Inexpensive Pizza Stone

On Mon 13 Jun 2005 09:34:01a, Larry G wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Yesterday I found an inexpensive pizza stone for $5.00. I'm just
wondering if I should take the plunge and buy it. Are pizzas *really*
any better cooked on a stone.

I mostly cook frozen pizzas. I've tried my hand at fresh, but I usually
add too much sauce. At any rate, I know it might break, but I read
horror stories of the $30.00 variety breaking.

To sum it up, is a pizza stone worth giving a shot, or is the difference
negligible?

Larry

The difference is huge, and $5 is a neglible cost.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email hidden]> wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

The difference is huge, and $5 is a neglible cost.

Thanks. I'll go ahead and try it out then.

Larry

Larry G said:

Quoted message said:

Yesterday I found an inexpensive pizza stone for $5.00. I'm just
wondering if I should take the plunge and buy it. Are pizzas
*really* any better cooked on a stone.

I mostly cook frozen pizzas. I've tried my hand at fresh, but I
usually add too much sauce. At any rate, I know it might break, but
I read horror stories of the $30.00 variety breaking.

To sum it up, is a pizza stone worth giving a shot, or is the
difference negligible?

For $5, why not take the plunge and decide for yourself? I like mine. I
can't remember how much I paid .. perhaps in the $15-20 range and included a
peel.

Debbie

Larry G said:

Yesterday I found an inexpensive pizza stone for $5.00. I'm just wondering
if I should take the plunge and buy it. Are pizzas *really* any better
cooked on a stone.

I mostly cook frozen pizzas. I've tried my hand at fresh, but I usually add
too much sauce. At any rate, I know it might break, but I read horror
stories of the $30.00 variety breaking.

To sum it up, is a pizza stone worth giving a shot, or is the difference
negligible?

Save your money. Pizza stones don't improve the flavor or crust of
frozen pizzas.

sf said:

Larry G said:

Yesterday I found an inexpensive pizza stone for $5.00. I'm just wondering
if I should take the plunge and buy it. Are pizzas *really* any better
cooked on a stone.

I mostly cook frozen pizzas. I've tried my hand at fresh, but I usually add
too much sauce. At any rate, I know it might break, but I read horror
stories of the $30.00 variety breaking.

To sum it up, is a pizza stone worth giving a shot, or is the difference
negligible?

Save your money. Pizza stones don't improve the flavor or crust of
frozen pizzas.

Actually they don't improve the flavor of any crust... stones add nor
take away no flavor... if the dough has lousy flavor out of the gate
nothing will change it. Now some say use of baking stones improve
*texture*.... but flavor, nope.

Sheldon

"Larry G" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Yesterday I found an inexpensive pizza stone for $5.00. I'm just wondering
if I should take the plunge and buy it. Are pizzas *really* any better
cooked on a stone.

I mostly cook frozen pizzas. I've tried my hand at fresh, but I usually
add too much sauce. At any rate, I know it might break, but I read horror
stories of the $30.00 variety breaking.

To sum it up, is a pizza stone worth giving a shot, or is the difference
negligible?

Larry

The only time I've broken a pizza stone is when using it as a heat shield in
my smoker/grill; they don't like wood fire like that. I have one that I've
kept in my oven for a few years now and there's nary a crack. Go for it and
spend the fi dollah on it. Hell, a six pack of microbrew is more expensive
than that.

Jack

A $5 pizza stone is likely to be very thin. It might improve the
texture of the crust somewhat, but not as much as a nice thick stone
will.

Louis Cohen said:

A $5 pizza stone is likely to be very thin. It might improve the
texture of the crust somewhat, but not as much as a nice thick stone
will.

How thick should a good stone be?

--
Alan Shutko <[email hidden]> - I am the rocks.

Sheldon said:

Pizza stones don't improve the flavor or crust of frozen pizzas.

Actually they don't improve the flavor of any crust... stones add nor
take away no flavor... if the dough has lousy flavor out of the gate
nothing will change it. Now some say use of baking stones improve
*texture*.... but flavor, nope.

When I said "crust", I should have said "the texture of the" crust.
But I stand by that statement when applied to FROZEN pizza. Of
course, you know that a "real" pizza baked on a stone/tile has a
wonderful crispy (and not crackerlike) texture on the bottom.

"sf" <[email hidden]> wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

Sheldon said:

Pizza stones don't improve the flavor or crust of frozen pizzas.

Actually they don't improve the flavor of any crust... stones add nor
take away no flavor... if the dough has lousy flavor out of the gate
nothing will change it. Now some say use of baking stones improve
*texture*.... but flavor, nope.

When I said "crust", I should have said "the texture of the" crust.
But I stand by that statement when applied to FROZEN pizza. Of
course, you know that a "real" pizza baked on a stone/tile has a
wonderful crispy (and not crackerlike) texture on the bottom.

Okay, well, I'll go ahead and buy it anyway. Can't beat the price at all. I
was wondering about frozen because two things happen when I make a Digiorno
for example. The dough is either too soft, or way too crisp. Either way it
is delicious. I was wondering if the stone would enhance flavor/texture in
any way.

I usually make a pizza from scratch from Boboli pre-made crusts. The only
problem I have usually is that I overdo the sauce and it becomes a bit
sauce-heavy. But, it never tastes even as good as a Digiorno, but people
that I make 'em for just love it. I'm the only one that doesn't care for it,
haha.

I'd like to make a pizza completely from scratch one day though so a stone
couldn't hurt anyway. I've never tried my hand at making the dough from
scratch though.

