How Rough Should the finish on a Pizza Peel Be?

Question

I have read over and over that you want a rough finish on a wooden pizza peel for best results. But other people seem to state that it is simply the moisture absorptive nature of wood that causes wooden peels to work better.

I purchased a cheap wooden peel with a slick shellac like coating and would like to fix it, but I am not sure how rough (i.e. what grit sand paper) is optimal for the surface of a peel. Has anyone ever done any tests or have any experience with different roughness's to find the optimal finish to put on a peel?

Quotes:

A wooden peel tends to have less problems with sticking as the wood is rougher, absorbs water and doesn’t get condensation. - https://www.crustkingdom.com/how-to-use-a-pizza-peel/

"Raw," unfinished wood peels have a rough, porous texture ... they actually tend to be more nonstick than coated peels. - https://www.businessinsider.com/best-pizza-peel#wood-versus-metal-pizza-peels-7

Here is a post written by a profession who apparently uses peels so rough that their employees get splinters - https://thinktank.pmq.com/t/wooden-pizza-peels-to-sand-or-not/15723/2

Answer 1

Based on personal experience:

The critical issue is that the peel be textured enough to "hold on" to flour or semolina, allowing the pizza to slide off of it. This means the ideal texture is the same as a new cutting board, oiled wood sanded to 120 grit or so. It's not rough as such, but rather just not smooth like plastic. I once got a bamboo pizza peel that was high-polished, and I found that 15 minutes with some steel wool was enough to make it usable.

The other issue you're going to have it that shellac is probably going to melt or catch fire in the pizza oven. So, while a light sanding with 100grit paper or even steel wool would probably do it for "roughing up" the pizza peel, you might find you have to strip off all the shellac to actually use it.