And while you could technically pick up and rotate the half-baked breads and pizzas with the conveyer belts on the Super Peels, it took a little more time than we’d prefer. The wood peel was too thick to get up and under breads and pizzas easily-a design flaw that also made it hard to remove these foods when fully baked. Unfortunately, none of these models were great at in-oven rotation. Even better were the Super Peels, which were fitted with innovative cotton conveyor belts that were practically nonstick once dusted with flour, allowing us to unroll the thinnest and most fragile pizzas without misshaping them. Once it was lightly sprinkled with flour, even the stickiest dough slipped right off when we gave the peel’s handle a quick jerk, though occasionally perfect pizza rounds became a bit oblong when we were too forceful. The wood peel was very good at unloading the dough. And finally, we remove the baked items from the oven. Next, we rotate the bread or pizza in the oven to ensure even baking. This is one of the riskier steps in the baking process, since delicate, carefully formed loaves and pizza rounds can lose their shape if they stick to the peel or get shaken off it too vigorously. First, we unload raw dough onto a hot baking stone in the oven. When baking, we use a peel for three specific tasks. In keeping with what we’d learned in our previous testing, we selected peels with blades (the flat, spatula-like part) at least 14 inches wide, allowing us to accommodate large loaves comfortably, and handles that were about 8 inches long, giving us just enough distance from the heat of the oven without sacrificing control. We tested a variety of different peels to see which were best. We liked textured silicone hand.We often use baking peels to move pizza, bread, and other baked goods into, out of, and within hot ovens. Our favorite handles boasted a fairly even width and were neither too hefty nor too narrow. A couple of spatulas with short, fatter handles were impossible to grip effectively another had holes that made for awkward grasping. Others were slick and slid around in our hands. One chunky handle was comfortable only when we gripped it with a fist, which forced us to stir inefficiently and awkwardly. Narrow handles were uncomfortable to grip. The best options had a fairly straight top edge and one gently curved corner that matched the contours of bowls, and they struck the right balance between rigidity and flexibility. Meanwhile, the flimsy heads on two other models curled up when we gently pushed them against a skillet or bowl. One chubby, stiff-headed model skidded over bowl sides, cut too-wide swaths through food, and threatened to deflate fluffy whipped cream and egg whites. Those with handles that were inserted into the head, much like a Popsicle stick, created annoying ridges on the blade where food got stuck, which prevented thorough mixing and made it difficult to wipe the blade clean. Models with sharply angled top edges lacked breadth, so we struggled to empty measuring cups and efficiently stir scrambled eggs. The shape of the head proved very important, too. In general we found that midsize heads (roughly 4 by 2½ inches) were fast and effective at almost every task. Two models barely fit inside a food processor bowl or a 1-cup dry measuring cup. But larger heads weren’t necessarily better. Models with smaller heads moved less food with each pass, so it took more work to mix cookie dough or stir risotto. To understand the differences, we first looked at the spatulas’ heads. Others left streaks of batter on the sides of bowls. Performance was also an issue, with some spatulas failing to reach into the edges of saucepans or leaving pockets of unmixed food. With some products, comfort was an issue. We subjected each to a slew of recipe tests, as well as evaluations of cut resistance, stain and odor resistance, heat resistance, and durability to see which stood out from the pack. So we selected a lineup from the dizzying array available, including our previous winner and a retooled version of our old runner-up. Nine years ago, we gave top honors to a heatproof model that is ubiquitous in restaurant kitchens but can sometimes feel too big and unwieldy at home. Whether we’re baking or cooking, scrambling or sautéing, flipping or folding, a heatproof silicone spatula is one of the busiest tools in our kitchen.

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