Need help to buy a pizza stone for a large pizza for less than 10 Canadian $ !!

[maria]

Hi guys, i have decided that i buy a pizza stone, and it should b big enough so that a large size pizza can easily sit on it. I want it to be less than 10, or maximum 20 Canadian Dollars. AND NOT MORE THAN THAT PRICE. Can you guys help me where can i buy a pizza stone of this kind in Toronto!! And will be be ok if it is a 'ceramic' pizza stone. This will be my first pizza stone ! So, please help me by giving me links to buy some good pizza stone of my preferences.

 

[Alix]

Maria, Safeway sells pizza stones for $9.99 right next to their Milena pizza display. You will need to season it when you get it home. (Do an advanced search on that as there are many threads here dedicated to seasoning) They are 15 inches at least. Is that big enough for you?

 

[licia]

Target has the stones that will fit both your pizza and your pocketbook.

 

[maria]

Thanks Licia

Thnx Alix, can i see any of its details online? Where exactly is Safeway? is it a supermarket? and where is 'Milena pizza display' ? And what is seasoning??
those are a lot of questions
I'm sorry i dunno anything u r talking about, can u explain me in detail.

Also, i have an electric oven. And i see on many sites selling pizza stone for toaster oven. Is my oven and the Toaster Oven the same? ...??!?!?

 

[gourmande]

I'm sure you have Zehrs or Zehrs Superstore in Toronto and the GTA... I recall seeing pizza stones there in the $10-$12 range. I also believe that IKEA has them. All else fails, open up the yellow pages and look up the list of kitchen/restaurant supply stores in the GTA, I'm sure there are many!

I purchased my last one at a restaurant supply store here in Windsor about 5 years ago; it's 35cm square and cost roughly $10. BTW, I do suggest you get a square one rather than a round one, it gives you more surface area and more leeway when you slide the pizza on and off the heated stone. A pizza stone is also great for baking bread, and I can easily fit two loaves on my square stone.

Many people also recommend purchasing a large unglazed tile from a building or flooring centre, but I've yet to find one that sells tiles large enough here in Windsor, perhaps in the GTA you'd have better luck.

Hope this helps a bit.


G

 

[gourmande]

licia: there are no Targets up here (wish there were)

Alix: I don't think there are Safeways in this area either

 

[gourmande]

...Also, i have an electric oven. And i see on many sites selling pizza stone for toaster oven. Is my oven and the Toaster Oven the same? ...??!?!?

If you have a full size oven you want a large pizza stone. A toaster oven is a countertop appliance with a much smaller oven.

G

 

[TATTRAT]

Hardware store, large Terracotta tiles. Cheap.

 

[Alix]

No Safeway? Weird. I thought they were all the way across Canada. Um...did you try Superstore (that would be Loblaws I think?) I know they have them too.

Seasoning is basically where you smear oil on your pizza stone and put it in your oven at the highest heat it will go to (with your hood fan on high too!) and get it smokin'. This will create a nice finish on the stone so your pizza just slides on and off.

 

[Dave Hutchins]

Go to the hardware or garden center and get a large plant saucer and turn it upside down instant pizza stone and it is cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Failing that go to a flooring store and get unglazed quarry tile that what I use and have used them for years. I had them cut to fit a lipped cookie sheet that fills my oven so the do not move on me when I put my bread or pizza on them and I leave it in the oven and if one breakes it does not cost a fortune to replace it go for it.

 

[akwx]

.... when I put my bread or pizza on them and I leave it in the oven and if one breakes it does not cost a fortune to replace it go for it.

Pizza dough recipe aside; when you're ready to prepare the pizza for the oven with the pre-heated pizza stone (or whateverelse alternative you might be using), do you actually slide the prepared pizza (w. all of the toppings) with some sort of wide (12" or wider) spatula onto the stone in the oven?

I also understand (from reading other posts at DC) that a porous heated stone will absorb the moisture from the dough, thereby creating a crusty pizza. A thick and chewy pizza crust would be my favorite.

I've been baking focaccia bread in a heavy 12" cast iron frypan with some success.

 

[Andy M.]

...do you actually slide the prepared pizza (w. all of the toppings) with some sort of wide (12" or wider) spatula onto the stone in the oven? ...

I use a wood pizza peel. You can get them for around $10.

I sprinkle a generous portion of cornmeal onto the peel then place the dough on that and build the pizza. When I'm done I give it a little shake to esure it's not stuck to the peel and gently slide it onto the stone.

Depending on how you cook it and how thick your crust is, the stone will yield a crisp but not brittle crust. It will have a good chew to it without being soggy and doughy.

 

[Green Lady]

You could go online a find a Pampered Chef consultant in your area. They sell a nice pizza stone that doesn't contain lead. I understand that some of the others out there in the market contain lead which you don't need in your body.

 

[akwx]

I use a wood pizza peel. You can get them for around $10.

I sprinkle a generous portion of cornmeal onto the peel then place the dough on that and build the pizza. When I'm done I give it a little shake to ensure it's not stuck to the peel and gently slide it onto the stone.

Depending on how you cook it and how thick your crust is, the stone will yield a crisp but not brittle crust. It will have a good chew to it without being soggy and doughy.

I can imagine the wooden pizza peel would be great to build the pizza on, and then to "slide" the uncooked pizza onto the stone; however, when it comes to the "lift" from the oven, I can also imagine a thinner (than wood) aluminum peel being better for the job? Correct me if I'm wrong.

BTW, I'd just found our 3-piece 15" unglazed ceramic pizza stone in the storage room. It'll be pizza night tonight. I just have to shop for a good pizza peel!

 

[Andy M.]

A thinner tool works better to remove the pizza but is't not as important as the wood peel used to deliver the uncooked pizza to the stone.

 

[gourmande]

I don't have a peel, so what I use is a large cookie sheet with an open end (i.e., no lip at one end.) It works like a charm both to slide the pizza onto the stone and to retrieve the cooked pizza from the oven. I prepare the cookie sheet as one would a peel and as Andy M described

...I sprinkle a generous portion of cornmeal onto the peel then place the dough on that and build the pizza. When I'm done I give it a little shake to esure it's not stuck to the peel and gently slide it onto the stone...

G

 

[Andy M.]

If you don't have a cookie sheet with no rim, just turn one over and use the bottom.

 

[LMJ]

I used the unglazed bottom of a kitchen floor tile purchased at Lowes for about $2.

Then again, considering how well my first pizza turned out, that might not be such a good pizza stone...