Pizza Stone help required

twiggy100

Hello all,

My fab hubby has just bought me a new pizza stone ( no prompting needed either!).
I am going to try it out tomorrow as i need to stock up on ingredients first. Can anyone offer any advice on them please? I know not to wash them, but should I just keep it in the oven permanantly to harden or would that damage it? I'm hoping to try it out to make soda bread as well. Any one ever tried making Naan on them? Would it work? Any advice appreciated! I'm so excited! ( Note to self to get out more lol):j

Jammygal

I believe you have to oil it with sunflower oil as opposed to olive ( I am not sure why). I always wash mine :eek: have never had a problem .

Jammygal

BTW have made pitta bread on mine and it was very successful! Remember to get it hot first

billywhizz

Our did not need seasoning, other than putting in the oven on a high heat, certainly no olive oil. Instructions said one hour in the oven at the highest temperature. Also say to heat for 15 miniutes first but we just put it in a cold oven and heat with the oven. Obviously don't wash, if you really want to, then let it dry in a very low oven overnight. I had big plans to make naans and pizza and all sorts, so far in the last year the only action it has seen are frozen pizzas, but even they are vastly improved with it.

GetRealBabe

Hi

The stone really improved my sourdough loafs. Mine didn't need to be oiled and doesn't need washing.:)

Pink.

Hi twiggy,

I'd love a pizza stone! This thread has lots of advice on using and caring for one:

Pizza Stone help required

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

xrjtg

The only reason not to keep it in the oven all the time is that increases the heat capacity of your oven, meaning that it will cost more and take longer to get up to temperature, which is a waster if you're not using it.

For those wondering about the oblique reference to not washing these stones, the risk is apparently that water gets inside the stone, then turns to steam in a hot oven causing the stone to explode. Not having one myself, I don't know how serious a risk this is.

GetRealBabe wrote: »

The stone really improved my sourdough loafs.

I'd love to think this was all that was standing between me and the kind of loaves you see in photographs, but I doubt that's the case. I'd love to hear if you have a reliable method for making sourdough (and maybe telling whether your starter's got the stuff too).

GetRealBabe

xrjtg wrote: »

I'd love to think this was all that was standing between me and the kind of loaves you see in photographs, but I doubt that's the case. I'd love to hear if you have a reliable method for making sourdough (and maybe telling whether your starter's got the stuff too).

Hi

I use these instructions:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/14/make-your-own-sourdough

I haven't got a stainless steel bowl so I spray water into the oven 3 times-about every 3 minutes.

xrjtg

Thanks for that! I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many sourdough recipes (although I'd settle for one that works). That method contains a few things that I haven't tried before, but sound eminently plausible, so I'll make that my next project.

PizzaMaker

Best never to clean a pizza stone except to gently scrape off anything that fused onto it during a pizza-making mishap. Think of mere stains and scorches as seasoning your stone.