Even the production of heat and high temperatures are not the only things that make a great pizza. It involves the proper surface so here are the best pizza stones for 2020.
Pizza stones are the best option to help you create a crispy finish on the pizza that you are cooking. They can also be used for a variety of recipes when baking or grilling.
When I started making pizzas at home with my electric oven then the only issue that I faced was- I never got the base crisp and perfect.
The base was cooked but it tasted more like soft bread. It was not crispy at all and when I left the pizza for too long in the oven then the toppings burnt off which is not a good sign either.
So, I soon realized that the bottom of the pizza was not getting enough heat and it needed more heat than the top of the pizza.
This is when I started using a pizza stone. A Pizza Stone was the perfect option that would heat up the base.
Basically a pizza stone is made up of porous material that absorbs heat and it cooks the base at a higher temperature than the rest of the pizza giving your pizza the crisp texture.
They gather up the heat that the oven or the grill produces and radiates it to make the chamber evenly heated. This is a great feature that helps you cook food in an even manner.
There are a lot of pizza stones on the market right now and so you might be having a hard time finding the right one for you. So here, we will help you figure out which one is the best.
In order to do that, we have tested each pizza stone on the list and judged them by how well the bread, crust, or any food comes out when they finish cooking on the pizza stone.
It is a very tedious process so we have done that for you. Mind you that these pizza stones are all doing great in almost any type of food so buying either one will not be a regretful decision.
If you have a convection oven or a simple indoor oven that you want to use to make pizzas then the pizza stone is a must.
Baking your own pizza at home is a very great option. You do not need to struggle with telling the restaurant to put specific ingredients or remove some as you get all the control.
You also eat fresh since you can eat the pizza right away after cooking. Pizza stones help you with that and they also offer a lot of versatility for you to cook any recipe on them.
So scroll further down to see our list of the best pizza stones that you can get this year. They are guaranteed to be strong and durable so you can use them for a long time.
In this post, we would be listing out some amazing high-quality pizza stones, and when and how you should be using them in order to get the perfect results while cooking a pizza.
Table of Contents
Why Should I Buy A Pizza Stone?
Pizza stones or pizza steels create a very hot surface for the dough to be cooked on. This way, you will never produce a pale and soggy crust but a brown and crispy one instead.
It helps in cooking the crust which is usually not done well when you just put it on a regular pan. It creates the necessary temperature for the crust to be cooked properly without burning it.
The pizza stone is also able to contain heat and distribute it evenly throughout the interior of the oven. This way, the food inside will be cooked from all sides to create an even finish.
It recreates the environment when cooking inside a brick oven. This way, you will get a well-retained heat inside the oven to cook any food that you want with proper temperature.
Pizza stones are also porous in nature which means that they absorb all the unnecessary moisture from the food that you are cooking. This is the reason why crusts come out crispy.
Cooking pizzas on a baking sheet can be good but pizza stones produce more thermal mass meaning they can produce crispier crusts with nice-tasting toppings when cooked.
1. FibraMent-D Pizza Stone
This is one of the expensive pizza stones on the market but it is priced like that for a reason. Many users claim this pizza stone to be the best one out there.
It is a pretty large pizza stone so make sure to measure your oven before buying this pizza stone. It measures at a 15 by 20-inch dimension which is good for 16-inch pizzas.
It is made with a combination of heat-resistant and conductive materials that were approved by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) so durability is not an issue here.
This pizza stone is great in absorbing moisture but it is also smooth enough that you will not need to wash it with water. Just scrape off the residues when done and it is ready to go again.
The materials used for this pizza stone are very strong so they can sit right on top of the oven rack without the support and you can let it stay inside the oven even after cooking.
We followed the instruction on the package where it is designed for gas ovens. So when we tried it, we did not use any other fuel other than gas and it did pretty well.
However, you are going to need to season this pizza stone for a bit before putting food on it. Letting it stay inside the oven for a few hours will do the trick and then you can start baking.
