Pizza stone question

[si-am]

I just bought a pizza stone today and want to make pizza tonight with it. But after looking up instructions online, realized that you are supposed to have a pizza peel/paddle in order to get the pizza on and off the stone! (Stupid me, I always thought it worked kind of like a baking sheet.)

Do any of you use one without the paddle? Any good tips or tricks? I bought extra good ingredients, kind of pricey, so I'd really hate to waste them on something that's going to fall apart/stick/have to be tossed out.

I guess I can always use my old pizza pan and save the stone for a cheaper experimental pizza!

 

[Southernmiss]

I just bought a pizza stone today and want to make pizza tonight with it. But after looking up instructions online, realized that you are supposed to have a pizza peel/paddle in order to get the pizza on and off the stone! (Stupid me, I always thought it worked kind of like a baking sheet.)

Do any of you use one without the paddle? Any good tips or tricks? I bought extra good ingredients, kind of pricey, so I'd really hate to waste them on something that's going to fall apart/stick/have to be tossed out.

I guess I can always use my old pizza pan and save the stone for a cheaper experimental pizza!

Have used a Pampered Chef Pizza stone for years for homemade pizza just like a baking sheet. Never occured to me that I needed a paddle.

 

[pixiewings71]

I have many different baking stones, I've never used a paddle on them ever. I just use a metal spatula.

 

[goofy4tink]

Have used a Pampered Chef Pizza stone for years for homemade pizza just like a baking sheet. Never occured to me that I needed a paddle.

Me too...I just take it out of the oven, let the pizza cool a bit and then slice it right on the stone!!! Or, I slide it onto a serving plate and slice it there.

 

[si-am]

Okay, well this is good to know!

When I looked it up online, apparently the stone could crack if you don't preheat it in the oven and then let it stay in the oven to cool down.

You all have given me some food for thought! (No pun intended!)

 

[Southernmiss]

I just bought a pizza stone today and want to make pizza tonight with it. But after looking up instructions online, realized that you are supposed to have a pizza peel/paddle in order to get the pizza on and off the stone! (Stupid me, I always thought it worked kind of like a baking sheet.)

Do any of you use one without the paddle? Any good tips or tricks? I bought extra good ingredients, kind of pricey, so I'd really hate to waste them on something that's going to fall apart/stick/have to be tossed out.

I guess I can always use my old pizza pan and save the stone for a cheaper experimental pizza!

Okay, well this is good to know!

When I looked it up online, apparently the stone could crack if you don't preheat it in the oven and then let it stay in the oven to cool down.

You all have given me some food for thought! (No pun intended!)

Now that you say something, I think I remember years ago it being suggested that the stone should heat and cool in the oven, but I have never done that. We take out the pizza or bread or whatever, slice it on the stone and wash it--sometimes still warm. No issues knock on wood.

 

[savannahcat]

I've used pizza stones for years without preheating them in the oven or leaving them in the oven to cool. I've never had one crack. One of mine is more than 15 years old.

 

[JessicaR]

Love my pizza stone and like the others don't have a paddle. I cut it right on the stone with a wheel and serve it right from there.

 

[davmill]

They suggest a paddle for two reasons.

1) They sell them.
2) So you can pick up the whole pizza.

Don't really need one at all. Just anything you can slide under the pizza to remove it will work.

 

[emksmama]

Yet another who has used a PC pizza stone (actually two of them, one big and one smaller) for 10 years + with no trouble. You're actually supposed to clean the PC stoneware while it's still warm, and I don't preheat them or let them cool in the oven. They come out of the oven (I bake pizzas at 450 with my homemade crusts) and I put them on our flat top stove, cut and serve right from the stone.

 

[cornflake]

You don't take the stone out of the oven like a cookie sheet, no. It also has to heat up in the oven by itself for a good while.

You don't need a peel though, you can just get a cookie sheet and pull the pizza off the stone onto it with tongs, your fingers, etc., when it's done. Then you close the oven and leave the stone in there!

The people pulling it out - where are you even putting it!? It's not like the sucker is light, and it's hundreds of degrees. I have stone counters and I'd still be wary.

 

[marmalade]

I have used my PC pizza stone weekly for the past 5yrs. It has been used on the grill (gas and charcoal) and used above the fire while camping. I have never preheated it prior to using and my pizza just slides off without having to use any kind of tool.

Mine also lives in the oven 100% of the time. Even when I am cooking other things in there, the pans just sit right on top of the stone.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Our stone has handles. so we take the whole stone out of the oven with the handles.

 

[cornflake]

I have used my PC pizza stone weekly for the past 5yrs. It has been used on the grill (gas and charcoal) and used above the fire while camping. I have never preheated it prior to using and my pizza just slides off without having to use any kind of tool.

