Pizza is a great recipe and it can be done easily. So if you are tired of the soggy pizzas from takeout restaurants, this Old Stone Oven Rectangular Pizza Stone Review will change that.
If your regular pizza takeout is not able to match your preference and you have an oven at your house, then you should definitely maximize your pizza-cooking abilities with a pizza stone.
A pizza stone is a type of stoneware that can make the best crusts on your pizza. It is made out of porous materials that can help keep the crust out of the soggy texture that it sometimes has.
The Old Stone Oven Rectangular Pizza Stone is perhaps not the most popular one in the market but it definitely should be on the list. It is a simple yet amazing stone that you should get.
Compared to baking steel or pizza pans, pizza stones produce the best results that you could ever hope for in a pizza. It goes really hot and it can help the oven produce the best pizzas.
This pizza stone is unlike any other. Because aside from the usual round shape of pizza stones, the Old Stone Oven pizza stone has a rectangular shape and many features that can help.
It is also one of the largest pizza stones which means that you can use it with large pizzas. Not only that but it can also be used for other baked goods such as muffins and even cakes.
So aside from those, we are going to talk about the other features that this pizza stones brings in order to help you in making the best pizzas and baked goods for you to enjoy.
We are also going to talk about a few disadvantages so you can be sure to avoid its weak points and help improve its lifespan so that you can continue using it for a very long time.
Table of Contents
Advantages
Sine this pizza stone is a little bit common when it comes to appearance, it is only right that we get into its advantages to make sure that it is unlike any ordinary pizza stone.
More Cooking Surface
This rectangular pizza stone from Old Stone Oven is bigger than most pizza stones may they be round or rectangular. This stone measures with a length of 14.5 inches which might not be too big.
However, its width measures at 16.5 inches so you will have no issues cooking large 16-inch pizza in this pizza stone. This also gives you more space for controlling the pizza.
The extra half of an inch might not sound too big but it is enough for you to use a grill spatula or a pizza peel to turn the pizza around if the oven gets too hot on one side only.
Better at Retaining Heat
The Old Stone Oven Rectangular Pizza stone is also thicker than most pizza stones that are available in the market right now. A thicker stone translates to a better heat-retaining ability.
Better heat-retaining capability also means that your pizza will come out better. If the stone can collect heat, it can also distribute it to even out the temperature inside the oven.
This pizza stone is 8 inches thick, which is one of the rarest thickness in any pizza stone. This means that it will not crack under intense heat and it does cook faster with this thickness.
This thick stone from Old Stone Oven is able to help the oven that you use in cooking the pizza evenly. You will hardly see burnt spots on the pizza and the toppings are cooked evenly.
See, the heat that the Old Stone Oven Rectangular Pizza Stone retains is then released in the chamber making the interior of the oven evenly heated to cook both the crust and the toppings.
Heat Core
This pizza stone contains firebrick materials when it was made so you can be sure that it can heat up to the maximum temperature of your oven if you preheat it inside the oven.
The firebrick materials inside the pizza stone are the same materials that are used in making incinerators which means that it can endure the heat that you put it under.
The center of this pizza stone is also specialized wherein the heat is focused on the center so that the crusts of the pizza you make will be crunchy and cooked evenly on the sides as well.
This feature also allows the pizza stone to remove most of the moisture from the crust. It does not completely remove all the liquid in the crust so the interior can still be fluffy.
Since the pizza stone heats up pretty quickly, the moisture on the outer part of the crust is immediately burned or evaporated so that it biomes crispy when it is cooked.
The even heat on the sides of the pizza stone is then responsible for cooking the pizza crust all the way through. Making for a slightly slower cooking process that puffs up the crust.
The Heat Core at its center is also responsible for eliminating one of the most common problems with pizzas, a soggy center. While also making sure that the sides are cooked evenly.
Very Durable
Most pizza stones are made out of clay or ceramic. While these materials are strong, there are times where they just crack or even break when exposed to extreme temperatures.
The Old Stone Oven Rectangular Pizza Stone is made out of cordierite stone which is really a better material. It is more durable and can last longer when taken care of properly.
Cordierite is also known for its thermal shock-resistance which means that it can be exposed to sudden changes in temperature and it will not break, but you really need to be careful.
There is no such stone that is completely resistant to thermal shock so do not abuse the durability of this pizza stone as it can still break under extreme changes in temperature.
Built-In Feet
This pizza stone is thick so you should expect it to be a lot heavier than the usual pizza stone. In fact, it doubles the weight of most stones as it has a 10-pound weight.
This means that if you pick it up from the table or from the oven, you are more likely going to lose grip especially if your hands are oily from kneading the dough or from the pizza ingredients.
The other advantage of this pizza stone is that it has built-in feet which can make grabbing or taking it out of the oven pretty easy. It also comes in handy with grills.
See, it lifts the cooking surface so the fire does not directly come in contact with the pizza stone. This is so great in preventing breakage and soot from sticking into the pizza stone.
Maintenance
There are certain steps that you should do in order to take care of this pizza stone. This will help you give the pizza stone a longer lifespan to use for the next years.
First, when you use the pizza stone, never preheat the oven before putting the pizza stone inside. Preheat the oven along with the pizza stone to get a safer build-up of heat.
This will allow the pizza sone to also absorb as much heat as it can and then distribute it evenly inside the oven. You can also leave it in the oven after using it.
If the pizza stone does not have too much dirt on it, then you do not have to wash it. The heat will burn off the residuals and you can just wipe the pizza stone with a paper towel.
Maintenance also comes into play in terms of washing it. You should never use water in washing a pizza stone because it absorbs the water and can cause breakage in the long run.
Disadvantages
The discoloration is perhaps the most common problem with this stone. While that hardly affects the cooking capabilities of the stone, it does make other people worry in the long run.
If the pizza stone acquires a deeper color, then that would mean that it has been seasoned. But if it loses its natural clay color, then there are problems with bleaching.
This stone also does not go well with fatty food such as meat. It absorbs a lot of moisture so the fats can seep in and add odor to the pizza stone which can mix with other recipes.
Conclusion
This rectangular pizza stone from Old Stone Oven is a very durable pizza stone. But you still need to take care of it in order to prolong its life.
You should never use soap when washing the pizza stone or any substance with a strong odor as the pizza stone will absorb those odors. Keep it in the oven when it is not in use.
This is one of the thickest pizza stones in the market so it is very durable. It can withstand high temperatures and so you can cook and bake almost anything in it.
Just avoid foods that may leave strong odors on the pizza stone. It is a large pizza stone so you can cook large pizzas in it and the pizza will always come out with a crispy, delicious crust.
However, you do need a large oven for it to fit in. so if you have that already, level up your pizza-cooking skills by purchasing this amazing rectangular pizza stone.
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