Be it an office party or a friend’s night out, a pizza will fit perfectly into celebration of any occasion. You can bake or cook your pizza on several different surfaces, objects or mediums. The key reason behind using different surfaces is the difference in taste that it can create. Or we can just say, the flavour it adds to our pizza!
As we mentioned, there’s no doubt you can use many surfaces to bake your pizza, but one of the two most used are pizza stone and pizza steel. Have you ever tried baking your pizza on any of these two surfaces? Different surfaces require different temperatures to cook pizza. If yes, you might have noticed the difference between the two.
Both pizza steel and pizza stone have their own advantages and disadvantages. In fact, you can get different sizes of these two depending on the size of pizza you are about to bake.
In this article we will walk you through what is pizza stone and pizza steel, the key difference between the two and which one is better for you.
What is a pizza stone?
The idea behind pizza stones is to be able to get crispy crusts like you would get with a wood-fired oven. The purpose of the stone is to absorb heat and then radiate it evenly across the pizza’s surface for an end product that has a crispy crust and not burnt toppings.
What is a Pizza steel?
Pizza Steel is a kitchen tool that gives you the ability to make perfect pizza at home. It helps you make a crispy crust and have a cooked, but not burnt, pizza.
The best part of using a Pizza Steel is that it’s non-stick so your dough won’t stick to it and be hard to remove – so no more struggling with those pesky floury hands.
advantages of pizza stones
The advantages of pizza stones are that they provide even heating, they help to create crispy crust, and they are nonstick.
Pizza stones are most often made out of either ceramic or stone. Both materials have their benefits. But in the end, it is personal preference that will determine which one to use.
A pizza stone is used for making pizzas in an oven or stove top stove. The stone is heated up with the oven or stove before being placed with dough on top of it.
Disadvantages of Pizza stone:
Pizza stones are great for cooking pizza with a crispy crust. However, they have some major disadvantages that you should know about before you buy one.
* They take time to preheat in the oven which can be inconvenient if you’re in a hurry to eat dinner.
* The uneven surface of the stone can result in burnt edges and raw doughy spots on your pizza.
* Crumbs from bread or other foods can get stuck between the porous surface of the stone and make it impossible to clean off with just soap and water.
Advantages of Pizza Steel:
Pizza steel is the cooking surface of the future. It has many advantages over stone, clay, or metal. Pizza steel is
- affordable and outshines stone
- It is durable.
Disadvantages of Pizza Steel:
The disadvantages of pizza steel can be summarized as follows:
- It is difficult to clean
- It is difficult to maintain the heat
- And it warps if not heated enough.
What is the difference between a pizza stone and pizza steel?
The difference between the two is the design. Pizza stones are thick, rectangular stones that are placed in an oven or on top of a kitchen stove. On the other hand, pizza steels are thin metal discs that can be used in an oven or placed on top of a stove.
Pizza Stones: these thick, rectangular stones are placed in an oven or on top of a stove and allow for crispy, charred crusts that you would get from cooking pizza directly on the oven floor. They also take longer to heat up than steel pans which means they will stay hotter for longer periods of time. However, this type of pan does not work well with gas stoves because it can cause them to ignite if they are placed.
Pizza stones are made of ceramic, clay or sometimes stoneware. They are heated in the oven to around 450°C, then taken out and placed on the oven shelf. The stone is used for baking pizzas that have a thick, crunchy crust.
Pizza steel is made of metal and has a smooth surface on the inside. It’s placed on the oven shelf instead of heated up separately, so it can be put in even before preheating starts. They are non-stick so pizzas slide off easily after being baked on them without any mess. Pizza steel is used to bake pizzas with thinner crusts that are softer but still chewy.
The difference in the clean-up process of pizza stone and the pizza steel is that for a stone, you need to soak it in water before you can wash it. Whereas for a steel, all you need to do is wipe it with a wet cloth and dry with a soft dry towel.