Mine also lives in the oven 100% of the time. Even when I am cooking other things in there, the pans just sit right on top of the stone.

If you're not preheating it, what is the point of it? Wait, if it lives in the oven, you are preheating it before you cook on it, no?

 

[marmalade]

If you're not preheating it, what is the point of it? Wait, if it lives in the oven, you are preheating it before you cook on it, no?

I take it out while I preheat the oven. I would never be able to get the dough on the stone if it was hot. I usually make 2 pizzas on pizza night but I wait for the stone to cool a bit before I put the dough on for the 2nd pizza.

I also cook my dough first before I add my toppings, maybe that's why I don't notice the difference with it not being preheated.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

As a former pizzeria owner I can tell you this - unless you are cooking in a commercial oven - you are not going to be making a pizza big enough on a single pizza stone that would require a wooden pizza peel.

As for the comment made about cutting it right on the stone - I would absolutely not do that...1 you'll score the stone and 2 you'll dull the cutting wheel. You can easily transfer the pizza onto a cutting board plastic or wood that is more than likely the same size as the pizza stone and that will work fine for cutting and ultimately serving.

If you are worried about the pizza sticking - don't load up the bottom of the dough with flour as that will burn quickly - you can use corn meal or a mixture of cornmeal and flour. The pizza peel would really used for making your pizza on, and then transferring to a hot stone already "baking" in the oven. Sliding the pizza off the peel and onto the stone is an artform in and of itself...don't try this at home boys and girls. You can alternatively use the bottom of a springform pan and about halfway through cooking can slide it off the spring form and onto the pizza stone.

 

[doris1976]

Good points. I just cook it in the oven and bring it out to sit for a few. If it gets too cold, microwave.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I just bought a pizza stone today and want to make pizza tonight with it. But after looking up instructions online, realized that you are supposed to have a pizza peel/paddle in order to get the pizza on and off the stone! (Stupid me, I always thought it worked kind of like a baking sheet.)
Do any of you use one without the paddle? Any good tips or tricks? I bought extra good ingredients, kind of pricey, so I'd really hate to waste them on something that's going to fall apart/stick/have to be tossed out.
I guess I can always use my old pizza pan and save the stone for a cheaper experimental pizza!

You have to let the stone heat up in the oven before using it. It's not like a cookie sheet where you put the cookies on and then put it in. It takes much more time for the stone to heat up than the thin cookie sheet.
If you're using a commercial already made crust or a Frozen Pizza, you won't need a peel. They're stable enough to slide onto and off the stone without one. A spatula will do. If you're rolling your own crust, it's best to have one because it holds the whole pizza. But if you don't have one, not to worry. roll the crust, spread some cornmeal onto a thin cutting board big enough to hold the pizza, put the rolled crust on the cutting board, make up the pizza, and slide it off onto the stone in the oven with the aid of a spatula. You should also spread some cornmeal on the stone just prior to putting the pizza in. The cornmeal makes it slide off easily. Some people use baking papers instead of cornmeal. As for cleaning the stone, it's a snap. Any mess usually ends up in the cornmeal rather than stuck to the stone. Oh and it goes without saying. Make your pizza smaller than the stone. We have large stone. The smaller ones are well, too small.

 

[willowsnn3]

Our pizza stones have always lived in the oven also.

I killed one tho when we had an electric stove & I removed the stone from the oven and sat it down on top of a burner that hadn't completely cooled off.........broke completely into pieces......

 

[pixiewings71]

You don't take the stone out of the oven like a cookie sheet, no. It also has to heat up in the oven by itself for a good while.

You don't need a peel though, you can just get a cookie sheet and pull the pizza off the stone onto it with tongs, your fingers, etc., when it's done. Then you close the oven and leave the stone in there!

The people pulling it out - where are you even putting it!? It's not like the sucker is light, and it's hundreds of degrees. I have stone counters and I'd still be wary.

Nope, I don't preheat my stone(s) ever. I use mine for pizza, cookies, rolls.....I just put the dough right on the cold stone that was on top of the stove while the oven was preheating. I've never had an issue. I have a glass top stove, when I pull the stone out it goes on top of the stove, just like any other "normal" cookie sheet or cake or cupcake pan. I even have a small pan with a lip around it that I use for brownies, yup, brownies in a baking stone, works great, never preheat the stone, just pour the batter in and bake. Perfect little brownies every time. Heck, PC even sold me a little metal spatula that they suggested I use for removing the brownies from that very pan. I've even put it on my granite counter tops when baking lots of cookies, if I don't have enough room on the stove top they go on hot pads on the stove top, never had a problem.
Even after the house fire the stoneware was in perfect condition, I couldn't actually use it because the smoke had permeated and it would have transferred that smell/taste into our food but otherwise they were in great condition.