Pizza stone

[Leethequeen]

I just bought a large pizza stone to keep in my oven and I would like to know if Ishould to season it before you use I use it. The smaller one I had in there has all kinds of permanent marks on it from thimgs that had spilled over. Thanks.

[kokopuffs]

Search the entire forum for "pizza stone". Do NOT season it. Repeated use will temper the stone - due to the high baking temperatures to which it'll be subject.

If you have an electric oven, then leaving the stone in the oven during the cleaning cycle is all that you need to do.

[big B]

Are you using a pizza stone to maintain a more constant temperature in your oven? If so, does it work well and where would you recomend placing it? I have a gas oven with no window, so I was thinking of getting one for better heat retention as I need to open the door eveytime to check how things are going. And being able to make pizza would be a nice bonus .

[Leethequeen]

I have an electric oven and have found there is less temperature variation with the pizza stone in the oven. I have a large one on the very bottom rack and a smaller one on the topmost rack and now the elements don't come go and off as often. it has made a difference to my baking too. It seems to have cut down on the temperature variatins in the oven.

[alexia]

OK. I'm a heathen. I keep my pizza stone on the floor of my gas oven - covered with foil. I even change the foil from time to time. When I bake, I put the etc. on another (no saving me!) piece of foil before putting it on the stone. It makes it really easy to pull out off the stone and onto a cooling rack or board. It keeps the stone clean and - best of all - I find no significant difference from putting it the stone directly.

When I did bake directly on the stone instead of foil on stone, I did cover the stone when using the oven for other things to keep away spills.

[kokopuffs]

Isn't the idea of a pizza stone to lend a crunch to whatever you're baking by allowing its pores to absorb some of the water contained in the dough? So why even cover the stone - it seems that part of its purpose is being defeated.

[alexia]

You may be right, Kokopuffs. I'm not so much advocating my method as reporting what I do that works for me. I use my stone more often for pie dough (all butter) than pizza dough, often free form tarts, and I usually at least start them at a higher temp than many people use for pie. For that use, at least, I can say it works great even when the pie overflows. The crusts turn out great all the way through.

On my last stone, I did use direct contact a few times, but didn't like the effect. I then switched to parchment, but the high heat degraded it so that it wasn't so useful for pulling the pie out directly onto the cooling rack. (OK, so my technique for removing a pie from the oven may be needlessly complicated, but sometimes I just can't find the right oven mitt for contact with the pie and this is what has evolved.)

On the few occasions when I've used it for pizza, I've not noticed any difference; the bottoms of them brown up beautifully. Perhaps because I make them on the small size?