan pizza. However, you could even use some regular bread flour.

Some people swear by using cornflour. I’ve tried it but I didn’t find it to help more than my regular flour, though I’ve never really had a problem to be honest.

However, I did find that cornflour produces a different flavour to the base. Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of the flavour but it wasn’t unpleasant. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference. Try both and see which you prefer.

How to get pizza to slide into the oven

In addition to using plenty of flour on the peel, it’s important to give the pizza a little “jiggle” as soon as it’s on the peel. This helps to free it, ensuring it’s not stuck to the peel. Then you must quickly get the pizza into the oven before it starts to stick.

To launch the pizza, place the back of the peel towards the back of the stone (tilting it down slightly) and then slowly drag it towards you whilst “shaking” the pizza off the peel.

Tip: Once about a third of the pizza is on the stone (off the edge of the peel), you can slowly pull the peel towards you (without the jiggle). The weight of the pizza on the stone will hold it there and you can gently stretch the pizza as you pull the peel away. This ensures that the pizza doesn’t “bunch up”. The goal is to get the pizza as flat as possible on the bottom so that it cooks properly.

With practice, this can be done in one quick motion (instead of the “shaking”). However, this can go wrong so I don’t recommend it for beginners. I tried this early on in the pizza making process and the toppings went all over, cracking the stone, along with my confidence!

Final thoughts on launching the pizza…

There are many different ways to launch the pizza, and at the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference. Try all the methods and see which works best for you.

To start with, I’d probably recommend topping the pizza on the peel. It’s probably easier and less likely to result in disaster! Just be sure to use plenty of flour to prevent sticking.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. Hopefully this article has made launching pizzas easier to understand. It’s not rocket science, I promise (pun intended)!