Traditional Pizza Stones

I bought this stone over 2 1/2 years ago, put it in the bottom of my oven, and left it there ever since, only removing it when doing the oven's self-cleaning cycles. It fit perfectly in my oven, even though it is convection and therefore is a bit shallower than a standard oven to allow space for the fan in the back wall. In all that time, it has never cracked. It is the right shape for an oven, and almost any pizza will fit on it just fine. (I did find some monster-sized pizzas from Target that hang over the edge a little bit, but they still work.) To use it, I heat the oven up to 500 degrees. Still a couple hundred degrees shy of a professional pizza oven (which reach over 700 degrees), but the highest temperature a standard oven will allow. I wait another ten to fifteen minutes or so after it reaches temperature to ensure that the stone is as hot as it is going to get, then slide the pizza on using a wooden peel that I bought separately. Ten minutes later, I slip it off the stone using the peel, and it is ready! This works with premade refrigerated pizzas, frozen pizzas, and homemade pizzas. It makes a great crust, which is never soggy regardless of topping overload, and is always crisp on the bottom. Alton Brown is a great source of information, so I have no doubt that his advice of getting an unglazed tile for this purpose will certainly work. However, rest assured that this is not a tile being resold at a high markup as a pizza surface. It has feet molded into the bottom to hold it off the surface, is a better shape and size for the oven cavity, and was manufactured for use with food, rather than being stacked on a pile of construction supplies. It is thick, but is engineered to withstand the kind of thermal stresses I've been subjecting it to for years without cracking. Sure, it is more expensive than a tile, but the cost is still low, and it really lasts. Makes great pizza, too! So, make your own choice about whether to use a tile or not, but keep in mind that the comments about the tiles being so much better seem to be coming only from people who don't own this stone. I don't see any comments like "I bought this and wish I had a cheap tile instead."

Santa gave this to our house this past Christmas and it was an impulsive move by old Saint Nick. TBH, I wasn't sure how it would work out. Well, it's great! Here are highlights: Full disclosure: I worked for years at an East Coast mom 'n pop pizzeria and I know good pizza. I have my own dough recipe. I also have made bread for decades, and a good stone can make *all* of the difference. Surface: seems crazy, but I had a stone before that stuff just stuck to. No matter how much cornmeal or flour, it was like superglue. In my stone in my kamado style grill, it is split in two--again which can cause sticking or complexity. This product works really well. Seems nonstick in comparison. Surprises: there are little "feet" on the bottom (see photo) and I placed this right in the bottom of my gas oven. None of my prior stones ever had this, and it allowed me to get it extra hot, which led to a perfectly crispy crust! Hooray! Thickness: the stone is a bit thicker than most others on the market, and some that I have owned. Again, this is a good thing, as that mass helps translate into a crispy crust. It is all about the crust. Shape: I now greatly prefer the square to the round shape. It is so much nicer to have a more full cooking surface available to use. You loose square inches in the round shaped ones. Seriously. This extra space is important for rolls, multiple small loaves, sicilian style pizza, and the like. Even things that go on still in a *rectangular pan* that you may wish to get high heat from below, perhaps focaccia as an example. Value: This stone was *amazingly* priced at Amazon in comparison to the bricks and mortar options that I looked at. I'm glad I got it here. (Note: unbiased and uncompensated). Potential cons: it is heavier than most of the stones I have owned. I point it out as it may be an issue for some, depending upon abilities. Again, however, you truly want this mass for heat dissipation for your crust. Unboxing: it came packed extremely well by the manufacturer, with custom plastic foam (not styrofoam) and heavyweight cardboard. It is clear that a lot of thought went into this to ensure that it will arrive in one piece. That is appreciated. The cardboard went right into recycling. A suggestion for the manufacturer: I wish that plastic foam had markings or a symbol on it so it could have gone into our commingled bin instead of the trash. Happy baking!

