# Pizza Peels



## trsnider (Nov 23, 2012)

Hi-I've been selling pizza peels on etsy. I had a complaint that the wood split after being used in a wood fired oven. He said that he only had it in the oven for a minimal amount of time. It's on the glue line. The edge was pretty thin maybe 1/16 of an inch. I offered to redo the edge so it's thicker if he sends it back. However I'm wondering if that's a solution or if my glue up is bad. I would cut off above the split and redo the edge so it's about 3/16" thick. DOn't know if that will work. Ideas?


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## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

The pizza ovens I have seen run at about 600+ degrees F. Some wood fired ovens get to 800 degrees.I don't know of any wood glue that will stand up to that for what ever a that "minimal" amount of time might be. In the picture it looks like the end is charing which indicates it was either exposed frequently or long enough to cause that. Except for the tip your glue seems to be holding OK for now. What glue are you using?

When you say "redo" the edge, how do you plan to do that? By cutting it back or adding on a thicker end?


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## trsnider (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm using tite bond 3. I was planning to cut back the end and making a more angled taper and thicker end.

Maybe gorilla glue or epoxy instead?


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

Since it is at the edge, I suspect that it is more of a problem of moisture from washing working in from the edge. TB3 is more water resistant than other glues but it is not immune. The heat may have accelerated the problem. Plus the fact that there is charring on the edge tells me that it is spending a lot of time in the oven. My peel shows no signs of charring. PVA will break down with heat so between moisture and the heat it will eventually fail. Epoxy is more heat resistant than PVA but I am not sure about it in this application. If I was selling them, I would probably conduct some stress tests (wash, dry and heat) using different glues and even different woods to see which do best.


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## PBWilson1970 (Jan 23, 2020)

Musical instrument makers have touted the ability of hide glue to withstand dry heat better than Titebond. It seems that a common repair is regluing an acoustic guitar bridge after it was left in a hot car. Titebond softens and creeps and releases under heat while hide glue stays rigid. Hide glue does release under heat AND moisture, but heat alone doesn't seem to affect it.

Check out this test in relatively low heat (compared to a pizza oven) but it was heated for a long period of time:

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Data/Materials/GlueTest/gluetest.html

Maybe it's worth a shot. Otherwise, I wonder if JB Weld would work.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

I agree no way Titebond would hold up to high heat. 
The correct methods for making a pizza peel is a trade secret. Your on the right path maple is the correct wood.

Good Luck


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## trsnider (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm not sure qbout hide glue if someone cleans the peel with water (I'm sure they do).
Were you being funny about "trade secret"? -I didn't know there was a pizza peel makers guild. 

What's the consensus about a water and heat resistant glue?


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## woodsmithshop (Sep 10, 2008)

We all like to think that our products are going to last forever, we may have to accept some amount of failure, and not because of what we have caused, looking at the gap, it looks like some stress in the wood, plus the known fact that glue does not hold up well to high heat, the charring of the blade, (which to me is an indication of spending too much time in high heat), 
There may be a way to stop this from happening again, if you know the "trade secret" I have never made a pizza peel, but I can see now a problem that I'm not sure of how to fix. 
Maybe a little more experimentation, with glue ups, maybe something like a breadboard end. 
For now:
I would say , this is something the owner of the peel is going to have to live with, it is what it is.


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

As mentioned, JB Weld makes some adhesives that can handle 500°F but not sure that is a good idea for food contact. Most epoxy can handle at least 350°F from what I have read. You can buy food grade epoxy but I seem to remember it is pretty expensive and is mostly intended to surface finishes. Hide glue requires both heat and moisture so theoretically as long as it is dry, it might be better than PVA but I would want to test the heck out of it by heating it in a very hot oven for several minutes at a time. It is hard to tell how thin it is from your picture but perhaps the thin edge on your peel may be part of the problem. Perhaps just making it so it is thicker until closer to the edge will improve the resistance to heat?

Again, if the the peel is charring, they must be keeping it in the oven too long or in direct contact with flame or coals. There is probably nothing you can do to prevent failure in those conditions. If the wood is burning, the glue is going to fail too. The restaurants I have visited in my area that use wood fired ovens use a metal peel. Perhaps you simply need to add a disclaimer to your Etsy listings that use in a wood fired oven will lead to charring and separation of the joints.


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## Sourwood (Apr 8, 2020)

I agree with other posters that there are probably epoxy products that can fare better under heat. And, there are probably challenges with using them on food contact surfaces…

What size are your peels? In my experience making pizzas, I typically use 1/2 lbs of dough (any larger and it becomes very unwieldy for me) - that makes something like a 10" pizza.

Any chance you could make the peels from a single peice of lumber? Could join the handle as a separate peice (would be away from moisture and heat).

Just a thought…

Graham


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