Pizza stones may be made of stone but are more often made of earthenware or ceramic. Because they are thick and heavy they are able to contain a large amount of heat and herein lies the secret of their success. Classical baking is often done in brick ovens because while they are slow to heat up, when they do attain the proper temperature they distribute the heat more evenly than other types of baking. That is why the best restaurants or pizzerias, not to mention the classic Indian restaurants, have their own brick ovens.
Pizza stones exhibit some of these qualities even when they are being used in your home baking oven. What you have to do it preheat the stone for at least 30 minutes to get it up to temperature. Be sure to put the pizza stone in the oven before you turn it on so the stone heats up gradually with the oven. This will prevent the pizza stone from developing cracks or breaking due to rapid heat expansion. You then place your pizza on it and bake until done. Since the pizza stone is somewhat porous, it will help to make your crust crispy by absorbing moisture out of the dough. Be sure when you are done to let the pizza stone slowly cool down in the oven after you turn it off. Heat contraction may also cause cracks, so just be careful to not allow any sudden temperature changes.
Most stones are round and made out of ceramic. Some are rectangular, about 14” by 16” and give a little extra room to work with. Prices generally run from about $30 to $70 depending on how big and how thick and what material it is made of. Just to give you an idea, you can expect a 14” by 16” ceramic pizza stone to weigh about 10 pounds.
Because the stone is porous you should not use any soap when cleaning it. Plain water will work just fine, or you can just brush it off and put it away after it has cooled.
You may want to also get a pizza peel with a wooden handle. This allows you to safely place the pizza on the stone and remove it when done. The handle should be wooden so the heat doesn’t transfer to your hands and burn them.
You can also use the stone on an outdoor grill as long as you are careful to heat it up and cool it down slowly. Of course if you are using charcoal you may end up with some black soot or smoky odor, but for some people that would be like using a cast iron skillet for frying and never washing it . . . the taste just keeps getting better and better.
While we are talking about pizzas here, it should be mentioned that these stones are also great for baking loaves of bread. However if you are using the grill method be sure to keep the lid closed while baking.