Pizza or baking stone

[billmac]

Like many folks, we have a pizza stone gathering dust in a cupboard. My friends that use them say they keep them in the oven all the time.

So those of you who use the stones, how do you get your bread on and off the stone? A pizza peel?

 

[Haggis]

A peel and lots of cornmeal (polenta).

 

[GB]

I keep a pizza stone in my oven at all times. Even when you are not using it to bake something it helps regulate the temp in your oven. Take it out of the cupboard and stick it in the oven billmac. You won't be sorry.

Now to answer your question...I either use a pizza peel or I use my hands (carefully). My hands are not quite as asbestos like as some of our chefs friends here, but they have built up a resistance to a decent amount of heat.

 

[Andy M.]

I keep my pizza stone in the oven all the time as well. However, I leave it in there upside down so spills won't mess it up. That way, it's clean when I make pizza.

I also leave it in during the cleaning cycle. It looks brand new afterwards.

 

[Alix]

Um, I'll send you my addy if you don't want that stone. I could use another one! Just teasing.

Is your stone seasoned already? Mine was much easier to work with after I seasoned it. I also use cornmeal. I have to admit though, I usually just cut pizza right on the stone. We have a tray for the stone so it never rests on the table or anything and we eat right off of it.

 

[urmaniac13]

We also leave the brick inside, unless when we have to put something bulky in and need some extra space. (our oven is much smaller than the standard size). It doesn't hurt a thing... We also made a flat racket-like pizza server to shove in/scoop out the pizza in and out of the oven. We just dust it lightly with regular flour and we usually have no sticking problems, unless something goes wrong with the pizza itself (a couple of times we put too much tomatoes on the dough and it was a little too wet and flimsy, we had a bit of complications...) Anyway my boyfriend cristiano is quite an expert in pizza making, coming soon our pizza special post... stay tuned!!
Licia

 

[gwkr36a]

Like many folks, we have a pizza stone gathering dust in a cupboard. My friends that use them say they keep them in the oven all the time.
So those of you who use the stones, how do you get your bread on and off the stone? A pizza peel?

I have not tried this yet, but I read a tip, where you can use
parchment paper on top of the stone and get the benefits of
the stone and be able to slide out what your baking with
the parchment paper.
Nick

 

[Andy M.]

I have not tried this yet, but I read a tip, where you can use
parchment paper on top of the stone and get the benefits of
the stone and be able to slide out what your baking with
the parchment paper.
Nick

The parchment paper I have in the pantry says it's oven safe up to 400F. I cook pizza at a much higher temperature. I'd be concerned the paper would burn.

I sprinkle corn meal on the peel before putting the dough on it and building my pizza. It slides nicely off the peel onto the stone then, off the stone when it's done.

 

[marmalady]

Andy, I've used parchment in the oven at about 450, with no burns. I think it was on a baking sheet with some roasting veggies; the very edges of the paper got a little brown, but the paper under the veggies was fine.

 

[Andy M.]

Marm:

Good to know. However, the cornmeal trick works fine for me and it costs less than parchment!