Why You Should Buy a Pizza Stone

If you want pizzeria quality pizza made at home, you can't go without these handy stones. It's only about $15-25 for a good pizza stone, and they are worth their weight in gold. Here's why.

Although your conventional oven will not reach the soaring heights of a pizzeria oven's temperatures, you can simulate the same crisp crush results with a pizza stone at just 500F. To use the stone you will need to preheat it with some cornmeal sprinkled on top (flour will burn) for about 20 minutes. In the meantime you can assemble your pizza completely with sauce and all the toppings. You will need to transfer this assembled uncooked pizza onto the pizza stone directly in the oven. To do this, a pizza peel is recommended. These normally wooden paddles have a large surface for placing your pizza, and a long handle so you don't have to worry about getting burned while transferring the pizza into the oven. But you can do it with a rimless cookie sheet as well. Just be sure to sprinkle the bottom with cornmeal so the pizza will slide easier and pull the oven rack out so you aren't likely to get injured while sliding it onto the pizza stone. The pizza only needs to cook for about 6-8 minutes and it's done! Amazing, eh?

So what makes a pizza stone better than just a regular pizza pan? A pizza stone is usually made from terra cotta. This is a porous material that will wick away extra moisture from the crust. It will get extremely hot when preheated and immediately cook the bottom crust when it is placed onto it. This will ensure a crispy, but not tooth-loosening, crust that will hold the toppings on. One of the main reasons homemade pizza is soggy has to do with the retaining of moisture from the dough, the sauce, and the cheese. There is no way to get rid of the extra moisture with a regular pizza pan. Only a pizza stone will give you pizzeria results in your own home.

A pizza stone will also keep your pizza warm throughout the meal. The heat of the stone will slowly fade over the course of a meal, but it will give just enough heat to the remaining pizza to make it warm to the last piece. You can cut and serve the pizza right from the stone without damaging it in any way. Another great feature of the pizza stone has to do with flavor retention. Each pizza you make with your stone will taste that much better because the previous flavors will be retained in the stone and released while cooking. What a marvelous invention!

The care of your stone is very easy, but must be followed exactly. Never use soaps or detergents on the stone. The flavors of the soap will be retained and make the stone useless for food preparation. The stone is easily cleaned with warm water, scraping off any pizza remnants with a spatula. You should never run cold water over a hot stone as it may crack. It is refrigerator safe as long as it is cooled to room temperature before placing in a refrigerator. There will also be a natural blackening of the stone with age, and will not affect the taste or performance of the stone. As long as you follow these instructions, you will have your pizza stone for years to come.

You can purchase pizza stones in varying sizes, depending on the size of your family. The ease and speed of this little stone will make it a family favorite. Make your own traditions and try out a pizza stone today! You won't regret it.