==> Get the FibraMent-D Pizza Stone
It does not conduct heat as fast and as much as pizza steels but it can produce a lot of heat one it is preheated. It cooks bread slower so you can prevent burning the bottom.
You will also see that the heat it retains is enough to put a nice charring on the crust. It is very strong and a bit heavy at 17 pounds so make sure to support it when lifting.
2. Emile Henry Pizza Stone
This is a perfect pizza stone for any pizza and other food that you want to be cooked. It is made with ceramic and can heat up pretty fast for cooking perfectly crispy crusts.
The surface of this pizza stone is sealed meaning it has a coating. The coating helps for an easy release so you do not risk any food sticking to the Emile Henry pizza stone.
It also makes it easy to clean just by wiping the surface with a towel. The dirt and other food residuals come off easily so it hardly needs to be washed with water.
The company made it strong enough to reach temperatures of over 900 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use it in an oven or a charcoal grill and it will not break no matter what.
Usually, pizza stones have a smooth, flat surface but with this one, it has some kind of ridges that you can find in cast-iron griddles used in searing meat and vegetables.
This pizza stone uses those ridges to distribute the heat more evenly. This way, your food will not be burned and the heat disperses evenly on the pizza stone and the oven as well.
It comes in with very easy access when you want to move it. This pizza stone has two nice handles on each side making it easy when lifting it out of the oven or the grill.
==> Get the Emile Henry Pizza Stone
The glazed surface is very strong and even if you use a steel pizza cutter directly on it, the coating will stay in place so you can let your pizza rest on this pizza stone.
It is a little bit small at just under 15 inches in diameter making it perfect for small ovens and cooking 12-inch pizzas. The inner dimensions are around 13 inches in diameter.
3. CastElegance Pizza Stone
CastElegance is one of the best companies in making pizza stones. Their pizza stones are engineered to absorb moisture and heat at an amazing proportion to cook food evenly.
This pizza stone measures at 14 inches and is made out of cordierite. This means that it is very durable and you can manage it easier for its slightly smaller than average size.
One unique feature of this pizza stone is that it has the ThermaRite feature from the company. This is a process where the stone undergoes to get more pores for moisture absorption.
The company creates the pizza stone with micropores which means that while the pizza stone looks smooth on the surface, it does have a lot of pores to absorb the moisture from the food.
The pizza stone is fired in a kiln with a temperature of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. This process not only hardens the pizza stone but it also eliminates any odor when you first use it.
See, this is a common problem with pizza stones. When they first arrive, they tend to give off a foul smell when you use them for the first time so CastElegance removed that factor.
Speaking of the package, this pizza stone also arrives with maximum care and some free stuff. You get the pizza’s own scraper and an invitation to get the bonus electronic cookbook.
It is very thick measuring at 5/8 of an inch which means it retains heat properly. It creates a perfect crust with a crispy finish and browning at the bottom of the pizza.
The process of making this pizza stone really strengthened it. It can handle a lot of thermal shocks but like others, there is no such pizza stone that is completely thermal shock resistant.
This pizza stone is also inspected and approved by many food safety authorities like the US, Germany, and the entire European Union so you can be sure that it is safe with any food.
3. Unicook Pizza Stone
This heavy-duty pizza stone is made out of cordierite which means that it does not produce any odor when you first use it. Perfect for cooking pizza and other foods.
The Unicook pizza stone is heated for treatment so it can handle temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. This is perfect for searing meat or cooking pizzas in just minutes.
The pizza stone is also thermal shock resistant so moving it around on different surfaces and temperatures will not be a problem as it is very durable and strong.
In fact, you can place it on top of your grill grates over direct flames and it will not break. It is perfect for either grilling or cooking foods in the oven no matter the temperature needed.
It is a rectangular pizza stone that measures a little short of 15 inches in length and 11 inches in width so it can only cook small pizzas and at least two small loaves at a time.
What it boasts is the 5/8 -inch thickness which gives its weight of 6 pounds. This combination allows it to absorb heat quickly and disperse it within the oven or the grill chamber.
