A pizza stone will level up your homemade pizza game in a regular oven. It will help you make pizzas that look and taste like they came out of a brick oven. These stones distribute and maintain the heat inside your oven evenly on the pizza bottom and it will make the pizza dough crispy. You will get to enjoy a better-quality pizza crust when using a pizza stone. Learn how to cook with a pizza stone and how to properly care for it so that you can keep baking delicious, brick oven-like pizzas in your regular convection oven.
Cooking with a Pizza Stone
First gather all the things needed to begin cooking with a pizza stone. These are what you will be needing:
- Pizza stone
- Oven
- Cornmeal or flour
- Pizza paddle or pizza peel
- Pizza dough
- Pizza sauce
- Pizza toppings
- Oven mittens
How to Cook on Pizza Stone in the Oven
Ready to cook? Follow these easy steps and you will have a brick oven pizza in no time!
- Place your pizza stone on the lowest rack of your oven that is still cold or at room temperature. Do not place your pizza stone in a hot oven because it might break.
- Preheat your oven to the maximum temperature it can go to, from 450 to 500 F.
- While your oven is preheating, ready your pizza paddle or pizza peel.
- Sprinkle cornmeal or flour on your pizza peel. This will prevent the pizza dough from sticking while you are assembling the pizza.
- Place the dough on the pizza peel and spread it out evenly.
- Spread your pizza sauce on the dough. Sprinkle your cheese and toppings on top of the sauce. While doing this, occasionally give your pizza peel a little shake to make sure that the dough is not sticking to the peel.
- Once your oven is preheated, slide the pizza onto your hot pizza stone. Use an oven mitt because the oven and the stone will be extremely hot.
- Depending on your recipe, cook the pizza for around 10 minutes at the maximum oven temperature.
- Once pizza is cooked, again use your pizza peel to take the pizza out of the oven.
- Slice the pizza and enjoy!
Caring for your Pizza Stone
Once you have made – and finished – your delicious homemade pizza, be sure to clean your pizza stone properly to prevent any damages and make it last longer. Here are some more tips on how to care for your pizza stone:
- Clean the pizza stone with warm running water. Do not use soap.
- Avoid placing the stone in extreme temperatures. If you are just about to cook, be sure to place the stone in the oven before pre-heating. If you are done cooking, be sure to let the stone cool first before cleaning it. This is done to avoid unnecessary cracks in the stone.
- Do not use a knife or pizza cutter directly on the pizza stone. These things may break, or you can damage your pizza stone.
- Air dry your pizza stone instead of letting it dry in the oven. This will make sure that there is no water that can cause damage to the stone when it goes into the oven.
Conclusion
If you love making homemade pizza, learning how to cook with a pizza stone is the way to go. Investing in this kitchen tool will help you make pizzas that taste like they came straight from the brick oven – hot, fresh, delicious. Know more about pizza stone.