Pizza/Baking Stone

[Low-N-Slow]

I'm in need of a decent pizza/baking stone for moderate use. I don't need to pay extra for some high-end houseware store logo stamped on it if I can find something that will get the job done and not crack after three uses. A short-handled peel to go with would be nice, too. Anyone have one they're happy with?

[nikinik]

I went to Home Depot and just bought some non glazed saltillo tile. Very cheap and it works great.

[sbu22]

What is a "short handled peel", please?

[wish I never left]

That's the wooden paddle that you use to put the pie on the stone and then take it off again.

BTW, I just bought a rectangular stone (15"x14") from Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $14. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to try it out, but I will try to remember to post here once I have.

[Low-N-Slow]

I ended up buying the 14x15" one from BB&B as well. Their accepting their own expired coupons helped. I'm still looking for a peel, but when I find one, I have a feeling it will cost more than the stone. I think, depending on how serious I get about this baking jag I'm on, that I may spring for a Fibrament stone, which seems to be all the rage on the pizza making forum, and then use the cheapie as a top stone.

[Isabella Maja]

I've seen peels at Marshall's & TJ Maxx for a good price.
Not lately, only because it's been ages since I went shopping in a store,
but could be they have them now.

[wish I never left]

So, I've used the stone twice now and been pleased with the results. Both times, the pizzas came out with a nice crispy crust. I used a store bought (Pilsbury) dough so the next step will be to dust off the Kitchenaid mixer and actually make my own. I am positive that will make for a much better crust. Overall, I would say the end product is not as good as some of my local delivery options here in the Heights of Houston (Pink's and Candelari's) but then again, this costs significantly less and they use fancier ingredients for the toppings. We'll have to wait and see how it does in terms of durability and I have to point out that it's a little unwieldly to scrape clean.

I also need to get a new peel because the one I have is just too small to really do the trick. Finally, like Low-n-Slow, I used a coupon on a seventy dollar pan and the twenty percent off covered the cost of the stone more or less.

[Low-N-Slow]

so the next step will be to dust off the Kitchenaid mixer and actually make my own.
I don't even pull out the KA anymore. Between the high hydration I'm using and the cold ferment, it doesn't really seem to require much in the way of kneading. I just mix up all the ingredients, form it into a big sticky ball, let it rest 30 minutes in a warm spot, divide the dough in two, "cloak" each piece into a smooth ball, and tuck them away in the fridge.

[Jeeves]

I don't even pull out the KA anymore. Between the high hydration I'm using and the cold ferment, it doesn't really seem to require much in the way of kneading. I just mix up all the ingredients, form it into a big sticky ball, let it rest 30 minutes in a warm spot, divide the dough in two, "cloak" each piece into a smooth ball, and tuck them away in the fridge.

LNS, walk me through the "cloaking" process, please? I understand there's such a thing as handling the dough for too long? And do you use olive oil instead of dusting with flour?

[Low-N-Slow]

Cloaking is that process where you hold the dough in both hands, off the bench, and stretch the top out towards the edges with your thumbs, tucking it under the bottom with your fingers. Then turn the piece 90° and repeat. Just keep stretching and tucking, turning and repeating until the surface of the ball becomes smooth-- no more than a minute or so. I suppose what's going on is you're aligning the protein sufficiently, which is what kneading does, but not so much as to risk toughening it up by kneading on the board. Since I currently don't do any bench kneading with my pizza dough, I've started adding the bench flour I used to use to the mix up front. I'm also probably adding an extra tablespoon or so of water above my written recipe. The result is a sticky-but-not-gooey dough that clings hard to the bowl, but if you pull it out of the bowl, it stretches but releases just before the dough tears. The recipe does call for a tablespoon of oil, but it's incorporated into the dough during the mixing.

Incidentally, I asked for and received the book "Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes a Day" for Christmas, only to find its "secret" basic bread dough recipe is fundamentally the same as my pizza dough.

[Jeeves]

Thank you. Very much appreciated.

[hungryone]

My stone cracked (after much high heating on the grill) last week, and I sprang for the $40 rectangular model from Williams Sonoma.....for the simple fact of the lifetime guarantee. If the stone cracks, you can return it to the store for a replacement. Since I'm on my third stone in roughly 10 years, I thought the $40 would be a good investment. This stone has molded ridges on the bottom that act as feet; dunno if that will help or hurt its durability.

RE: dough, I'm a huge fan of wet-as-hell pizza dough, kneaded for a good 10 minutes in the KA....I prefer AP flour to bread flour, though 00 is nice when I can get it. Most of the time, I use half whole wheat and make enough for 6-8 crusts at a time; the stuff freezes beautifully. I've given up on rolling or stretching the dough for transfer directly from the peel--the dough is so wet that any shaping is an extreme challenge. Nowadays, I just roll it super-thin on parchment, then slide the parchment & pizza onto the stone. Pizz cooks off of the parchment in 2-3 minutes; you can either slide it off of the paper, or just let the paper brown around the edges. On the grill, I slide the paper out, as it burns in the 550+ heat of the gas grill.

[Low-N-Slow]

If you haven't, you should try the King Arthur Whole White Wheat flour. It's ground finer (or at least to an even grind) than the typical Graham whole red wheat flour, and has a completely different, milder flavor, more like regular flour. Recently, I was short on the King Arthur, and added some regular WW flour to make up the difference, about 60/40. Never again-- it tore while stretching, and wouldn't stay stretched.

The cheap baking stone from BB&B has a 10 year warranty, but I doubt it would be worth the trouble to make good on it. It also has a raised grid of ridges on the bottom.

[hungryone]

RE: regular WW tearing....WW doesn't hydrate as quickly & the gluten takes longer to develop than more refined flours. So try giving it a longer knead & rest, and voila, no tears.

[Low-N-Slow]

RE: regular WW tearing....WW doesn't hydrate as quickly & the gluten takes longer to develop than more refined flours. So try giving it a longer knead & rest, and voila, no tears.
That was after a 24 hour cold ferment and return to room temp. I also add 60 gm of VWG to about 400 gm flour.

[jodyrah]

I used to use a stone with good results. Now I grill them with better results. I use Todd English's dough recipe, adding a bit more flour and rapid rise yeast.