Pizza Stone

What is a pizza stone?

A pizza stone, which some would also know as a “baking stone”, is quite convenient when cooking wood fired pizzas these days. It’s kind of like a typical ‘baking sheet’ you would use when placing food in your regular oven. But instead, it is mostly made of ceramic material and can hold other benefits, such as being able to more evenly hold in all heat. Many love it.

Why is a pizza stone better?

Not only does it more evenly retain the pizza’s heat, but it also removes moisture (from overwet areas) within the pizza’s dough as it’s cooking. And once pre heated, the stone could even burst off in great heat, in order to get that crust nice and “puffed up”, which you’ll find that a regular pan would never be capable of doing.

What is the best pizza stone?

There’s no competition. The fans agree. It’s the Old Stone Oven Round Pizza Stone; check it out here.

Do you need to wash a pizza stone?

Don’t soak it in water. Instead, let it cool off, lightly scrape it, cook off any ‘stubborn bits’, and let things dry. Be thorough. Then, reuse.

How do you use a pizza stone for the first time?

Position it well within your oven’s lowest rack. Then, have the stone properly pre heated to 500 F. Let it heat up for a minimum of half an hour after it’s been pre heated. Create your dough or do other stuff as you wait for it to heat.

Then, put the pizza on the stone. Bake that pizza 15 minutes. Remove the pizza but not the stone, letting the stone in another 5 minutes; this’ll burn off residues.

How do you keep pizza from sticking to a pizza stone?

Start by making your dough a bit smoother than you usually make it, making sure it’s been thoroughly kneaded out and holds no air bubbles, bumps or anything of that sort. When kneading and mixing the dough, ensure it remains smooth and glossy all around. Add more flour to it, if you find it sticking onto your hands whenever you try to pick it up.

Try using a cool stone, as well, and remember this : You should never mix a hot oven and a totally cold stone. It’s a bad combination. The stone could even crack due to the temperature difference it encounters.

Do you need to preheat a pizza stone?

It certainly helps, to say the very minimal. Think of it like this : The hotter the stone is, the greater your chances are of your dough expanding and browning the way it needs to. Simple, right? And to add, did you know that a pizza stone can generally match even the highest temperatures in your oven, many times, and retain that heat (if it’s been properly pre heated and not put in cold, like we mentioned in the last point)? It’s a fact.

Pre heat. It can’t hurt to. The stone’s there to help.

Do you put oil on a pizza stone?

You sure can, especially when you’re just pre seasoning that stone off. What you do is this : Wipe the brand new pan that you are about to use, with any kind of wet cloth (no, do not use soap this time around), and then have it drying in the oven at a very low heat….the lowest you can keep it at. Then, use neutral vegetable oil (a very light coat of it, actually), which I’ve found to be the best type of oil you can get for this, and then bake that stone anywhere from “medium” to “high”.

Should you season a pizza stone?

I believe you should, and many other pizza lovers out there would not disagree with me….this’ll help keep things from sticking, all in all. Moreover, season can also make things easier to clean, after the stone’s been used. And if it’s a high quality stone that you’ve invested in buying, then it couldn’t hurt to season it and take better care of it...making sure the cleaning after process, and the other steps, are simpler and easier for you. And you’ll make that stone last longer, too, hopefully….take your time and season things right.

Can you use a pizza cutter on a stone?

It all depends on two specific types of things here, and this is where it can all get a little more tricky, but stay with me….first off, what type of cutter are you using? How sharp is it, what’s it made for, etc? Also, ask yourself the same questions in terms of the stone.

Browsing online, I was able to find both success tales and horror stories, and valid points from each argument made. So in this sense, it all does depend on “how you slice it”. One of the biggest ‘no’ answers I found, when asking if you can use your pizza cutter on the stone, is that it could dull the cutter blade.

Do you have to grease a pizza stone?

Some have suggested that you don’t do this as all you need is a little bit of health cornmeal, and this alone should aid the removal process. Yet those who would recommend using oil are firm believers in using grease as well, and many different ‘bakers’ have had many different experiences here. Some would use oil and grease, while others would prefer cornmeal or a rice paddle; it all depends on dozens of different factors coming into play, but that could make a great topic for another article we share….

Can you use parchment paper on a pizza stone?

Many consider parchment paper to be their good friend, just as some prefer the pizza stone. And this kind of paper can be useful, in fact, to prevent sticking, too. Go figure. And to further elaborate, parchment paper can even let you prepare one pizza as another is already baking in the oven. Just make sure to spray some cooking oil onto the parchment paper before throwing the pizza on top of it.

So, for last words, that’s our advice on pizza stones. We hope you’ve gotten a good “mental taste” of what they could do. We hope they’ll enrich the process of preparing your pizzas, big or small. And we hope you’ll share your experience with others who are also wondering….

Consider getting a pizza stone today. There’s a ‘first’ for every kind of experience, even for pizza making. Try it out to see what your real thoughts are…..