Best Pizza Stone For Your Kitchen

Now that we’ve looked at the best pizza stone for your kitchen as well as four alternatives to consider, let’s explore some important information about pizza stones and how to use them for restaurant-quality homemade pizza.

Does pizza taste better on a stone?

You might wonder if a pizza stone is better than a regular pan or baking sheet for making homemade pizza as delicious as possible. A pizza stone is made out of heat-retaining materials, such as ceramic, which helps to preserve heat and it also ensures an even distribution of heat so that the base and toppings are cooked properly.

Whatever material is used to make a pizza stone, it will also be porous. This means that the pizza stone draws water out of the dough during the cooking process. This helps to produce a delicious crispy crust, preventing you from having to eat soggy pizza or pizza that’s cooked around the edges but soft in the center.

The beauty of how a pizza stone works also has much to do with its preheating process. When you preheat your pizza stone, this provides a burst of heat that helps the pizza crust to become puffy. You won’t get this result when cooking pizzas in a tray or pan.

Should I oil my pizza stone?

When you’re ready to put your pizza in a baking tray, you might oil the tray to prevent the pizza dough from sticking to it, right? While you might think that you need to do the same thing with your pizza stone, this is something to avoid!

Your pizza stone should never be oiled or greased before use. This is because, as we mentioned earlier, pizza stones are made of porous materials, so they will absorb the oil and it will damage them.

Over time, this oil will remove the pizza stone’s coating and therefore make it less porous. When the pizza stone can’t absorb moisture from the pizza crust in the way that it used to, this will cause you to end up with a soggy pizza base. This defeats the whole purpose of having a pizza stone!

To prevent your pizza from sticking to the surface of the pizza stone, there are other things you can do. You can apply a bit of semolina or fine polenta to the stone as these are coarser than flour and will create a non-stick barrier between your pizza and the stone. They won’t become soggy if they make contact with moisture and they won’t damage your pizza stone over time. Simply sprinkle a bit onto the hot pizza stone before you place the pizza onto it.

Can I use a piece of granite as a pizza stone?

You can use granite as a pizza stone. This is because granite maintains heat very well, but granite pizza stones are not as well known or available as ceramic pizza stones which is why you might not be aware of them. There are pros and cons linked to granite pizza stones.

Pros

• Granite is a good heat conductor but it feels cool when touched. This means it will keep your pizza dough cool while you add toppings to it.
• Granite is heat-resistant. It can tolerate very high temperatures for long periods of time, which makes it ideal for baking pizza.
• Granite is stain-resistant. It’s common for pizza stones made out of ceramic to become dirty and stained very quickly. Granite doesn’t get stained easily because it’s not as porous.
• Granite evenly distributes heat evenly. This ensures that your pizza will be cooked evenly.

Cons

• Granite is heavy. This can make it difficult to put granite into the oven and then remove it.
• Granite is sticky. Since granite that’s polished can be smoother than ceramic, it can make it easier for pizza to stick onto the granite during the cooking process.
• Granite takes a bit longer to become hot. Even though it does retain heat well, it doesn’t heat up as quickly as other materials.
• Granite stays hot for a long time as a result of how it maintains heat. You have to handle it carefully when taking it out of the oven.

Can you cook a frozen pizza on a pizza stone?

If you want to cook frozen pizza on your pizza stone, you can – and it’s really easy. You don’t have to follow any major preparation steps.

When you’re ready to bake the frozen pizza on a pizza stone, set your oven to its maximum temperature and let your pizza stone get preheated. When it’s hot, slide your frozen pizza directly onto the heated stone. Then, bake the pizza for about five to eight minutes.

The benefit of using a pizza stone for frozen pizza is that it will effectively absorb moisture in the frozen pizza so that you don’t end up with a soggy crust or undercooked center. You’ll also reduce the amount of time it takes to cook your pizza.