Sticky pizza peel issues

I asked Dan about how his pizza turned out. He had gotten a free copy of The Mini Pizza Therapy Pizza Book 

He responded:

Thank you for your inquiry. I did order your Legends of Pizza story and haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet, but I did try the dough recipe and it was fantastic. I bought a pizza stone and the crust was perfect.

Unfortunately I had a problem getting the dough off the peel and it ended up spilling the toppings on the stone.

Is there some trick to getting the dough off the peel? I’ve read about using parchment paper, but that seems to defeat the purpose of the stone, so any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

Thanks

Yours in pizza
Dan G

My response:

Hi Dan.
I have made every mistake possible when making pizza. Believe me! Every miststake possible. And even some mistakes that were not possible!

So please do not feel bad.

You will get it down. It just takes a bit of practice.

Here is my advice on how to use a pizza peel:

1) Make sure when you make your pizza you have enough corn meal or flour underneath your pizza.

You can make it on the peel if you wish....but you want to make sure your pizza will slide, I always make my pizza on a counter or bread board. Then I slide my peel underneath the pizza. I give the pizza peel a shake to make sure it does not stick.

2) Lightly sprinkle cornmeal (or flour) all over your peel before you use it! Always! This will make the pizza easier to slide. I cannot emphasize this enough. You will find with practice, you will use less and less cornmeal.

3) Here is a million dollar pizza tip: if you find the pizza is stuck on the peel... use a piece of dental floss and slide it under the pizza to loosen it up. The should help. Make sure the piece is long enough to hold in both hands as you slide it underneath... You can use a piece of string in a pinch...I just like using dental floss.

4) And maybe this should be #1...In making pizza....Less is more. you don't need to pile your pizza high with toppings. The more stuff you have on your pizza, the harder it will be to cook completely and...the harder it will be to put on the peel.

Please let me know if that helps.
I am only an email away....

pizza on earth...and in your kitchen,
Albert,

The Pizza Promoter
pizzatherapy.com

For the best pizza peels and pizza stones, check out these: