Should You Use A Pizza Stone In Your Oven?
Pizza ovens are magical things. For centuries now, they’ve been used to create one of the world’s favourite dishes, and they have barely changed within all that time. After all, if you’ve already reached perfection, why try to change things?
And with talk about perfection comes the quest for the perfect pizza. Does using a pizza stone really lead to creating the perfect pizza? Or is it just a gimmick for over-enthused newbie pizza makers? Here, we chat to the experts at Alfa Ovens to get the truth on pizza stones.
If making pizza in your oven, then yes
If you’re making pizza in your wood-fired oven, then you should absolutely be using a pizza stone. They’re an essential component of cooking the pizza dough right, and you can’t really make a great pizza without one.
Pizza stones generate a lot of heat, and work to cook the underside of your pizza base. Without using a pizza stone, you can risk two things: 1) undercooking the base and 2) overcooking or burning to top in an attempt to cook the base more. And we can’t have that, can we?
How to use a pizza stone
Put your pizza stone in your oven when it has reached the desired temperature and preheat for 10 minutes. This allows the stone to heat up, so it can give off a substantial amount of radiant heat which cooks your pizza base.
If you’re cooking a similar dish, then you can also use your pizza stone
If you’re experimenting with other bread-based foods, like focaccia, you should also use your pizza stone. This ensures the underside of your focaccia will be perfectly cooked.
When cooking other foods, don’t use the pizza stone
Not all foods cooked in your outdoor oven require the use of a pizza stone; it’s mainly the bread-based foods for which you reserve the pizza stone. Roast meat and veg, for example, is one of the most common meals other than pizza to make in your gas or wood-fired oven. There’s no need to use the pizza stone for a roast, because meat and vegetables are more forgiving than pizza crust – and they will cook perfectly without the stone.
Where to get a top quality pizza stone
If you’re looking to complete your pizza oven setup with an awesome quality pizza stone, there’s only one team in Australia you need to remember: Alfa Ovens!
If you’re ready to get your pizza skills up to scratch and become the best pizza maker you can be, get in touch with Alfa Ovens. Alfa Ovens are the world’s leading manufacturers in premium quality pizza ovens for domestic and commercial use. Made in Italy, Alfa Ovens are durable, versatile and high-performing machines that can be used to make a variety of dishes. Talk to the team at Alfa and make your investment today.