==> Get the Unicook Pizza Stone
This pizza stone also comes with a few accessories like a scraper that you can use to clean the pizza stone and a free pizza cutter so you no longer need to buy one.
It is able to produce crispy pizza crust that you will surely enjoy. Cooking meat on it is also not a problem as it is able to retain high temperatures to sear the meat perfectly.
4. Rocksheat Pizza Stone
This is a very versatile pizza stone made out of cordierite which means it does not make any smell when you use it. Perfect for pizzas, biscuits, cookies, bread, and many more.
This pizza stone underwent the process of thermal treating. The pizza stone was burnt inside a kiln with a temperature of 2200 degrees Fahrenheit to make it stronger and more durable.
This process eliminates any bacteria and harmful substances along with the odor. This way, you can be sure that the stone is food-grade and is safe for any recipe that you want to cook.
Measuring your oven first is important before purchasing the pizza stone. Rocksheat offers many shapes and sizes for this pizza stone so find which one is best suited for your oven.
The unique feature of these pizza stones is that they have built-in handles and by that we mean, the handles are really built inside the pizza stones themselves.
So there are no protruding handles that might get in the way. Instead, the handles are engraved within the stone so you can lift the pizza stone from the bottom when moving it around.
These pizza stones from Roksheat are also reversible so they built four handles on each model no matter the size and shape. You can use either side of the pizza stone with the handles.
==> Get the Rocksheat Pizza Stone
We found this useful when cooking different recipes. You can cook fish or meat on one side and if you do not want the taste to go with other recipes, you can use the other side.
This also allows the pizza stone to be cleaned while you are cooking on it. See, when you use them on a grill, the side that faces the bottom is being cleaned by the burning temperature.
It also has 1450 degrees Fahrenheit heat resistance so you can really cook anything you want on it. The pizza stone is durable and can be cleaned just by scraping off the food residuals on it.
5. Hans Grill Pizza Stone
The Hans Grill pizza stone is a very durable pizza stone that also comes with a wooden pizza peel with a long handle so you get to transfer pizzas safely with ease.
It is not a very large pizza stone measuring at 15 by 12 inches but you can still cook pizzas with perfect crusts as well as other baked goods like fruit tarts, cookies, and bread.
The pizza stone is also pretty thick with 1.5 cm in thickness. This means that it can retain heat and it distributes that heat within the oven to create an even cooking environment.
It is very durable since it is made out of great stoneware and it can handle direct heat. So you can use this pizza stone on the grill to make sure you get enough space for cooking.
The pizza peel that comes with the pizza stone is also very helpful. It has a one-foot handle that is very easy to grab and use when transferring pizzas on and off of the pizza stone.
It is also slanted on the edge so you can use the pizza peel to cut the pizzas that you have just cooked. The pizza stone is not that thick so it can heat up fast and cook on it is very easy.
==> Get the Hans Grill Pizza Stone
You can finish pizzas in just minutes and it surely creates nice brown crispy crusts. It has rounded edges so it distributes heat equally on its surface for even finishes on the food.
6. JulyPanny Pizza Stone
The pizza stone from JulyPanny is one of the best and cheapest pizza stones on the market. It is made out of high-quality, all-natural cordierite which is a very durable material.
It also went thermal bonding which means it was heated and burnt in a kiln with a temperature of 2100 degrees Fahrenheit removing all the bacteria and unnecessary odors from the stone.
When compared to ceramics, the JulyPanny pizza stone stands stronger when exposed to thermal heat. It can also handle cooking temperatures of up to 1450 degrees Fahrenheit.
The pizza stone brings out the perfect surface for absorbing moisture which then creates a very crispy finish on the crust while radiating the heat to cook the insides making it soft and chewy.
It is also a bit thin at only .43 inches thick which means that it preheats quickly. It can also bake pizzas, bread, or cookies in only a few minutes without burning or leaving the dough raw.
You can cook 12-inch pizzas in this pizza stone with enough room to turn the pizza when needed or cook a larger pizza with up to 15 inches in diameter.
