Gozney 14 Inch Pro Peel Review: A $100 Pizza Peel

A fully perforated blade built for people who already launch well, and the ovens it will not fit.

Specifications

Specifications above come from Gozney's published product specifications. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.

What it does well

• Full perforation is the point. Every hole is a place excess flour falls through instead of sitting under the pizza and burning at 900F, which is what makes a base taste bitter.
• An all aluminium blade and handle is light and stiff, which is what gives a peel the responsiveness the marketing describes and your hands can genuinely feel.
• The handle is replaceable, which is unusual and sensible on a tool that gets dropped, trodden on and stored against walls.
• 14 inches suits the Arc XL and Dome properly, so a 13 or 14 inch pizza sits on the blade with an edge to spare rather than hanging over it.
• It is a placement peel rather than a general purpose one, and a tool designed for one job usually does it better.

Where it falls short

• It does not fit the Roccbox or the Tread. Gozney says so explicitly, and buying the wrong Gozney peel for your Gozney oven is an easy mistake to make.
• At 32.5 inches overall it is not long. That is correct for the ovens it is designed around and it will feel short in a deep oven, which puts your forearm nearer the mouth.
• A fully perforated metal blade is the least forgiving surface to build a wet pizza on. Dough left sitting on it will sag into the holes and stick.
• $99.99 is a lot for a peel, and the practical difference against a good $35 perforated peel is smaller than the price gap suggests.
• Metal is a launching and retrieving surface, not a building one. Most people are better off building on wood and launching from metal.

What owners report

Owner reports on high end perforated peels converge on two points. The first is that perforation genuinely does reduce burnt flour on the base, and people who switch notice it. The second is that a metal peel rewards a fast confident build and punishes a slow one, because the longer a topped pizza sits on aluminium the more it sticks. Neither of those is specific to Gozney; both are properties of the format.

The advice that follows from that, and that experienced owners repeat, is to build on wood and launch from metal, or to build directly on the metal peel and move fast. Our wood versus metal peel comparison covers the trade in detail, the launch guide covers technique, and the turning peel versus launch peel comparison explains why this peel is only half of what an oven above 700F needs.

Who it suits

• Gozney Arc, Arc XL and Dome owners, which is who Gozney built it for.
• People launching 13 to 14 inch pizzas who are currently using a 12 inch peel and running out of blade.
• Anyone whose bases taste faintly bitter, which is burnt flour and exactly what full perforation addresses.
• Confident launchers who want the lightest, stiffest tool they can get.

Who should skip it

• Roccbox and Tread owners. Gozney states this peel is not compatible, and the 12 inch Pro peel is the one that fits all of their ovens.
• Beginners, who should build on a bamboo peel where the dough is far less likely to stick while they work.
• Anyone with a deep oven, where 32.5 inches of total length puts your hand uncomfortably close to the mouth.
• Anyone who does not yet own a turning peel, which is the more urgent purchase above 700F.

Alternatives worth considering

Where it fits in the rest of the kit

A launch peel is only half the kit above 700F. Turning peel versus launch peel explains why the two tools are not interchangeable, and the short version is that one edge of a pizza at a 900F floor browns in about twenty seconds while a 14 inch blade has nowhere to turn inside the chamber. A turning peel at $17.99 is the more urgent purchase if you do not already own one.

On the surface you build on, wood versus metal pizza peel covers why dough grabs aluminium and releases from bamboo, which is the single most common cause of a failed launch with a metal peel. The launch guide covers the technique and the launch troubleshooting chart maps the failure modes. If this peel turns out to be the wrong size for your oven, the Ooni 12 inch perforated peel and the rest of the field are in the peel roundup. The specification page for the Gozney Arc XL lists the oven this peel was sized around.

Keep reading

• Wood vs metal pizza peel
• Turning peel vs launch peel
• Best pizza peels, by tier
• How to launch a pizza without sticking
• Ooni 12 inch perforated peel review
• Gozney Arc XL specifications

This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.