Making pizza today...

[dre2112]

and I have a question about the dough sticking to my stone.

Usually I'd use cornmeal but I'm out and I don't feel like going to the store. I've never had the dough stick on me but I'm curious what safe measures I can take this time round now that i'm cornmeal-less?

Is it a good idea to oil up the stone after it heats up. Flour it maybe?

[worldwarz]

Just GRILL the pizza it tastes alot better.

[grampart]

Oh yeah, and grilling is SO much easier, especially in winter. NOT!!

[grampart]

Never put anything on the stone except what you are going to bake! If the pizza sticks to your peel and you want to eliminate the mess of corn meal, flour, etc......try one of these. They work exactly as shown.
http://www.superpeel.com/videos.html

[TampaAurora]

What about parchment paper? I've used it with great success.

[tommy]

i've had parchment paper burn. then again my stone is getting up over 600 degrees.

[TampaAurora]

I only have mine at 500. If I have it in for more than 10-15 which is rare (I do a thinner crust), it begins to burn, but I've had too much success to worry about a little charred paper.

[chowser]

I don't use it often but it's my fall back. I heat my oven to 550 for an hour. I trim the parchment pretty close to the pizza. It's browned but never burned. It's only in there for about 7 minutes.

[aravenel]

1) Don't oil the stone. The oil will burn at the high temperatures required to cook pizza, and will at the least stink up the house; at the worse, they'll make your pizza taste funky.
2) The dough shouldn't stick to the stone at all. If it is, make sure your oven is hot enough--by which I mean crank it up as high as it will go and let it pre-heat for 45 minutes. No shortcuts here.
3) The dough *can* stick to the pizza peel, or whatever you're using to slide it onto the stone. In this case, either flour the peel (regular flour will work, as will cornmeal), or for a truly foolproof method, make the pizza on a piece of parchment paper (*not* wax paper) and just slide the whole piece of paper with the pizza on top onto the stone.

[momskitchen]

I respectfully disagree. Please google "seasoning pizza stone" - to see what I am talking about. It requires oil. If you have a properly seasoned pizza stone, nothing will stick to it. Give it a shot. I have owned several - it's what you are supposed to do and it works FANTASTIC!

[grampart]

Don't believe it! Ceramic stones need no "seasoning".

[tommy]

Honestly, I hope that people don't read this advice and take it. It's just not correct.

Most stones are porous by design. Those are the good ones. The not-very-useful stones seem to have a glaze or something on them. I suppose if one wants to burn oil, they could season those. Since the smoke point of oil is well below the temperature at which you'd want to make pizza, it simply flies in the face of common sense, at the very least.

[momskitchen]

Hey man - I just know what works. You should do what what workfs for you. peace brother!

[tommy]

the point is there are several types of pizza stones, and make assertions that, in general, pizza stones should be seasoned, is wrong, and ultimately not helpful.

[momskitchen]

Good point - to say that a pizza stone should or should not be seasoned is wrong. My stone says it should be seasoned and it works great. Maybe you have a different kind. Please don't season yours!

[aravenel]

I too have owned several and use them several times a week, every week, for the last several years. And I have never seasoned them, and never had anything stick to them.

On the other hand, my parents bought a stone a couple of years ago, and following some similar advice, "seasoned" the stone. It immediately smoked up, set off the smoke alarms, made the house stink for a week, and cracked the stone. When they got a new one, they didn't do this, and have since been happily using the stone without incident.

Furthermore, the concept of "seasoning" a porous stone is dubious. The purpose of seasoning is to create a sort of caked on glaze, similar to that which you get on cast iron. There is no way, short of actual glazing, to season such a porous piece of stone. Nor would it need it. Things don't stick to something that hot. It's the same reason why when you put a steak in a searing hot pan, it doesn't stick. Rubbing oil on a porous stone will only cause the oil to seep deep into the stone to burn, while leaving the surface of the stone just as porous as before.

The more likely issue here is that the stone isn't hot.

Now, perhaps there are some glazed stones out there that should be seasoned, and if the manufacturer's instructions say to do so, then I suppose it may be worth a shot. But I can't say that I've ever seen one of these stones, nor would I want one if I did see one. The burning point of oil is WELL below the temperature of the stone when heated, and since things don't stick to an un-oiled stone to begin with, why should I stink up the joint for the same result?

[steve h.]

maybe your oven wasn't hot enough.
i bake my pizzas in a typical (electric) consumer oven. i pre-heat to 500 degrees for at least one hour before sliding the pizza off the peel. the corn meal on the peel helps the pizza slide off without snagging. since the stone is very hot, the chance for sticking is quite low.
i never oil or wash the stone. i gently sweep it from time-to-time as required.
oh, the stone is over five-years-old.

[modthyrth]

Rice flour is fabulously slippery, and doesn't burn the way cornmeal can at high heat. I like it a lot better than cornmeal, semolina, or wheat flour. It would require an extra trip to the store, so for tonight, stick with regular flour on your peel. But remember to try rice flour next time!

[ESNY]

Most people use cornmeal so it won't stick to the pizza peel. As long as your stone is well pre-heated, the dough shouldn't stick to it. I've never put anything on my pizza stone and only use flour on my wooden peel and have never had a problem

[todao]

I agree. A pizza crust should not stick to well seasoned stone. In fact, it shouldn't stick to a new stone, but that'd depend on the material used in making the stone and how it was processed during manufacture.

[chowser]

I flour the pizza peel well first, making sure now and then as I top it that it's not sticking. But, parchment paper would work, too. Just cut it after making the pizza so it's only 1" or so. If you have semolina, as Mattapoisett recommended, that's better than cornmeal.

[Mattapoisett in LA]

No Don't use either. No Liquids should be used on the stone. The oil could penetrate the stone causing problems and regular flour burns too easily. If you have a hard wheat flour like semolina, use that. it works best, even better than cornmeal.

[jmckee]

I have done this several times, to great success.

[momskitchen]

I oil my stone all the time...that's what mine said should be done.

[Mattapoisett in LA]

Most baking stones are porous. Once liquid gets in it is hard to get it out. This is why most stone manufacturers recommend not washing a stone, since you won't be able to get all of the soap out of the stone. Plus, when the residual water in the stone heats up, turns to steam, it will create pressure causing the stone to crack. I presume similar problems could occur with oil.

[momskitchen]

Yes, they are porous - that's why you must season them. Oil is how it is done. If what you are making is sticking to the stone, it's because you havent seasoned it.

[grampart]

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Ceramic stones should NOT be "seasoned".

[momskitchen]

Good luck with yoru pizza making ventures.....I am sure it's working out just fine for you. Peace brother.

[ESNY]

I have NEVER seasoned my stone and nothing has ever gotten stuck to it.... you know why... cause I pre-heat it for an hour at 500 or 550 degrees.

[ESNY]

I could also google "how to boil small kittens" and come back with recipes but that doesn't mean its right.