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How to Use a Pizza Stone
By
Staff Writer |
March 30th, 2009 |
Category:
Cooking |
12 comments
Do you dream of preparing that perfectly crisp pizza at home so that it comes out just as good as (or better than) your favorite restaurant? If you know how to use a pizza stone you’ll be able to copy their professional quality. A good pizza stone used efficiently by following these simple pizza stone instructions can give you the desired results.
First of all, how do you select a good pizza stone? If you still haven’t purchased a pizza stone, these tips will help you choose the right one.
- Pizza stones are available in a round or square shape. If you will use the stone only for heating or preparing pizzas then you can select a round shaped pizza stone. If you wish to experiment with cookies and other items the square one will be better.
- Check the weight of the stone. If it is too heavy for you to carry, it may be a problem as you’ll have to lift the stone in and out of the oven many times. With this in mind, select the one which you are most comfortable lifting.
How to Use a Pizza Stone
Follow these step by step pizza stone instructions to get the best results:
- First, ensure your oven is cold. If not, wait until it has completely cooled down.
- Place the pizza stone in the oven and turn on the oven.
- Heat the oven for a sufficient time until the stone is evenly heated.
- Dust cornmeal on the surface of the pizza stone, in order to avoid the pizza sticking to the stone.
- Then place the food item on the stone. The pizza or any other food should not be too oily or have too much sauce on it. (The pizza will turn soggy.)
- Once the pizza is done, remove it carefully. You can use gloves or a plastic spatula, but don’t use a knife or any sharp object which will scratch the surface of the pizza stone.
- Let the pizza stone cool down before you take it out for cleaning.
How to Clean a Pizza Stone
Apart from following the above pizza stone instructions, maintaining it is also important for best results.
The surface of the pizza stone is porous and tends to absorb any substance such as oil or soapy liquids. Never use soap or detergent to clean the pizza stone.
These simple steps to clean the pizza stone are sufficient to maintain it well:
- You can clean the surface of the pizza stone with warm or cold water.
- If there are particles which do not get washed away, you can use a use a scraper with soft bristles to brush out the particles.
You are now all set to prepare one of world most beloved foods, the pizza, in your own home. We frugal homemakers are always happy to copy a restaurant dinner at home without paying restaurant prices!
Get more Homemaker Mondays at 11th Heaven and check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday. Pizza stone photos by Rex Roof.
Thanks for the tips. I have been planning on buying a pizza stone for some time now but just haven’t done it yet. These are good tips to know for when I finally get me one.
I love my stone…but I’ve never placed it in a cold oven to preheat. I’ll try that next time and see if I get different results.
@Tiffany: I haven’t either, and I didn’t know that you could get them wet. I always thought you couldn’t wash them at all. Great info!
Barbi
Thank you for sharing this. I was just talking yesterday how I really want to buy a pizza stone since I’m now going to be making homemade pizzas with Wildtree’s pizza dough. I didn’t know you could make cookies and stuff on it too!!! Great post… bookmarking it for when I finally get that pizza stone.
I love it! Thanks a bunch! ♥
i have just bought a pizza stone and know where can i find what to do to season/prepare it for first use. Any suggestions?
@Bruce: Here is a link to an explanation of why you don’t want to seasong the stone: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/PizzaStoneSeasoning.htm
Hope that helps!
Barbi
My friend tried to use her pizza stone and on the first try the pizza put a dark oil stain on it that made it smell bad…what should she do to get this off…or should she just throw them out?
@Penny: The only advice I can give is to have your friend contact the manufacturer of the pizza stone to ask them if it’s fixable. Only they know for sure the materials used to make it and what is safe to be used on it. YOu can usually find a 1-800 phone number on the box or on the company’s webiste. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
Danelle
I will be buying a pizza stone to use both for pizza and for baking bread with recipes from Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day. In that book, they say to put the bread on the heated stone, then pour 1 cup hot water into a broiler pan underneath (the steam apparently makes for a crisp crust). Will most pizza stones stand up to a steamy oven, or are there certain kinds of stones that are better for this? I tried using a Pampered Chef stone (for cookies) and it broke in half about half way through baking the bread. Not sure if the 450 degee oven was too hot for it, or it wasn’t meant to be used in an oven with steam (had long since lost directions to it). Thanks for any help you can give me.
@Susan: I’m not sure about the steam question. I use a Pampered Chef pizza stone also and haven’t had any problems, but we don’t steam in the oven. I’d recommend checking out the Pampered Chef website and possibly contacting their customer service dept for more info.
Danelle
I also use a Pampered Chef baking stone, and use it for frozen/fresh pizza, rolls, cookies, frozen potato items… just about anything I’d normally use a cookie tray for. I was just telling my mother how to use the one she’s had for a year and hasn’t used because she doesn’t know what to cook on it or how to “grease” or clean it! Everything you need to know is here: http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/use_care/detail.jsp?productId=16723 and I can vouch for the seasoning part. After I cooked a couple pizzas, some pop-up crescent rolls and a batch of seasoned potato slices (about five or six uses), it was plenty seasoned and stuff didn’t stick, though at first they did. I never preheat it, because you’re not supposed to, and I do remove it from the oven with hot pads once the cook time is up. No thermal shock issues (cracks or breakage) so far. I use a wet sponge to wipe it down once it’s cooled, and it comes with this square plastic scraper you can use to remove anything that might’ve stuck to it. It works great for me, but I don’t really use it too often so can’t vouch for its lifespan. I’d be afraid of the steaming thing… it seems pretty temperamental!