If anybody has any good personal recipes either out there online or those
that you've tried yourself, feel free to add them. I'd love to try my hand
at it.

Larry

Larry G said:

Okay, well, I'll go ahead and buy it anyway. Can't beat the price at all.

Of course you can. Go out and get some unglazed tiles. You'll have a
much larger space to plop a pizza and have money left over.

Quoted message said:

I
was wondering about frozen because two things happen when I make a Digiorno
for example. The dough is either too soft, or way too crisp. Either way it
is delicious. I was wondering if the stone would enhance flavor/texture in
any way.

Can't tell you. I hate frozen pizza - including DiGiorno.

Quoted message said:

I usually make a pizza from scratch from Boboli pre-made crusts.

When most people talk about "from scratch", they make the crust too.
You are assembling toppings on a premade whatever it is. I have NO
idea what to call Boboli except by the name. That's another thing I
tried once and called it quits. In fact, I couldn't eat it.

Quoted message said:

The only
problem I have usually is that I overdo the sauce and it becomes a bit
sauce-heavy. But, it never tastes even as good as a Digiorno, but people
that I make 'em for just love it. I'm the only one that doesn't care for it,
haha.

Obviously, their mothers taught them well. They don't bite the hand
that feeds them.

Quoted message said:

I'd like to make a pizza completely from scratch one day though so a stone
couldn't hurt anyway.

There is no way I could slap a pizza the size I make on a "stone"
without some of it missing the mark... that's why I use tile. It
ain't easy to hit the bulls eye dead center when your pizza dough is
home made.

Quoted message said:

I've never tried my hand at making the dough from
scratch though.

Trader Joe's sells a decent fresh dough if you want to experiment w/o
actually making it. Of course, nothing beats making your own dough -
but it's a better start than Boboli.

Alan Shutko said:

Louis Cohen said:

A $5 pizza stone is likely to be very thin. It might improve the
texture of the crust somewhat, but not as much as a nice thick stone
will.

How thick should a good stone be?

A good "stone" can be made of 6 x 6 quarry tiles. Don't get pavers
because they take forever to heat up.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/newyorkstyle.php

sf said:

Alan Shutko said:

Louis Cohen said:

A $5 pizza stone is likely to be very thin. It might improve the
texture of the crust somewhat, but not as much as a nice thick stone
will.

How thick should a good stone be?

A good "stone" can be made of 6 x 6 quarry tiles. Don't get pavers
because they take forever to heat up.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/newyorkstyle.php

Would granite work as a pizza stone? I have access to oven size "scraps"
of polished granite one inch thick.

Ed Rinehart in Laramie

Ed Rinehart said:

sf said:

A good "stone" can be made of 6 x 6 quarry tiles. Don't get pavers
because they take forever to heat up.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/newyorkstyle.php

Would granite work as a pizza stone? I have access to oven size "scraps"
of polished granite one inch thick.

KEWL! Why not give it a try and report back? You have nothing to
lose and everything to gain!

I think 1 inch is a bit thick (pavers are about an inch too). Are you
willing to spend the time it takes to heat it up? I also think the
unpolished side should work better for pizza, but who knows? If it
doesn't work out for pizza, you can always set it into (or on) a
counter and use it for pastry making.

IMO: Those scrap pieces are gold! Think of table tops/counters that
are made of broken ceramic tiles and transpose it into granite. Wow!
I think it would be amazingly different and a whole lot prettier than
tile.

--
Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

sf said:

Ed Rinehart said:

sf said:

A good "stone" can be made of 6 x 6 quarry tiles. Don't get pavers
because they take forever to heat up.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/newyorkstyle.php

Would granite work as a pizza stone? I have access to oven size "scraps"
of polished granite one inch thick.

KEWL! Why not give it a try and report back? You have nothing to
lose and everything to gain!

I think 1 inch is a bit thick (pavers are about an inch too). Are you
willing to spend the time it takes to heat it up? I also think the
unpolished side should work better for pizza, but who knows? If it
doesn't work out for pizza, you can always set it into (or on) a
counter and use it for pastry making.

IMO: Those scrap pieces are gold! Think of table tops/counters that
are made of broken ceramic tiles and transpose it into granite. Wow!
I think it would be amazingly different and a whole lot prettier than
tile.

--
Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

I already have the granite counter tops. (My daughter-in-law's company
cuts, polishes and installs custom granite and marble counter tops and
such so I have access to _good_ scraps. :-))

Yes, it would take awhile to heat. I have had granite river rock explode
in a campfire so I suppose I would have to make certain it was very dry.

Ed (was Ed.R(tm) a long time ago)

Quoted message said:

Ed Rinehart said:

Yes, it would take awhile to heat. I have had granite river rock explode
in a campfire

Back in the days when I didn't mind being a wild, nude teenager, me and
my group of friends did sweat lodges....all day affairs where you hiked
into the hills, hauled firewood, build a big fire all day, heated up
igneous rocks, then rolled them into the teepee you packed in, huddled
in there pouring water over them, periodically running down to the pond
to jump in and come back....all fasting in the blazing sun, stark naked
all day. Between the sweating and the hypoglycemia and the sunburn, our
minds were altered.
But we still knew: igneous,igneous, igneous.
Where are those people now? A professional jazz bassist, two carpenters,
a teacher of English to Japanese kids, a doctor, a stage manager at a
huge theater, and a two stay at home moms with repressed lives and
beasts for husbands. Who said the 70's were good for nothing?