The edges of this pizza stone are slightly curved so the heat travels smoothly. This can create a fast-heating surface and even temperatures to cook food perfectly on it.
Using it on the grill is also not a problem. It does very well with direct contact with flames and it can be used for cooking meat and perfectly-cooked barbecues if you want to.
==> Get the JulyPanny Pizza Stone
The heating treatment made for this pizza stone really helps with the durability as it can handle thermal shock very well and it does not break under immense stress.
7. Lodge P14P3 Pro Logic Cast-Iron Pizza Pan
With the first cast-iron pizza stone entry, the Lodge pizza pan is an amazing choice that is more than worthy to be included in this list of amazing pizza stones.
It is available at 14 inches in diameter, comfortable enough for you to cook 12-inch pizzas with a lot of room for you to move the pizza around to prevent burning one side.
This cast-iron pizza pan is able to withstand any temperature meaning it can cook any recipe that you want. You can go for as hot as you want or go for lower temperatures when needed.
This pizza pan from Lodge is also pre-seasoned. So once the package has arrived, you can cook with it immediately, no need for you to put it in the oven before cooking to save energy.
You also get a slightly lifted side so when you accidentally bend the pizza pan sideways, the food on it will not fall off as it is blocked by the raised rims on the sides.
This pizza pan also has two long handles that can be used for transferring the pan in and out of the oven. You can also use them for controlling and repositioning the pizza pan itself.
This material is also perfect for direct heat. You can use it in campfires, stoves, grills, and ovens as it can handle any kind of thermal shock while absorbing and retaining heat quickly.
==> Get the Lodge P14P3 Pro Logic Cast-Iron Pizza Pan
When properly used and seasoned, this cast-iron pizza pan from Lodge will last for years and you can pass it down to your kids for them to use it and pass it down to their kids.
8. BakingSteel Pizza Stone
This pizza stone is the original ultra-conductive pizza stone. It can retain and collect heat fast for cooking pizzas and other baked goods in just minutes.
It is made out of heavy-duty steel which makes it perfect for stovetops and other direct flames. It is a bit heavy at 15 pounds but this is beneficial for retaining and dispersing heat.
Because of the material that was used in building this pizza stone, you can drop it at any height that you want and it will not break, in fact, it won’t even crack when dropped.
With that being said, you need to be careful not to drop this heavy cookware on your foot because it is going to cause you a lot of pain when that accidentally happens.
This pizza steel is also famous worldwide because it was featured in some shows like “Food and Wine”, “Bon Appetite”, and some journals like “The New York Times” and “Wallstreet Journal”.
It is undeniably durable and can cook perfect pizzas as well as other baked goods so we really think that it deserved to be featured in such well-known shows and journals.
This pizza steel is not only good with baked goods but also with almost any type of recipe. You can cook meat, fish, vegetables, and any food that you want on it.
9. NerdChef Steel Stone
Another pizza steel that is very durable and perfect for cooking pizzas. The NerdChef Steel Stone is a rectangular pizza stone that can garner and retain amazing temperatures.
Made with heavy-duty steel, this pizza stone can create the perfect oven spring for cooking thick or thin pizzas in just minutes without necessarily burning the bottom of the crust.
It is created with high quality and can withstand twice the heat capacity of ceramic stones. This makes it resistant to thermal shock as well so you can use it over direct flames.
This pizza stone is not only capable of withstanding high temperatures but it also conducts it much faster than ceramics. It can gain heat up to 20 times faster than a ceramic pizza stone.
You can easily cook anything on this pizza stone with required temperatures of up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit and you can also go lower at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for standard home ovens.
This product is also pre-seasoned with flaxseed oil so no need to season it yourself. Once you purchase it, you can use it right away with any food that you want to cook.
==> Get the NerdChef Steel Stone
It does heat up pretty fast and it gets up to very high temperatures so make sure to control the temperature of the oven, grill, or stovetop to prevent burning your food.
This pizza stone also has a low-friction surface which means that you do not need to oil it every time you put food on it. You can easily slide pizza dough on and off of it.
