Peel (tool)

A peel is a tool used by bakers to slide loaves of bread, pizzas, pastries, and other baked goods into and out of an oven.

Alternatively, the carrying surface may be made of sheet metal, which is attached to a wooden handle.

Wood has the advantage that it does not become hot enough to burn the user's hands the way metal can, even if it is frequently in the oven.

Household peels commonly have handles around 15 cm long and carrying surfaces around 35 cm square, though handles range in length from vestigial (~6 centimeters) to extensive (~1.5 meters or more), and carrying surfaces range in size from miniature (~12 centimeters square) to considerably wide (1 meter square or more).

An alternative, and related, meaning of the word peel is a wooden pole with a smooth cross-piece at one end, which was used in printing houses of the hand-press period (before around 1850) to raise printed sheets onto a line to dry, and to take them down again once dried.