This round baking sheet holds a pie in the oven or on the grill rack without the need for a stone. Simply place the pie on its tray in the oven or over the unheated section of the grill grate. That said, a large, heavy duty, rectangu-lar, lipped baking sheet will work just as well. No, the pizza will not be round, but the final result will be just as satisfying.  

   This wire mesh, round screen sits right on a pizza stone and lifts the pie an inch or so off the hot surface so that the crust crisps evenly. You’ll end up with a more cracker like crust: less bready and crunchier. 
   I don’t use a pizza screen, preferring instead all those dark blotches across the crust’s bottom, the charred bits you can only get if the crust sits directly on a hot surface. Also, a pizza screen can be tricky to work with-getting the topped pie from the peel to the stone and back off again. 

   Still, if you like crunchy crusts, invest in a screen. Lay the stretched dough on top of a well-oiled screen, build the toppings, then set the pizza on its screen on the peel, and transfer it to the stone. When done, slip the peel back under the screen if a pizza stone is used, thereby removing the screen and the pie together.

   The tricky part is then getting the pizza it self off the screen. Sometimes, you can bend the pie up in one section, get a good grip, and get the thing off the screen in one piece with a smooth pull. If the dough has slipped down through the cracks in the screen or fused to it in any way, cut the pizza into wedges and attempt to pry them off the screen one by one.

   This wooden paddle is designed to get the topped pie onto and off a pizza stone, so it is only necessary if the pie is indeed being baked on a stone. A peel should have a long handle to keep your hands out of the heat. It should also be sturdy but lightweight, with a tapered edge so you can slip it under a baked pie to take it off the stone.
   It’s not necessary to wash a peel; water warps its wood. If you’re careful, you should never have to do anything except wipe it off with a clean kitchen towel. 

   Sometimes called a “pizza cutter,” this round blade rolls through the pie to cut it into wedges without shredding the toppings. To make sure the wheel works well, look for one with a large diameter so that the toppings on the pie stay intact during cutting. Some wheels have a guard or protector over part of the sharp wheel. It’s a nice safety feature but can get caught in the toppings, pulling them this way and that. 

   These specialty pans are not standardized; there is no one size that is the accepted depth, width, and height. Because of that, we do not call for any deep- dish pans. Instead, all the deep- dish pies were tested in a 10- inch cake pan with 2- inch-high sides-a standardized pan size to ensure you get the same results we did.
   Oil the pan generously. And keep this in mind: a dark cake pan will yield a more darkly colored crust. Do not use a nonstick cake pan; it will get nicked and scratched as you try to remove the pizza.