Do you use a pizza stone?
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
United States
August 3, 2007 12:16pm CST
I've been thinking about making some homemade pizza, but I'm not sure if I have all the right equipment. Other than the basic baking pans and baking sheets, I don't have any specialized pizza making equipment. I've thought about investing into a pizza stone, but I'm not sure if that will be necessary. I've heard that Sunbeam makes a really nice pizza maker that simulates a pizza stone. I haven't been able to find it online though.
Do you use a pizza stone for your homemade pizza? Do you think a pizza stone makes homemade pizza taste better? Would it help me get the kind of pizza crust that pizza restaurants have. Do you have a pizza maker? Does it make your homemade pizzas taste better?
2 people like this
12 responses
@raychill (6525)
• United States
3 Aug 07
Honestly, I use a pizza stone but it really doesn't do too much of a different. It sort of cooks the crust a little better but I'd say it'd be perfectly OK to just use baking sheets with parchment paper. I'm not sure if people know how fantastic parchment paper is but I recommend using that for anything and everything.
Pizza stones also get very very hot and I know you have kids so you really have to be careful with that. They can burn you extremely bad.
1 person likes this
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
3 Aug 07
I would not have thought about that! A friend of mine who worked in the hotel services industry near the kitchen told me once that they used parchment paper when cooking bacon and cookies. I guess it really is versatile! Thank you so much. Drop by anytime, you have amazing ideas.
@raychill (6525)
• United States
4 Aug 07
Ha Ha. Thanks. Parchment paper is the best thing. I was a culinary arts major at one time and we used it all the time. Nothing ever sticks to it. I use it anyhome for anything that I put in the oven. Pizza, Fried Shrimp, baked chicken, cookies... you name it. It's also not that expensive and usually lasts a very long time because you can re-use the same piece a few times.
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
3 Aug 07
I make my own dough, and they are the best. I use a stone and also have a tin with holes. Both work fine.
If you have the right dough, and you can get recipes on line, you will have a great pizza. Bake at 450, and take out when the cheese is bubbly.
1 person likes this
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
3 Aug 07
That sounds great. I guess I had forgotten to check my online recipe sites!
@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
3 Aug 07
We always just make our pizza on regular baking sheets. I've thought about getting one of those pizza makers, but my husband says I don't need one. He says we don't have room for it, since I have so many other kitchen appliances. Now that we don't live where pizza can be delivered, he might change his mind and let me get one, though. I've heard that they are great. So if I can convince my husband that we would really use it enough to make it worth it, I will probably get one for my birthday later this month.
1 person likes this
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
3 Aug 07
Birthdays are the best time to get practical gifts. Maybe I will try to make enough money this month on My lot to afford one of the Sunbeam pizza makers of my own. If I post my fingers off from now till next payday, I should have just enough money to buy one without having to talk to him about it! LOL!
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
3 Aug 07
Know what....I do have a pizza stone but never use it. I get out my old pizza pan and make pizza on it. I think that it works better than the stone. Stones are very expensive, so if you are going to invest in one, make sure that you will use it for a variety of things.
I have never even heard of the sumbeam pizza maker, but sounds like a cool invention.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
4 Aug 07
If you get one I would suggest getting it from pamphered chef if possible. They have a great guarentee on them from breaking. They are not hard to clean, you get a special scraper with them and all you do is run under hot water and scrape off the excess stuff. No soap is to be used because it will soak into the stone and keep a soapy taste to what you bake.
@cynddvs (2948)
• United States
7 Aug 07
I got a pizza stone for Christmas a couple years ago. I used it a few times and then realized it was a pain in the butt to keep clean. I haven't used it in forever. I think I may have cleaned it wrong and now everytime I bake anything on it it has a funny taste to it. I just stick to regular cookie sheets and pizza pans now.
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
4 Aug 07
I use an ordinary baking sheet (square or round). I like to use a yeast dough for my bases and I make them thicker than most store bought pizzas. I can't say which is better but whenever I make pizza, there is none left and people say how good it was!
I use a basic wholewheat or white bread dough (you can make this in a breadmaker if you have one). I flatten it to shape with my knuckles and spread the topping on - tomato paste, meat/salami/olives/fish/anchovy as required, then cheese (almost any hard cheese grated but mozzarella is best) and maybe some slices of tomato. I leave it in a warm place for half an hour to rise a little then bake in a hot oven about 400 - 450 F.
@doombullets (631)
• Pakistan
4 Aug 07
ye s we usually use pizze stone but not too much sometime my father bring it
@8ctavarium (552)
• Australia
4 Aug 07
Nope, I never really do. Besides I live near 3 different pizza stores, so they are always sending around discount vouchers and such and hence I think it is a lot cheaper to buy the pizza rather than make one yourself, but speaking from experience, the satisfaction is way greater when you eat something you have made and cooked entirely yourself.
@hermitcrabheaven (645)
• United States
3 Aug 07
The sunbeam pizza maker is awesome. It's awesome whether you're making a homemade pizza, cooking a frozen pizza, or making something like garlic bread. Most of my family has them and loves them.
Before I had my pizza maker I would just use a regular cookie sheet to make my pizzas and had great results. I had a pizza stone for a while, but ended up throwing it in the trash. I didn't care for it a bit.
@henrysteel (3)
• China
4 Aug 07
I love it ,It is fantastic to make pizza at home .its main adventage is that it can help to distribute the heat of oven evenly to your pizza.and their porous nature helps to absorb excess moisture
