There is a lot more to creating a perfect pizza than just popping it into the oven and leaving it to cook for a little while. As one of the most difficult types of food to cook properly, pizzas can present a real challenge to even the most articulate of pizza chefs. To help the at home cook and even the professional restaurateur, a range of pizza stones have been developed to help pizzas cook evenly all the way through. These devices spread the heat distribution right around the base of the pizza and help to leave it with a sharp and crispy finish.
Pizza stones are made from either a ceramic or earthenware material for example terra cotta, and are designed to mimic the effects of a masonry oven - a commercial style oven that is traditionally used to cook pizzas, similar to the way that a wood fire oven would. Pizza stones are specifically designed to help extract the moisture from your pizza which helps to leave it sharp and crispy rather than soggy and doughy.
In order to cook with a pizza stone you first must preheat it to ensure that your pizza cooks evenly and that the base has reached a temperature similar to that of the oven itself. It's important to put your stone in a cold oven so that it can evenly absorb the heat which in turn will allow your pizza to cook evenly.
Although a pizza stone can go a long way to ensuring you have the perfect pizza it's also important to ensure that your ingredients are fresh and that your dough is not too soggy, in which case your pizza stone will not be able to properly cook your pizza as a result.
At the end of the pizza preparation it comes to cleaning your pizza stone and this can be done with just a generic hot water. It's important not to use detergent at this step as the stone can retain the chemicals and they could be transferred into your next pizza.
Pizza stones are made from either a ceramic or earthenware material for example terra cotta, and are designed to mimic the effects of a masonry oven - a commercial style oven that is traditionally used to cook pizzas, similar to the way that a wood fire oven would. Pizza stones are specifically designed to help extract the moisture from your pizza which helps to leave it sharp and crispy rather than soggy and doughy.
In order to cook with a pizza stone you first must preheat it to ensure that your pizza cooks evenly and that the base has reached a temperature similar to that of the oven itself. It's important to put your stone in a cold oven so that it can evenly absorb the heat which in turn will allow your pizza to cook evenly.
Although a pizza stone can go a long way to ensuring you have the perfect pizza it's also important to ensure that your ingredients are fresh and that your dough is not too soggy, in which case your pizza stone will not be able to properly cook your pizza as a result.
At the end of the pizza preparation it comes to cleaning your pizza stone and this can be done with just a generic hot water. It's important not to use detergent at this step as the stone can retain the chemicals and they could be transferred into your next pizza.