What's that paddle thing?

Ever been at a restaurant with a brick oven and watch the chef take the pizza out of the oven on a wooden padde? It's called a baker's peel and is sometimes known as a pizza shovel and is made of metal or wood and has a long handle to easily slide bread and pizzas into the oven. It should be sprinkled with cornmeal before use, so that the pizza easily slides off, and your fingers remain unburned.

Tips for using a baking stone

 

Does your stone need pre-heating? Hartstone Stones do not need pre-heating, but some stones do. If you want to pre-heat your baking stone, simply use an upside down cookie sheet as a "peal" or pizza shovel to slide your pizza onto the baking stone in the oven.

 

Use parchment paper, cornmeal or flour to keep your pizza from sticking to your baking stone

 

Don't just use your baking stone for pizzas. Try it for cookies, breads, pastries, stromboli, and other baked goods.

 

Glazed or unglazed stones? The idea behind a brick oven or a baking stone is that it should be unglazed, so that as the pizza or bread cooks, the baking stone can distribute the moisture from the dough and create a crispier crust.

 

What about "making my own" stone? Be very careful with buying bricks or tiles from a non-food manufacturer (such as a brick yard, tile store, or hardware store) for tiling your oven or making a BIG pizza stone. Thess products can contain lead, cadmium, or other materials that are not food safe. The lead can leach though the food, especially with high acidic foods like tomato sauce.

 

How do I get a crispy crust? Some people swear by cornmeal for a crispy crust. Others recommend pre-baking just the crust prior to adding tomato sauce and toppings.

 

 

 

Shop for Hartstone Pizza Baking Stones!

Did you know?
Baking stones naturally discolor over time. This is a good sign of a well-seasoned stone, and is not a sign of a damaged stone.



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