Pizza Stone vs. Pizza Steel

Any thoughts on any benefits (if any) of pizza steel vs. a pizza stone. I have used pizza stones for several years, but never the steel.

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Comments

fisher23

I've used baking stones for year and I like them. But the baking steel will give you that black and tan pizza crust if that ISO what you are wanting. A lot of people really like the steel but I with you I haven't tried the steel. It is my understanding that the steel can transfer the heat more quickly to your product with almost sear like quality.

matthewmicahhall

Thumbs up on the pizza steel over the pizza stone. I see two principal advantages:

1. Rapid changes in the temperature of the stone can build up stress leading to fracture (a phenomenon also called thermal shock). You will not thermal shock the steel.

2. The heat capacity of the steel is WAY higher than the stone. In other words, you can store much, much more thermal energy in the steel relative to the stone. This extra heat capacity from the steel can translate into crispy crust in relatively short times. The ability of the steel to transfer heat is also better than the stone, but it turns out that thermal conductivity is probably less important. Kenji Lopez-Alt looked at pizzas cooked on pizza stones, steel, and copper (see below link):

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/10/pizza-hack-baking-copper.html

Copper has by far the highest thermal conductivity of the three materials, but this produced no noticeable benefit when making pizza.

The only serious disadvantage of the steel is its weight -- it be heavy. You do not want to drop this thing on your foot.

Darroll_Walsh_292338

I used to use a stone and liked it better than nothing. ~ a year ago I bought a baking steel. I will NEVER go back to a stone for pizza. It makes cheap Walmart pizza taste great. If you make your own dough there is no comparison. On my short list is a second steel. I bought a square one and want a round one as well. We make baked onion rings on it as well and it crisps up almost as good as a fryer. just need to flip them half way through.

I leave my steel in the oven all the time, the thermal mass it adds also helps in baking.

My advise: the cost of a steel is cheap compared to how much it elevates things. Buy 2, square and round, biggest they sell.

Dat_Phan_279256

To add what people have already said, one of the best aspects of steel is that it'll last forever. It'll never break, unlike stones. I noticed you said "stones" plural; I'm guessing you had to replace one at some point. Once you buy 1 steel you'll never need to replace it. I bought a 2nd one, but only to increase my pizza output for large parties.