Are you a pizza lover who likes indulging in a bite of a delicious homemade pizza? I get you girl because I am a pizzaholic myself too and you will surely agree with me when I say that a perfectly baked pizza is the best thing in the world. Am I right?
Because of my love for pizza, I have decided to perfect different pizza recipes. At first, I thought it is just about buying premium ingredients. But eventually, I have come to understand the fact that investing in quality cheese, good pizza sauce or premium meats is not enough to achieve the perfect crust that we all love. For that, you would need to use the right tools.
I am not talking about using the right pizza cutter or oven. What you need is a perfectly seasoned pizza stone. In this article, you will discover the right way on how to season a pizza stone.
What You Will Need
To properly season your pizza stone, you would need the following tools:
- Your pizza stone
- Oven
- Olive oil
– If you do not have olive oil in your kitchen, you can use other vegetable oils instead.
The Steps on How to Season a Pizza Stone
If you have all the tools and ingredients ready, you can proceed on carrying out the following steps:
Step 1: Wash the pizza stone.
First things first, you need to wash your newly bought pizza stone. However, you should wash it with water only. Do not use soap as the soap tends to seep into the pores of the stone. When it does, the soap will affect the flavor of every dish that you will cook using your pizza stone.
Step 2. Bake the pizza stone.
After washing the stone, wipe it dry using either a tissue or a dry cloth. As you dry the plate, heat your oven to 45o degrees Fahrenheit.
Place and rub a generous amount of vegetable oil or olive oil to the stone’s cooking surface. You should prevent the oil from dripping from the sides of the stone. Once the stone is appropriately covered with oil, place it in the oven and bake it until the stone has fully absorbed the oil.
Pro Tip: The heat of the oven will permit the oil to soak into the stone, producing a glossy finish and preventing your pizza crust from sticking to the stone.
Step 3. Re-oil the stone.
Get the stone from the oven and allow it to cool down for a bit. Once you can already touch it without burning yourself, re-apply the oil then bake it again.
After two coatings, the stone is already available for use. But please keep in mind that this does not mean that the stone is already correctly seasoned.
Step 4. Re-oil the stone every time you use it.
Before you cook your pizza, lightly coat the stone with olive or other vegetable oils. Make sure that you do this every time you use the stone so you can thoroughly season it.
The consistent coating will give your pizza stone a golden brown shade and prevent any food particles from sticking to it for an extended period.
The Right Way to Care for Your Pizza Stone
You should understand the fact that the seasoning of your pizza does not end in coating it consistently. If you want your seasoned pizza to last for a lifetime, you need to take care of it properly. You can do this by following the tips below:
- Even after you have fully seasoned your pizza stone, you should never use soap in washing it. Soap can seep into the pores of the stone and remove the glossy finish that you have worked so hard for.
- Clean the stone with cold water and sponge. After a few uses, you would notice that your pizza stone is already a bit greasy. Fight the urge to remove the excess oils as these can help season your pizza stone better in the future.
- If you wish to deep clean your pizza stone, you can soak it in water for a few minutes. But of course, you should avoid soaking it for far too long so the stone won’t suck too much moisture which will increase its chances of cracking once it is preheated.
- As much as you would want to keep your pizza stone stain-free, you should understand the fact that it will get stained eventually—you can’t avoid that. If your stone is already stained, let it be.
- Using bleaching products and other harmful chemicals will damage your stone so avoid using them.
- If the pizza stone is really dirty, you can use sandpaper with medium grit to gently sand the stone and get rid of the raised bits of food that got stuck on it.
- Wipe your pizza stone dry after washing it to ensure that the stone is thoroughly dried and to prevent moisture from seeping into the stone.
- After drying the pizza stone, put it in a place that is moisture-free. It is also recommended that you store it somewhere that does not have a lot of traffic to avoid any accidents.
- If possible, keep your stone in the oven. Doing this can help you to locate your stone easier. Moreover, this technique will facilitate the stone to achieve a more consistent temperature. The heat in the oven will also continually season the baking surface of the stone.
In Summary
There you have it—the secret to a perfectly baked pizza crust, a perfectly seasoned pizza stone. By following these steps on how to season a pizza stone, you will be able to achieve the crust that you have always wanted and enjoyed the pizza that is to die for!
If you have friends and family who love pizza the same way you do, please share it to them so they can create a perfect homemade pizza too!
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