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My pizza stone was looking pretty bad, especially after using it on the bbq a few times. (mmm... bbq pizza). Since it is obviously designed to withstand high heat, I decided to take a chance and put it through the self-clean cycle on my stove. Came out looking brand spankin' new and tolerated the heat without any issue.

And - a tip when using it - if you don't have a peel for getting your pizza onto the stone, use the back of a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. It'll sliiiiiiiiide right off, and any remaining cornmeal gives a good crunch to the crust.

I thought you weren't supposed to use soap. Mine has developed a 'season' after years of use. I just rinse it with water and dry it in the oven on low heat.

sorry - I said stove - I meant in the oven. And, just in case the self-clean function isn't universal known, it just cranks the heat up really high for a few hours and cooks all junk inside your oven to ash.

Mine has been living in the bottom rack of my oven. Since they hold heat so well, I've been leaving it in all the time to help maintain a steady temperature (ie, prevent cool off when opening the door, etc).

Does anyone have any opinion on this? Is there any reason why I shouldn't let it live in the oven?

I use unglazed quarry tiles instead of a pizza stone. First of all, a box of unglazed tiles costs much much less than a pizza stone, there's less chance of cracking, and if they do crack, it's easier (and again, MUCH, much cheaper) to replace one tile than an entire stone.

Cleaning them is preatty easy... I just use a metal spatula to scrape off the buildup.

ilovebutter: I want to keep mine in the oven full-time too but my husband resists, he says it's not energy efficient. He thinks the oven will take longer to preheat. I disagree.

And yes, I always thought you weren't supposed to use soap on the stone. Just scrub with plain water.

I never use soap, and my wife would kill me if I tried. I just use a plastic scraper and VERY hot water.

Anyway, as long as it is clean who cares if there are stains. IMO, stains adds character.

Spossberg: Your husband is right that it wil take longer to heat up, however, he's wrong about energy efficiency - once it heats up, it will hold the heat. Air heats up quickly, but loses quickly too (so you have to put more energy into the system to heat it back up). This is analagous to a cast iron pan: it takes longer to heat, but once it's up to temperature it doesn't cool off as quickly as a thin pan.

Tell hubby your idea is more energy efficient. :)

I purchased my stone at Williams Sonoma approximately 3 years ago. I am curious re: using the autoclean feature. My stone is almost completely black with pizza/cheese/sauce detritus, and gives off the charred/smoky smell when it is heated. Has anyone had a stone in this condition that was successfully refurbished by this or any other method? Or should I just resign myself to dropping another $55.00?

Huh, maybe I need to stop using soap! I tried to find an old 'user's manual' for the pizza stone when I wrote this post, but I'm afraid it's long gone.

Does anyone know why using soap is bad? Is it because it takes off the seasoning, like a cast iron skillet?

I leave mine in the oven all the time. I remember once Alton Brown recommended it. It does take a little longer to heat, since it absorbs heat, but I've had a lot better results with baking, since it regulates the temperature. My oven is gas, so I can put it on the very bottom.

And I agree with the others that you shouldn't use soap. Since the stone is so absorbent, it can impart a soap flavor to your food.

I dont use soap either. I worry that since the stone is so porous it may soak up the soap. Dont want that flavor in my food.

I leave mine in the oven all the time. Sometimes I take it out and scrape off the bits, but other than that I dont do anything.

Oh, soap flavor in food. That makes sense. Thanks, ottan!

Bear32, if you end up deciding to go for another stone, there are definitely cheaper options out there! Check out our baking stone article a few weeks back:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/essential-kitchen-tools-a-baking-stone-049301

Does anyone have an idea about a good scraper to use to clean it with? I have a ceramic cookie sheet that is in desperate need of some scraping, too, in addition to the pizza stone.

Bear - that's what mine looked like before I autocleaned it. If option b is to replace it, you might as well give the autoclean a try - nothing to lose...