I love this rectangular pizza stone which fits perfectly in my Weber Genesis gas grill. It is made in the U.S. of thick lead-free clay and hasn't cracked yet. It is worth every bit of the price. Prior to buying this stone, I used a Pampered Chef pizza stone I received as a gift and it cracked the first time I used it on the grill. This was after heating it the recommended way starting from a cold grill and slowly bringing the temperature up to 550 degrees. It was a clean crack so I lined up the pieces and used it again, but it cracked some more. After that experience, I ordered the Old Stone pizza stone which was recommended by America's Test Kitchen. This stone was substantially thicker and heavier than the other stone and hasn't cracked yet even though I use it several times a week for pizza. It makes all varieties of homemade pizza that is so crisp, delicious and inexpensive that I haven't bought pizza out since making my own. I like the fact that this stone is made in the U.S. out of safe materials. It has discolored in spots due to pizza topping drips, but this hasn't affected the performance or the taste of the pizzas. Clean up is easy, I scrape off any residue with a metal scraper right into the grill which will burn off when the grill is on. When fully cooled, I occasionally rinse the stone with water and a steel scrubby (no soap!) and let completely air dry before using again. Since the stone is thicker, it may take a little longer in the grill to heat up, but I find that after about 15 minutes when the temperature is over 500 degrees, the stone is ready to cook on. This stone really delivers brick oven pizza right at home. I will not go back to store bought pizza ever.

I just received my Old Stone Pizza Stone! What a joy. It arrived in perfect condition! I have been turning out the most beautiful bread with it! It is easy to use and it has no offensive odour, and it doesn't stain easily either. It worked well with a layer of Parchment paper or with Loaf pans. The bread comes out with a deeper browned crust... and so beautifully baked. I really am pleased with results this Stone is giving me. Just a note, and I could be wrong, but I found that with a pan of water and the stone it confuses the computer if you are using True Convection. I think that the Stone sets up its own convection because the result is the same either with convection (without the stone) or the stone. Takes the same amount of time and the result seems tastier, more finished with the Stone. Alternately, I wonder if I had the stone too high in the oven and it split the oven in two! The moment I put the bread on straight bake, the oven settled down and indicated the correct temperature, within seconds. In any case, the Stone gives you lots of room for Batardi, for Boules and for loaf pans and a nice big Pizza. Just don't put anything greasy on it. So if your product has any quantity of oil put it on a Parchment paper or use a pan. And heat your Stone up with the oven, don't put it in a hot oven cold, and don't try to cool it down in sink water, and above all don't use dish soap on it. Treat like the worker it is and it will serve you well and kiss your bread to goodness. It is great investment for your baking, you'll be pleased! Old Stone Oven 14-Inch by 16-Inch Baking Stone

Broke in half after 2 years for no apparent reason

Una maravilla porque llega a temperatura tan alta, que nunca se me pega el pan, no se necesita papel encerado.

This is a great stone, I didn't write a review early on because I wanted to actually get some experience with it first. I've used it for bread and pizza, for pizza it really helps to have it on a thin nonstick sheet to keep any grease from the cheese from getting into the stone as that will get into the pores and start to stink. It's a nice and thick stone, I've put it in the oven at 100 degrees to raise bread, then when i take the bread dough in bread forms out of the oven to heat it up, I leave them on the stone to keep them warm and rising while the oven heats up ( when baking bread in forms instead of on the stone ). This is fantastic in colder weather when you don't want the dough getting cold while the oven heats up. Haven't had any problems lifting the stone out by the edges with ~5kgs of bread dough and forms sitting on top of it. The thinner stones I seriously doubt that would be a good idea, also talking about thinner stones I've had the chance to handle a few of those 5-10$ 1/4 inch round pizza stones, the texture is nowhere near as nice, and I'm fairly sure I could crack them in half with my bare hands. I should also mention it came in a very nice cardboard box so while I have heard others say theirs broke in transit I'd say it's rather unlikely unless the thing gets seriously beat on. Word of warning though, make sure to follow the first time instructions and always give the stone a good 30 minutes to heat up before trying to bake on it, that's the downside of such a big stone over those thin cheapo ones, it absorbs a LOT of heat. Also get yourself a nice big aluminum pizza peel as well, I bought one off amazon here with a long handle so it's so easy getting bread or pizza in and out of the oven.

Speedy delivery. The weight of this is substantial and it makes a lovely crispy pizza base. Successful with fathead dough on parchment paper as well