Pizza Stone

[foreverme]

Looking for a pizza stone to use with my Traeger grill, was looking at a small Ooni but they are sold out everywhere and thought this should achieve the same result?
Thanks for any help...

[oddman]

I've used a pizza stone for ages but recently started trying to cook baguettes and stone is circular

Ordered a piece of 10mm mild steel cut to fit the oven shelves from an online supplier. I had to finish it off - filing and bevelling the edges and seasoning it but it's significantly better than the pizza stone.

Might be quite a good option inside a Traeger and you will be able to specify the size you want.

Could probably double as sizzling plate too.

[ambuletz]

pizza steel is worth considering. This depends on how you want to do your pizza.

if you're trying to reach those screaming hot temperatures needed for neopolitan pizza then the stone is the best bet. however if you're not going above the max temps of a conventional oven then the steel is better for its superior heat transfer. Avoid the steel for the former, as it'll just burn the pizza.

[imck]

Have a couple of Stones from Procook
Work well on our Gas Weber.

BIL uses an upturned Baking Tray in Electric Oven and the results are good.

[ambuletz]

imck said:

BIL uses an upturned Baking Tray in Electric Oven and the results are good.

I do the same thing whenever doing pizza in the oven. I turn my thickest metal baking tray upside down in the oven. But i do wonder to myself how much better it will be with a pizza steel.

[foreverme]

Thanks all, interesting about using steel, i thought all the poster pizza makers say you must use a stone

[oddman]

ambuletz said:

pizza steel is worth considering. This depends on how you want to do your pizza.

if you're trying to reach those screaming hot temperatures needed for neopolitan pizza then the stone is the best bet. however if you're not going above the max temps of a conventional oven then the steel is better for its superior heat transfer. Avoid the steel for the former, as it'll just burn the pizza.

This is the crucial advice. My Kamado gets very hot - well above 500C and risks burning pizza base even with a stone. I use the steel in an oven which tops out at 270C. I heat the oven to full and then switch to oven/grill to get the steel very hot. Switch back to oven when the pizza goes in for 3-4 minutes and back to grill for the last minute

With a sourdough base (70% plus hydration) I suspect my results make investing in a pizza oven pointless for me. I get a crispy base and the leopard spotting which some would have you believe is the domain of specialist ovens

It really doesn't matter what the heat source is - gas, electricity, charcoal or firewood. The temperatures are so hot, any soot is burned out of the oven before the bread or pizza are baked and there is nothing the oven itself can do to flavour the bread/pizza. Baking at a lower temperature, say 250 - 300c in a barbecue will obviously impart some barbecue character from any smoking wood or the accumulated fug of the device. Whether you like that is down to taste.

[ambuletz]

adam ragusea does a good video comparing stone and steel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWVEgoEGnkY


There's also 'Alex' (the french guy) on youtube who trys his hand at perfecting pizza in his oven. he goes as far as to modify it to run at hotter temps . basically hack off some safety bits so that he can use the self-cleaning function to cook. Alex also found that at cooler temperatures it's better to use the steel, but at hotter ones it'll just burn, so it's better to use the inefficient stone.

[wilbo83]

ambuletz said:

I do the same thing whenever doing pizza in the oven. I turn my thickest metal baking tray upside down in the oven. But i do wonder to myself how much better it will be with a pizza steel.

Forgive my naïve question but what difference does using the baking tray upside down make? If you are using a baking tray, why not just use it upright? I'm clearly missing something here!

[ambuletz]

wilbo83 said:

ambuletz said:

I do the same thing whenever doing pizza in the oven. I turn my thickest metal baking tray upside down in the oven. But i do wonder to myself how much better it will be with a pizza steel.

Forgive my naïve question but what difference does using the baking tray upside down make? If you are using a baking tray, why not just use it upright? I'm clearly missing something here!

Nothing other than it's easier to slide on/off the pizza. Plus it's on the underside.. no real need to wash up!