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Tell me about pizza stones or cast iron skillets


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In between making my 1st and 2nd pizza tonight, I dropped my Pampered Chef pizza stone. (My 450 degree pizza stone! Smash!)

 

Question #1:

Should I replace it with another stone, or with a cast iron pizza pan?

 

Question #2:

Which brand?

 

Thanks!

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I have a pizza stone and use a large cast iron skillet as a pizza pan. I prefer the cast iron skillet, but for dumb reasons. :) I find it easier to clean cast iron, I can coat cast iron with butter which gives the crust a delicious flavor, and it makes a great pan for deep dish pizza. I'm also forgetful, so I like that I have to remove the cast iron pan from the oven over using a peel and having to retrieve the stone later.

 

I don't think I would buy a cast iron pizza pan at this point though. The skillets work great and are useful for a variety of other things too. I like it when my kitchen stuff will multi task!

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I used to sell PC and had a stone from them that broke, it was under warranty so I got a replacement and after one use it split into three pieces while in the oven. I went through this 3 times before I gave up and decided to look for a better stone.

 

I got This One from King Arthur Flour. It cost a bit more but was so worth it. It's twice as thick as the PC stone and is really heavy. I leave it in my oven constantly. You can't cook high fat foods like cookies on it, but we have the best pizza from it. I just preheat it and the oven to 450° and shape my pizza on parchment paper then use my metal peel to slide it in. After a minute or two I pull the parchment out from under the pizza (I just grab a corner and it pulls right out)

 

I've never used a cast iron pizza pan, but I'm not a fan of deep dish crust. I prefer thin and crispy type crusts.

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I'm also forgetful, so I like that I have to remove the cast iron pan from the oven over using a peel and having to retrieve the stone later.

I don't use a peel with my pizza stone--I leave the pizza on it and remove the stone from the oven. You don't have to leave it in.

 

I got This One from King Arthur Flour. It cost a bit more but was so worth it. It's twice as thick as the PC stone and is really heavy. I leave it in my oven constantly. You can't cook high fat foods like cookies on it, but we have the best pizza from it.

Why can't you cook high fat foods on it?

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In between making my 1st and 2nd pizza tonight, I dropped my Pampered Chef pizza stone. (My 450 degree pizza stone! Smash!)

 

Question #1:

Should I replace it with another stone, or with a cast iron pizza pan?

 

Question #2:

Which brand?

 

Thanks!

For pizza crust, I would prefer stone, as it draws out the moisture, and encourages a better quality crust. If you are going for thin, crispy or thin chewy, you want stone.

 

However, if you like a deep-dish style, you may want to use a cast iron pan.

 

I've had two PCs, and while I like the results, I'm always afraid they're going to break while I'm baking, spilling cheese all over the bottom of the oven, like my last one did -- at 550 degrees. That was a BEAR to clean.

 

This Fibrament baking stone gets rave reviews, though costs significantly more. It's what I plan on buying when my current PC dies.

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