Newbie Pizza Stone

[juniper44]

Hi Guys

I have recently been given a pizza stone as I love pizza especially the thin crust, new york italian style.

I wondered if anyone had any tips on which dough to make and anything to think about with regards to the stone before I take my first pizza making venture this weekend!

Thanks

Tania

[wotavidone]

Good day Tania.
Heres a tip - don't put your stone in the oven.
Assuming English stoves are like Aussie stoves, you should have a griller?
I mean a slide out tray, on which you put your meat, heated from above by a gas flame or electric element.
If you have that, then the trick is to lay your stone on the tray and heat it for half an hour. Construct your pizza, slide the tray out of your griller, drop the pizza on it and slide the stone back under the flame. The stone cooks the base, the flame cooks the top. Excellent pizza in 2 to 3 minutes.
I have one of those infrared laser thermometers and my stone gets over 300 degrees centigrade before I drop the pizza on it.
Regards,
Mick

[wotavidone]

P.S. when you are finished cooking, turn off the flame and close the griller door so that the stone cools slowly. Don't want it to crack.

[mrchipster]

Ausie to US translation - griller = broiler

Chip

[Sparky005s]

It has been our experience that the broiler just can't keep up with a thoroughly heated pizza stone. The bottom burns before the top is done as the pizza stone transfers heat so effectively. So, we preheat the oven to 450 with the stone on the bottom rack. We put the pizza on a tray on the top rack to cook. When the top is mostly done transfer the pizza to the stone to finish the crust. Very good results so far. Btw, be sure you preheat the oven for 45 minutes or so to saturate the stone.

This for making American style medium thick pies.

[wotavidone]

It has been our experience that the broiler just can't keep up with a thoroughly heated pizza stone.

Interesting. There is no question that getting the right balance between the stone's heat input and the heat from the griller is key.
My griller/broiler has to positions for the slide out tray, and even on the lower position, the trick for me is to make sure the stone is very hot so that the crust cooks before the top burns.
I generally have to heat the stone for at least 30 minutes first. I think my $18 E-bay infrared thermometer is the key to the whole thing. I doubt it is very accurate in absolute terms, but it seems to give consistent results, i.e. it says a pan of boiling water is about 98 deg C, instead of the 100 degrees it should be, however it says 98 degrees everytime, so its usable, when all I need to know for my pizza cooking is what displayed temperature works for pizzas. (It is all relative - A. Einstein)
I guess all stoves vary a bit. A little experimentation and you'll be fine.
I have found that the "Fat Aussie Pizza" is a bit of a no-no. To be honest, I am rapidly forming an affection for crispy thin crust pizzas. For instance I can really see why a Margherita caught on.
Regards,
Mick

[wotavidone]

P.S. are all pizza stones the same? Mine is a made by a pottery, and apparently its just a 15mm slab of terracotta clay fired reasonably high temp. You can see the marks in it where it has obviously been extruded straight out of the pug mill and cut to length. My first one cracked, I blamed myself. (I washed it when I got it home, everything at this pottery is covered in dry clay dust. Then I used it straightaway. I cleaned the second one too, but let it dry for a week before use.)The second one is not even perfectly flat, has a bit of a buckle in it. It certainly works for me, but it does raise the question, do different stones transfer heat at different rates? I guess mine would be working in the same way that I would expect the fired terracotta clay bricks I have obtained for my oven?

[wotavidone]

PS (again) This is the forum that gave me the idea that using the griller was a good idea.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1183258

[Sparky005s]

That's the thing. Each oven, stone and pizza prep is different. If at first you don't succeed, bake another pizza!

[wotavidone]

So Tania, have you cooked a pizza on your stone yet?
Regards,
Mick