Wood Pizza Peel - From Scrap Wood

Because of the Pizza Challenge I had been making a bunch of pizza's but had
a hard time "Launching" them on to my pizza stone so I decided to make a Pizza Peel to make my life easier.

A Pizza Peel is a thin pan with a handle attached used to get pizza's or any flat food in or out of what ever you are cooking it in. They range in materials from wood to metal to plastics and make cooking pizza substantially easier.

I had been wanting to get myself a Pizza Peel for some time now then decided one day that instead of buying one I would make myself one with some scrap wood lying around. I had wanted a wood one as I find is has a much more natural feel and look

For this instructable I will be showing how easy it is to make a great and professional looking Pizza Peel for little to no cost.

This Project cost me $0.00 because I used some scrap wood I had left over from a bird house instructable I did in the spring. Here is the link to that if you are curious - 1 Hour Birdhouse

If you would like to make this pizza peel and don't have the same scrap wood laying around don't worry as the materials for this are VERY cheap budget about $15 - 20 dollars

Materials Needed

Wood

1 - One 4 foot (48") piece of wood that is 3.5" wide and 1/4" thick. These can be purchased at any local building store and range in price from around $ 3- 8 dollars depending on the wood type.

2 - (Handle) One piece of 2" wide by 1/2" thick by 18" long piece

Tools

1 - Skill saw

2 - Sand Paper

3 - Palm Sander

4 - Large wood clamps

5 - Wood Glue

7 - Old credit card or gift card and some paper towel

Finish Materials ( Food Grade)

1 - Bee's wax salad bowl finish, here's what I used

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=20087...

2 - Oil Stain - I used a food grade walnut finish that I bought from a local hardware store

So I was cleaning out my workshop and noticed the left over wood from a bird house I made and came up with the idea to make the pizza peel because I had enough of struggling with getting the pizzas on and off my pizza stone in one piece.

So I had the wood but it you don't that's okay!

Head down to your local building store and pick up;

1 - One 4 foot (48") piece of wood that is 3.5" wide and 1/4" thick.
These can be purchased at any local building store and range in price from around $ 3- 8 dollars depending on the wood type.

2 - (Handle) One piece of 2" wide by 1/2" thick by 18" long piece

So the main flat piece of wood is 48" long by 3.5" wide by 1/4" thick

For the Pan

1 - Divide 48" by 3 which gives us 16" cut the flat board in to the 3 sections so they are equal lengths of 16"

2 - Using wood glue, place a bead of glue on the edges of the pieces that will be stuck together. Using your finger wipe of any excess glue and by hand connect the pieces together on a flat surface that has an edge.

3 - Get your clamps and begin to clamp the pieces together as best as you can. The pieces may want to " bow" up so I used a heavy object to make sure everything was flat and allowed me to clamp them tighter.

4 - Allow the glue to dry for at least 1 hour before removing the clamps.

For the Handle (While the wood glue is drying)

1 - Secure the 2" x 1.5" x 18" piece so that you can cut it easily.

2- With a skill saw cut a 5" slit large enough to fit the 1/4" pan into in the next step

3 - With a palm sander sand the handle so that the edges are smooth and the handle looks cleaner.

****Pro Tip - make the slit slightly smaller then 1/4" so that the hold is a tight one when we secure it to the pan section****

Now that your glue has dried draw a curved line at one end of the glued pieces of wood. Using a skill saw cut out the line as best as you can don't worry its its not perfect we will sand it smooth after.

After you have go the peel cut use a low grit sand paper on a palm sander and smooth off all edges on the peel.

Sand the front edge into a cutting edge this is very important for being able to slide under the pizza's once complete as well this edge will be able to CUT the pizza's with a rolling method.

***At this point do a "Test Fit" for the handle if its not fitting properly sand down the area where the handle will be attached so that it fits nice and snug.***

This step is really easy,

1 - Using wood glue and a hand clamp make sure your handle is in the middle and apply a generous amount of glue to the peel and handle.

2 - Clamp down as hard as you can and wipe away any excess glue.

3 - now allow the glue to dry over night so that its very hard when we sand it.

4 - After the glue has dried using sand paper sand off all excess glue around the handle getting it ready for the oil finish.

5 - Final sand - using the palm sander and a higher grit sand paper around 200grit sand the entire pizza peel making sure all edges are smooth and ready to be stained.

***** Pro Tip After you get your handle secured you can trim it if its too long with a skill saw then just sand the rough edge down. The length of the handle is all personal preference. My handle sits about 12" off the back edge of the board*****

Now that you have completed the final sanding, the peel is ready for oil and wax to make it food ready. The key to this step is using "Food Grade" finishing materials.

First apply the oil finish, I used a food grade walnut oil finish that is food friendly and does not transfer any taste when used. The exact brand I used is called " Rubio - monocoat; Walnut"

The easiest way to apply this finish is by using an old card. Pour the oil onto the surface of the peel and drag the card and oil across creating a thin layer of oil across the peel.

after you have coated most of the peel take a paper towel and spread the oil to the other areas that were hard to do with a card like the edges of the peel. allow this to sit for about 30 minutes then with another paper towel wipe off any excess finish.

Applying the Wax

The Bees wax creates a clear coat finish that water proofs the wood and is also food safe. to apply the wax simple take a clean paper towel dip into the wax container and in a circle pattern apply the wax to the peel.

coat the entire pizza peel in the bees wax and allow to sit for another 30 minuets then with a clean paper towel wipe any excess wax off the peel.

Allow the pizza peel to set over night or for a few hours in the sun to finalize the finishing and complete the building process.

You know have a fully operational Pizza Ready for what ever you can through on it.

I hope you like the instructable as this was a really easy and simple thing to make.

Total time spent on this was around 3 hours as well as an overnight setting time for the glue. and total money

$0.00

Have a wonderful day and feel free to vote for me if you like what you saw :)

Cheers