I am on the hunt for a pizza stone. I have become slightly obsessed with homemade pizza, and National Pizza Month is a good excuse to further the search.
In general, if you want to make pizza at home, a pizza stone is a good thing. The goal when baking a proper thin-crust pizza is to raise the heat and lower the baking time as much as possible. A stone absorbs heat as the oven heats up and ideally it will absorb enough to actually be an extra source of heat once the pizza goes into the oven - effectively raising the temperature even higher.
The reason I am still hunting, however, is because I have read some troubling things about the $12-$15 stones you find at home stores.
The Pampered Chef. I've used their pizza stone (and also the baking sheet made out of the same stuff) for a bunch of things, and had no problem either using it or cleaning it. And food very rarely burns on it.
I've noticed something disturbing lately. I had always used a pizza stone in the past, but recently had to prepare two pizzas at once so used a cookie sheet for one of the pies. The crust of the pizza that was on the cookie sheet was AWESOME. There was a nice thin layer of crispiness. Why does this happen? (I tried it again, and it happened again)
Go to a store that carries tile floor coverings and ask for 'unglazed' quarry tiles. Very cheap alternative.
I've been pretty happy with my pizza baking stone purchased at Williams-Sonoma (click my name for link). I bought it a couple years ago and it has performed well with pizzas and other bread items (crostini, etc.). The nice thing is that Williams-Sonoma has one of the most generous return policies in retail, so if anything does happen they'll replace, no problem (I used to work there).
Many times cracking pizza stones are a result of people pulling the hot stone out of the oven...a no no.
If you don't have it already, get Peter Reinhardt's "American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza". I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but it's a really wonderful read (and supposedly has a great neapolitan style crust recipe).
Fireplace bricks! the unvarnished kind.
what temperature is so hot as to shatter the stone? (I can't believe I'm asking this, but you're putting the stone inside the oven before turning it on, right? rather than inviting the shatter by putting a cold stone into a hot oven?)
One thing I have heard is to use the base of a terra cotta flower pot, a large one, unglazed. Does the same thing as the tiles but it is larger and cheaper.
Personally, I have several Pampered Chef stones and when I'm thinking of it, I'll use those. Otherwise I just use a regular cookie sheet with no problems.
Kim O'Donnel of the Washington Post also uses a cookie sheet for her pizzas.
Good tip about pulling out the hot stone. I don't think I did that, but you never know... and yes - more on Peter Reinhart sure to come!
I saw a marked difference between the pizzas I baked on a stone and the ones I baked on a cookie sheet. I wonder if oven plays a part here too? I have a regular old (literally) electric oven.
I think the moisture absorbing qualities of using a stone makes a difference (vs. cookie sheet). With a cookie sheet, although you get a crisp underside crust, I think the pizza dough is almost "frying" in it's own oil as opposed to baking up crisp.
From what I've read (and experienced in a limited capacity - definitely not an expert on this YET), the key is a HOT oven. I don't think it matters whether it's gas or electric, so long as you get your oven as close to 550 deg. F. as you can and also, make sure to heat your stone thoroughly (for upwards of an hour).
Although I really can't recommend doing this, you can read about one man's hunt for making the perfect NY style pizza at home and how he found it using the cleaning cycle of his oven.
http://jvpizza.sliceny.com/
I have one from Pampered Chef that someone gave me as a gift...it's been fine for years.
I had one from Pampered Chef that I got as a gift and it broke right in half in my oven. With a pizza on it. I haven't heard of anyone else having problems with them, though.
Christy, I hope you got that stone replaced. PC is usually pretty good about that.
I'm not sure if I'm the eGer who you're referring to, but I LOVE my FibraMent. We used cheapo tiles all through graduate school, but once I was a rich post-doc (ha ha) I splurged on one and haven't regretted it. It's physical properties mean it really does make a difference compared to just Home Depot grade clay. It does great pizzas too, nothing like a sheet pan. These babies are simultaneously bubbling all across the surface (not just the edges) in under 13 minutes. We also do a lot of flat breads like naans and pitas on ours and while it's not a tandoor oven, the breads cook in about the same time (with the same volume) as if you were using one.
The only down side is that I think it needs about an hour in the oven to really accumulate enough heat.
regards,
trillium
minipanda -- That's an interesting idea about the cookie sheet frying the crust rather than baking it .. but on second thought, I find myself still confused (and I apologize for my stupidity!). What really makes the difference so that it is frying rather than baking? Porosity of the stone? In other words, where does the oil go when it is on a stone? Or are these the wrong questions to be asking .. maybe my brain is fried :)
I heart my PC pizza stone.
My Pampered Chef stone cracked after 3-4 years of very light use at temps from 350-425. The first time I cranked the oven up to 500, it was a goner.
I have had very good luck with unglazed quarry tiles. I even bought a few extras if they cracked, but haven't had to get them out yet. I actually have four 8x8 tiles put together - there are no gaps as far as the base is concerned, but it will still leak through if some liquid comes out of your pizza. Make sure to put a sheet pan underneath if you think that might be an issue.
Plus, it'll only cost about $6 to find out if you like the quarry tiles or not. You'll spend that much on shipping alone for something else. Why not give it a go?
Does the shape of the pizza stone make any difference to it's durability? I had a rectangular one that cracked in half (horizontally right down the middle), but have been using a large circular stone for several years with no problems.
Another (rather unrelated) question--how do you folks clean your stones? I leave my stone in my oven all the time, which lends itself toward...er...forgetting to clean it once it's cooled down. I now have some stains and permanent bits of crustiness baked on. It doesn't seem to make a difference to the performance of the stone or the flavor/appearance of my baked goodness, though, so...meh?
chris, i just read that website and that man is my hero.