January 08, 2006

Four Dollar Pizza Stone


Unglazed quarry tiles for Home Depot make a great $4.00. pizza stone, The important thing to keep in mind, is that you should select a tile that is untreated and 100% natural clay. The photo show two layers of nine tiles, but I found that in my oven a single layer works best. The idea is to cook the pizza directly on the stone, and with a little homework you can make a much better pie that you can have delivered and at about 1/4 of the price. The stone will discolor as you use it from spills, but for .37 cents a piece, they are essentially disposable. A decent stone from a gourmet shop will run your $40.00 and from articles I've read do not perform any better. I've also found that laying out the skin on a sheet of parchment makes the transition from the peel to the stone seamless and the end result is a cleaner oven, cleaner stone, and a beautiful crust. Another reason to buy that case of parchment I told you about.

I'm still testing and refining my recipes for a couple of styles of dough and suggestions for unique toppings, but in the meantime visit www.pizzamaking.com and be sure to read some of the forums. I'll post some recipes and results over the next few months, but for now the R and D will slow, the kids are sick of pizza if you can believe that.
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