Need recommendations on a good pizza stone

[Darkstream]

What exactly is a pizza stone supposed to do for the pizza that ordinary cooking does not do?

And is it successful in acheiving this end?

 

[Cupcake]

The Pampered Chef has an entire line of reasonabbly priced, excellent quality stone cookware, including a pizza stone. I am NOT a Pampered Chef rep, but a I think I own practically the entire inventory. Their stones have done right by me. Pizza crust especially. The crust is always crisp on the bottom and bready on the rim.

 

[Michael in FtW]

One of my sons gave me a pizza stone last year for Christmas - had a trivet, the stone, a wooden pizza peel, and a pizza cutter - the regural price on the box was $14.99 - I'm sure they got it on sale. Works just fine.

I've seen the same thing at WalMart for about the same price.

 

[scott123]

What exactly is a pizza stone supposed to do for the pizza that ordinary cooking does not do?

And is it successful in acheiving this end?

Pizza stones reproduce, to an extent, pizzeria type pizza. A crisp, fluffy crust and bubbling cheese. The secret of pizza stones is that once they are preheated, they contain a great deal of the heat necessary to cook the pizza. With a cookie sheet, the element of your oven is heating the air which in turn is heating the sheet. With a pizza stone there is no middleman.

There is also speculation that the porosity of the stone wicks away moisture for a crisper crust. I belief this, although not everyone does.

 

[Ekim]

Okay. I have some oil on my stone from a disaster trying to make pizza out of a weird oily loaf. It's smoking when I use it now. How do I get the oil off without using soap?

 

[Alix]

Oil is good on your stone. Smear a thin layer on the stone and then put it in the oven on 500 and turn your hood fan on high. Let it season until the oil stops smoking.

If you don't want to do that, just let the oil burn off your stone, it won't take long.

 

[amber]

I've had great success with a pizza pan. The crust gets brown, the cheese gets bubbly.

 

[JMediger]

We have three baking stones ... 2 rounds and a rectangle. I don't own baking sheets any more and use them for EVERYTHING. We have one just for sweets (cookies etc...), one for salty (ff, mozy sticks, etc...) and one for sauces (wings etc...). The salty also doubles as our pizza base when we make it. I think the rounds are from Target and the rectangle is from Pampered Chef - they were all gifts. I can't say that the more expensive one does better than the others but it seems it has seasoned itself much better.
Just 2 more cents!

 

[buckytom]

Oil is good on your stone. Smear a thin layer on the stone and then put it in the oven on 500 and turn your hood fan on high. Let it season until the oil stops smoking.

If you don't want to do that, just let the oil burn off your stone, it won't take long.

i thought that pizza stones were supposed to be porous so that they absorb moisture from the dough to crisp the crust? wouldn't oiling, or seasoning a stone fill the pores, thus making it more non stick than absorbant?

i just bought one, a 16 x 1/2 inch round stone. the directions said to heat it at 450 for at least 15 minutes before dusting with cornmeal, then sliding on the pizza from a peel. it particularly mentioned to only clean it with water, not even soap, to keep it as porous as possible. it will darken with age, but it shouldn't be seasoned.

does that sound about right? help, who knows a lot about pizza stones?

 

[Andy M.]

I've never heard of oiling a stone. In fact, I clean the stone by leaving it in the oven during the self-cleaning cycle. It comes out clean as a whistle.

 

[Alix]

My instructions told me to oil the stone to "season" it. I LOVE my stoneware and have had nothing but the best results. I also have little stoneware loaf pans and had the same instruction with them. Hmmm...isn't that odd. I just assumed that all stoneware was alike.

 

[Alix]

I've never heard of oiling a stone. In fact, I clean the stone by leaving it in the oven during the self-cleaning cycle. It comes out clean as a whistle.

What brand do you have Andy? I didn't know you could leave them in at such high temps. I usually just wipe mine clean with a damp cloth and don't need to do more than that. I admit though, easier ways to clean always appeal to me. I am just afraid it would crack the stone. Is that possible do you suppose?

 

[Andy M.]

I think S.O. got it from Pampered Chef.

High heat will not damage a pizza stone. In fact, it can take higher heat than the other parts of the oven.

I also leave the stone face down in the oven at all times and turn it right side up when I'm making pizza. That keeps the surface from catching any spills from other foods being cooked.

 

[Alix]

Thanks Andy. I always learn so much from you. I like the upside down tip too. I have heard that you should leave your stone in your oven to help even out the heat. Do you find that to be true too?

 

[Andy M.]

I know that the stone should moderate temp fluctuations, but I'm not sure how much of an effect a little stone can have on all that oven material and space.

I leave it in there all the time because it's the easiest thing to do.

 

[buckytom]

thanks for the tip birthday boy! i was wondering where i was going to store the darn thing. so far, it's been awkwardly placed on top o' the fridge.

 

[Andy M.]

BT:

I keep the stone on the second shelf at the lowest location in the oven. I seldom need both shelves at the same time and if I do, the stone is awkwardly stored on the top of the fridge.

I've found that putting the stone on the oven floor causes the crust and the corn meal to burn. Moving it up a couple of inches makes perfect crusts.

 

[Robo410]

Brazilian Soapstone makes an awesome pizza stone...Brazil on my mind on the web, or Fantes also web based .

 

[Gerrycooks]

We only use our pizza stone to reheat pizza. I got it for a shower gift.
I have a convection oven and often bake my pizzas on an upside down cookie sheet. This allows the hot air in the oven to circulate around the dough better. Grease the sheet and sprinkle with corn meal if you want. Do not use an airbake sheet because it will not brown the dough. The pizza stone is to small for the size pizza's I bake.