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Home   >   Food   >   Cooking   >   How to Use a Pizza Stone

How to Use a Pizza Stone

By on March 30, 2009

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.

How to Buy a Pizza Stone

  • 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:

  1. First, ensure your oven is cold. If not, wait until it has completely cooled down.
  2. Place the pizza stone in the oven and turn on the oven.
  3. Heat the oven for a sufficient time until the stone is evenly heated.
  4. Dust cornmeal on the surface of the pizza stone, in order to avoid the pizza sticking to the stone.
  5. 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.)
  6. 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.
  7. Let the pizza stone cool down before you take it out for cleaning.

Check out these books about cooking homemade pizza and breads with a baking stone:

Pampered Chef Stoneware Sensations Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day The Bread Builders - Masonry Ovens

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!


Here are some homemade pizza cookbooks with pizza recipes:

The Great Chicago-Style Pizza Cookbook Pizza on the Grill Pizza: Grill it, Bake it, Love it!

Disclaimer:  HomeEverAfter.com contains affiliate links and readers may assume that HomeEverAfter.com receives compensation when affiliate links are used.

About Staff Writer

18 Comments

  1. Amanda @ Mommy's Idea Book

    March 30, 2009 at 3:42 am

    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.

    Reply

  2. Tiffany

    March 30, 2009 at 8:15 am

    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.

    Reply

  3. Home Ever After

    March 30, 2009 at 9:04 am

    @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

    Reply

  4. Amanda

    March 31, 2009 at 9:38 am

    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.

    Reply

  5. Amy Shipp

    April 8, 2009 at 8:09 am

    I love it! Thanks a bunch! ♥

    Reply

  6. bruce coley

    April 18, 2009 at 4:02 pm

    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?

    Reply

  7. penny stacey

    August 7, 2009 at 7:00 am

    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?

    Reply

  8. Susan Dougherty

    December 27, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    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.

    Reply

  9. Admin - Danelle Ice

    January 1, 2010 at 9:15 am

    @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

    Reply

  10. Greta

    January 7, 2010 at 4:56 pm

    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!

    Reply

  11. jesse

    May 6, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    Preheating the stone is crucial for pizzas. I set the oven to 500 and let the stone heat up for a good 15-20 minutes. Nice crispy crust. Dust with cornmeal before you put it down. YMMV. Happy Pizza making :)

    Reply

  12. Susan Costa

    September 26, 2010 at 10:22 am

    The very first time I used a pizza stone I really m essed it up. The trick to having a nice pizza that comes off of your pizza peel easily is: roll out your dough on a regular bread board, then dust your pizza peel with corse corn meal if possible, dust your pizza stone lightly with corn meal also if desired, transfer your dough to the peel, add a medium amount of seasoned sauce, working quickly add your cheeses, pepperoni, etc, then working quickly (you do not want to leave the finished uncooked pizza on the stone verry long because the sauce will seep through the dough and make it difficult to slide onto the stone. Using a quick jerk slide the pizza onto the stone allowing one side of the dough to catch on one far side of the stone, that will allow you to finish sliding the dough on without it coming out of shape, it takes a few times to get the hang of it, but it will work if you are determined to have a nice shaped pizza. Another way to cook your pizza is to pre-cook the dough for about 5 minutes not too long tho because you need enough time to cook the rest of the toppings.

    Reply

  13. Meeker

    January 5, 2011 at 6:49 am

    Prevent breakage from thermal shock by avoiding extreme temperature changes.
    Do not preheat stone.
    At least two-thirds of Stoneware surface should be covered with food to avoid thermal shock. Always evenly distribute food over Stoneware surface; avoid clustering foods.
    Do not place dense, frozen food items (chicken breasts, pot pies, roasts or chops) on Stoneware. Always thaw dense, frozen food in refrigerator prior to baking.
    Foods refrigerated in Stoneware may be placed directly in a preheated oven.
    Do not place any other pan or rack on top of Stoneware while baking.
    Follow recipe temperature and baking time when using Stoneware. Short bake times (under 12 minutes) may need an additional 1-2 minutes.

    Reply

  14. Lynda

    May 17, 2011 at 8:52 am

    One poster on Amazon mentioned she uses parchment paper for every pizza
    and it turns out great……………sounds good to me as it would be easier to slide
    the item in and out…………any comments?

    Reply

  15. Loren Martin

    June 13, 2011 at 11:05 am

    Lynda, I’m afraid that the parchment paper technique will pretty much wipe out the liquid absorbancy property which you wish the stone to impart to cooking the pizza. She’d be just as satisfied using a non-absorbant preheated metal pan if she’s going to cover the stone with a non-absorbant topping.

    Reply

  16. bimbo

    July 10, 2012 at 2:10 am

    Iam new to making pizza and i live where i cant see pizza stone to buy. Pls, can i use my microwave glass plate in place of pizza stone?

    Reply

  17. Home Ever After

    April 19, 2009 at 7:04 pm

    @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

    Reply

  18. Home Ever After

    August 7, 2009 at 9:01 am

    @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

    Reply

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