Treat your stone just like cast iron:
Season the stone.
Don't use soap.
Wash with just hot water and a plastic pan scraper (available from most kitchen stores or even wal-mart).

As far as seasoning goes, you can wipe it with vegetable oil and put it in a low oven for a couple of hours, or just cook greasy foods on it the first few uses and that should do the trick.

I used to keep mine in the oven, too, until I heard that they can crack over time. Now I keep my cast iron griddle pan in there to regulate the heat. Works like a charm!

How ironic! I just bought my first pizza stone earlier this week in order to make the pizzas in the Dean & Deluca cookbook... If only your post had come three days sooner!!! We rinsed the pizza stone off before putting it in the oven; after the oven heated to 500 degrees, we slid the first pizza in. When we peeked in at it, the pizza stone had split completely in half! Agh!

Bear - If you want to replace it, you should take the stone back to Williams Sonoma and they should replace it for you (if you cant get it clean). They have a lifetime guarantee on their products. I'm planning on getting a pizza stone from there in case of cracks.

Hmm! You know, I bought two ceramic baking dishes a month ago, and was all excited to use them! They came from some fancy schmancy company (I can't remember the name right now) and I bought them second hand at TJMaxx. They had no information with them, only icons on the bottom saying you could use them in the oven, dishwasher, microwave, and freezer. So I put them in the oven, AFTER heating it up, to cook some chicken and vegetables; look in a bit later, and they'd cracked into like five pieces! I was so disappointed, and thought they had just been crappily made. But is this the problem? Do you have to do ceramic baking dishes the same way as the pizza stone? If so, while I'm not blaming the company, companies should really put notices on these things for clueless cooks like me!

What about dutch ovens? I have one of those now, and I don't want to go ruining it, and haven't used it yet. Do you have to put it in first, then heat up the oven, or will it be fine no matter? It's a modern version, porcelain covered (or whatever it is they cover them in now. No need to season, etc.)

Thanks to everyone for their hints. I will try the oven cleaning method this weekend. I did look at the pizza stones listed, but I live in Canada, so delivery, customs etc. is prohibitive.

I wash my with plain hot water, and occasionally with baking soda. The baking soda gets the harder to scrup bits off pretty well.

I would never use a self-clean option on an oven; the premise is that it heats to temps up to 800-900F to burn off the ickies on your oven. Well, it also releases potentially toxic odors into the air in your house, especially for kiddos and animals. The only way to safely clean your oven is with baking soda and elbow grease. Which is the same way I clean my baking stone if cheese gets crusted on it, etc.

One thing is this: Food-grade clay is lead-free. Construction grade is not.
It's probably not a good idea to use the unglazed ceramic tiles from Home Depot for anything that will come in contact with food.

Quality clay is fired at a minimum 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, so leaving it in the oven during the self-clean cycle is no problem; that process involves only about 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Early seasoning probably won't survive, and this probably made mine take longer to season, but the seasoning it did acquire seems happy enough.

Cheap stones abound, quality does not. The only one that I have found which meets the criteria for quality food-grade clay, free of inclusions and fired hot enough and long enough, is the Williams-Sonoma. Mine has seasoned beautifully and now has a proper black sheen.

It requires a minimum of cleaning, only an occasional wipe-down with a wrung-out dish rag; scrape the lumps off with a plastic scraper. Soap will surely harm the seasoning, or worse - bind to the seasoning and insert soapy notes into your baking.

Mine lives in the oven, there to render yeoman's service as a heat sink (read: steady oven temperature) and from whence it utters not a single complaint.
fwiw

I'm really only familiar with the Pampered Chef (r) stones - much of what's already been said applies to what PC says for their stones - no soap, seasoning makes them more non-stick, etc. But PC says that the stones should NO be preheated, that heating an empty stone could cause it to crack, as could leaving too much of its cooking surface uncovered while cooking.

Odd what a difference there is in instructions. Curious what's different about their stones. In addition to the flat stones, I have several other sizes and shapes. I don't use them terribly often though.

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