Buying a Pizza Stone, your thoughts and recommendations please

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As the title says i'm thinking about buying a pizza stone but am clueless about where to start so thoughts and recommendations greatly appreciated please

TIA

the pampered chef one is the dogs bolleux

I bought one and never use it. It'd probably be great for a bought pizza though. The problem is that if you make one from scratch, it's really hard to get the pizza (being all thin and floppy) onto a hot stone. You'd need to buy one of those flat spade things (I'm sure they have a proper name) to get it off whatever you made it on and onto the stone. If anyone has a solution I'd love to hear it as I'm gutted that we don't use ours.

does one need a pizza stone

goatee one, I not only cook pizza on mine but cookies and biscuits plus bleurgh kiddie stuff like chick nuggets and f fingers, anything that one would cook in a flattish tin

tis fabbo

We never use ours either.

We make them from scratch but cook them on those holey round pan things, which are much better/easier imo

We got given one and never used it, apart from as a board for cutting up hot pizzas. I am happy to remain in the baking tray camp.

don't - it will end up in the dusty cupboard along with the bread maker, smoothie maker, ice cream maker, and all the other rubbish in my kitchen

another vote here for the holey round pan things!

Make sure you get the biggest that will fit in your oven (I got ours from amazon).

We use ours every week - it is fab.

withoutagoat, i suppose i don't need one but was thinking it would be good for other things too, not just pizza, would also like to show off to DC with my pizza's like the shop [:o]

grumpypants, i have a waffle maker hiding in my cupboard, only reason i never used it is i dont know how to make the waffle mix.....might start another thread on that

couldtryharder, on amazon people have mentioned ways to do just that

"I have used a baking stone for over 20 years. The trick for tranferring pizza dough is as follows:
Knead dough into shape & put onto a sheet of baking parchment, which you then put on a flat baking tray to rise. When risen, put toppings on. Pre-heat the stone then slide the complete pizza on to it using the parchment. When the pizza is cooked the paper will slide out from under the pizza & it's ready to serve. "

"Other reviewers have mentioned trouble getting the pizza from the rolling pin to the stone. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall provides the answer. Once you're rolled it out, put the pizza base on a rimless baking sheet dusted with polenta or semolina. Done like this is slides easily onto the hot stone.
Also the stone needs to be well seasoned by being lightly oiled and put in a hot oven for an hour or so."

Hope you give it another go with success

PCBH, i will definately look for a pampered chef one, many thanks

Granite chopping board for £10 from Wilkinsons or Tescos - take the rubber feet off first though. DH uses it for baking loaves, rolls and pizzas works really well.

another pampered chef vote here

the PC one goes into the oven cold, in fact they don't recc putting in the oven with nowt on or to warm up in case it splodes

I have this. For pizzas it is bloody amazing if a bit pricey. You can cook other stuff but I haven't tried yet.

Have a great dough recipe to if you want it :)

www.thepizzamaker.co.uk/

Another vote for the Pampered Chef one. I have a rather too large selection of the Pampered Chef stonewear and use it for everything!!

I also have a waffle machine and the recipe book to go with it!! I'll never remember to look for it and come back to the thread but if you want to PM me I'll give you a recipe!

Pampered Chef every time. We have a few items (including the Pizza Stone). We use Pizza one for Pizzas, Potato wedges, basically everything and anything.

Just decluttered my kitchen and got rid of unused/not needed items (donut maker, coffee bean grinder etc) and the Pizza Stone was never ever on list.

I use a terracotta Pizza Stone for Pizza and Bread. The bread is great because with the stone already hot, you get great bounce with the bread (technical term known to home bakers).

The first attempt with a home made pizza on the Pizza Stone was a disaster. Fantastic dough, topped with Mozzerella, tomato paste, ham, artichoke hearts, pepperoni, anchovies, etc. Placed the pizza on the "peel" which had been dusted with semolina to stop it sticking, then slid into the pre-heated oven, and onto the pre-heated stone. Cooked great. Went in with the peel to bring it out, only to find that the peel pushed the pizza off the back of the stone, over the edge of the shelf and down onto the gas burner at the bottom!!! Salvaged about half of it, and had to wait for the oven to cool before I could pick out all the melted and burnt remains out from round the burner. A tray would have been much easier!

Second attempt, used the peel to put pizza on the stone, cooked brilliantly, then removed the stone from the oven with the pizza on it (13yr old dd's suggestion).

Definately worth having, and for storage, just leave it in the bottom of the oven.

I do my home made pizza on a solid metal baking tray lined with parchment. And it comes out fine. And in a handy rectangular shape too.

I have an aversion to unnecessary gadgetry, although I do have one of those wheel pizza cutters in the shape of Roadrunner.

I have a few big (about 30 x 30 cm) ceramic floor tiles left from when our house was made over. I use them as pizza stones, sometimes lined with parchment, sometimes just scattered with flour. If you are after an Italian-style thin crust pizza, they are quite useful. Getting a hot enough temperature from a regular kitchen oven is really the issue - homemade pizza never really competes with a good forno a legno restaurant pizza.

DH was given a pizza stone nearly 20 years ago - and it's great for homemade pizzas and we simply put it on its stand for serving.

Another vote for the Wilkinsons granite chopping board. I've had excellent results with it for both pizzas and bread. It's also the one recommended by Richard Bertinet who runs the bread courses.

Pampered Chef here. A pizza stone/granite board/terrace slab will retain heat unlike a baking tray or tray with holes in. This is what gives a really crispy crust. I heat the small oven to max which is 250 c with the stone in. Make the dough. Roll out the dough. Get the toppings ready. Take the hot stone out. Transfer the rolled out dough ( and dough balls, I always make dough balls ) then whack the toppings on fast, back in the very hot oven for 5 minutes.

The secret Couldtryharder is to roll out the pizza dough on the stone itself. Pampered Chef do a Baker's Roller which I find is the best thing for this but any small rolling pin would do (or just press into shape for a thicker crust) I would also oil the stone with olive or sunflower oil until it gets properly seasoned, otherwise non-fatty foods like the dough will stick to the stone. It is also great for most types of food (lovely shortbread or cookies!) but you might need to cook them a little longer for things that take less than 10-15 minutes to cook.

I have to 'fess up that I am a PC Consultant but I hope my advice is non-biased enough for you to try it! Let me know how you get on!

But to get the benefit of the stone it needs to be at maximum possible temperature when the pizza goes on. Can't really roll a pizza onto granite at 270 degrees!

I use either a non stick baking sheet or some semolina sprinkled under whatever I am using to do the transfer. Or both. And touch wood. And hope for a following wind.

Still perfecting the technique really, don't get me started on wet bread dough.

we have a stone which might as well be an oven base protector as that's all it gets used for.

Get one of these!

We have both the pizza mesh and the large rectangular piece and they are really good.