Guide on Choosing the Right Pizza Stone
1. The shape of the Pizza Stone- Pizza stones can be circular or rectangular in shape.
If you want a pizza stone that can cook more than one pizza at a time then you can go with the rectangular pizza stones.
As the rectangular ones can fit in more pizzas. You might want to consider the size of your pizza oven before you set out to buy a pizza stone.
If you get a rectangular pizza stone that perfectly fits your oven then I would recommend that you go for it.
Else, you can even go with the circular ones but you could be limited to cooking only one pizza at a time.
2. The material of the Pizza Stone- Usually you get pizza stones made with three materials and they are the clay, cordierite, and baking steel.
Depending on where you want to use your pizza stone you can choose the material of the pizza stone.
If you want to use the pizza stone on a gas grill then you should use an iron pizza stone or cordierite pizza stone.
You can use clay pizza stone or aluminum pizza stone inside an electric oven.
I usually prefer using an aluminum pizza stone inside an electric oven as it absorbs heat very quickly and retains heat for long as well.
3. Heat Retention- Not all pizza stones suit every situation. There are a few stones that cannot retain a lot of heat especially on grills and may develop a crack.
So make sure that you are using the right stone for your situation. More importantly, you want a pizza stone that can retain heat without developing any cracks.
There are a few pizza stones that just cannot stand high temperatures hence it is important that you use quality pizza stones that are mentioned in the list.
So, make sure that you have checked the review on a pizza stone before you go ahead and make a purchase.
4. How are you using the Pizza Stone- Your selection of the pizza stone also depends on how you are planning to use the pizza stone.
As mentioned above, if you want to use a pizza stone on the grill then I would recommend that you go with the cordierite steel or iron pizza stone.
There are clay pizza stones or the steel that would go good with indoor home electric ovens.
The steel pizza stones are getting popular by the day because of their durability.
You can use them and they would never develop any cracks and last for a really long time.
They also heat up pretty quickly and retain the heat for long so that you can cook pizzas without any issues.
5. Maintenance and Durability- Maintenance for pizza stones made up of different materials is going to be different.
However, something that is universal for all the pizza stones is that do not clean them with dish soap.
Since the pizza stone is made up of porous materials, it would absorb the soap and it will be a little difficult to get rid of the smell and the taste of the soap the next time you cook.
All that you need to do is scrape off anything that is stuck to the pizza stone and then wipe it with a wet cloth.
Never submerge the pizza stone in water as that would be led to the absorption of water by the stone, creating problems while you are cooking a pizza on it the next time.
6. The thickness of the Pizza Stone- Depending on the heat retention, you need to decide the thickness of the pizza stone that you want.
Pizza stones come in different thickness, the thicker the pizza stone, the hotter it would get and you would get a nicely cooked crispy base.
So, choose the thickness depending on what you wish you cook on the pizza stone. If you are looking for a pizza stone where you can just cook some nice pizzas then the thin pizza stone would do, however, if you are looking to cook something like bread as well then go for the thicker one.
This way select the thickness of your pizza stone depending on what you are going to be cooking on top of them!
Conclusion
Pizza stones are great mimicries of brick ovens without spending as much money compared to when you build a real brick oven in your backyard.
So if you want a great quality finish on your pizza, you should invest in a pizza stone. It is not much of an investment as these products are pretty cheap and they will not break the bank.
You can make pizzas, baked goods, meat, fish, vegetables, and almost anything in these amazing cookware without needing to invest in other appliances.
Pizza stones, however, can be sensitive so make sure that you know how to take care of them. A piece of simple advice is to never wash them with soap as they may absorb that.
So keep the cleaning process simple with just scrubbing or burning off the food residuals on the pizza stones. Make sure to clean them every now and then so they do not leave tastes on your food.
Pizza stones are perfect for creating crispy crusts and browning so it is time for you to purchase one. Choose any from the ones listed above and you will never go back to cooking pizzas on a pan or baking sheet.
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