Christinas Blog

Epicurean Cutting Surfaces 23-by-14-Inch Pizza Peel, Natural Description:

Epicurean Cutting Surfaces are a practical and distinctive improvement from poly, glass and wood cutting boards. They have all of the best qualities and none of the bad-in one highly functional surface. Every design is thoughtfully detailed for functionality in use, clean up and storage. This Epicurean Cutting board is designed to fit in the dishwasher and is NSF approved, so that you can be assured that they will be easy to clean and will not harbor bacteria. Cutting on Epicurean Cutting Surfaces will not dull your knives because the surface will score slightly, which helps it protect your knife’s edge. These boards are made with a non-porous wood fiber composite from trees harvested under guidelines of the North America Sustainable Forestry Standards. Epicurean Cutting Surfaces resist staining and cracking, and are heat resistant up to 350°. Manufactured in the USA . 23×14″ Natural Pizza Peel

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5634 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Size: 14 × 23
• Color: Natural Wood
• Brand: Epicurean
• Model: 82314N
• Dimensions: .20″ h x 14.00″ w x 23.00″ l, 1.82 pounds

Features

• Natural wood fiber based cutting surface environmentally friendly trees are harvested from managed forests. Made in the USA
• Surfaces are dishwasher safe or are easily cleaned with soap and water. National Safety Foundation (NSF) approved. Knife Friendly. Maintenance free, no need to oil or bleach. Material developes a richer color over time.
• Preferred material for food preparation by chefs and commercial kitchens for over 40 years. Temperature resisitant to up to 350 degrees. Use as a trivet without leaving browned rings from pots and pans.
• Enginered space for handling and hanging.

Customer Reviews:

Here’s why it’s worth it, plus my top pizza tips…
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.
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!

Epicurean Pizza Peel
I bought this item because it was dishwasher safe and could serve as a cutting surface, but did not know what to expect. After receiving and using the peel, I could not be happier. After receiving the peel, we washed it in the dishwasher, and when the cycle finished we took it out and discovered no warping, and it was ready for use. We typically sprinkle corn meal on the top of the peel, roll the dough out on the meal, and then slide it onto the hot stone in the oven. I had no trouble doing this, and I had no trouble sliding the dough back onto the peel after 8 minutes in the oven. I kept the dough on the peel while I loaded it with toppings, and slid it back in. About 10 minutes later I was able to place the peel under the pizza and slide the heavy pizza back onto the peel. Since cutting on the peel is safe I sliced and served our dinner, with very successful results.

Strong Odor of Formaldehyde
I bake my own bread and this was a gift. After it’s initial washing the peel emitted a strong odor of Formaldehyde. After visiting their website which vaguely addressed the smell, I emailed them asking if it contained formaldehyde. Their response only advised me to see their website and said they were certified by the “National Sanitary Foundation”(which means nothing). “Epicurean® cutting surfaces are made up of layers of paper that are then soaked with phenolic resin and cured to create a solid sheet.” Wouldn’t you know that another name for phenolic resins is phenol-formaldehyde polymer!
I’m returning this item because I do not want my food in contact with toxins. I’ll stick to the traditional wood peel.

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