Choosing the right pizza stone can bring plenty of benefits to the creation of the perfect pizza. With so many styles and brands available on the market, it is a good idea to explore your options when selecting a grill stone for your favorite pizza pie. Taking a closer look at the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone for a pizza grillstone, we’ve done some of the work for you.
No grilling, Only Oven Baking
With the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone, you can bake frozen or homemade pizza in your oven. It should not be used on the grill or with the broiler as the direct heat will cause the stone to crack. In other words, the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is a good alternative to a regular pizza pan if you want to make pizza in the oven, but it cannot be used on your grill.
When making pizza, you should consider the size and style of the pizza stone that Pampered Chef offers. It is recommended that you purchase the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone that matches the size of the pizza you are planning to cook. Make sure you measure your oven before buying a pizza stone. A lot of oven racks have an incline in the back that interferes with some of the larger pizza stones. A 14 inch pizza stone will fit in most ovens, but many will not fit a 16 inch stone.
Depending on the size, you can choose from 8.5 to 15 inches in diameter for the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone. The company offers models with a convenient handle that makes it easier to insert and remove your pizza from the oven. Nevertheless, you won’t be able to enjoy that authentic grilled pizza flavor with this pizza stone because the heat from your grill will be too hot for it to handle without breaking.
Clay Construction
Clay is used in the construction of the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone. While this helps to retain heat when cooking, it is not the best material for absorbing heat or moisture. In modern and advanced pizza stones, blends of cordierite are used to achieve crispier crusts. The manufacturer does not state that this pizza stone is FDA or EU-approved, but it does come with a three-year warranty.
Since the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is made of clay, it must not be preheated before use. According to Pampered Chef, you should avoid subjecting the stone to extreme temperature changes. At least two-thirds of the stoneware surface should be covered with food to prevent thermal shock. Ensure that food is evenly distributed over the stoneware surface; avoid clustering food. Place dense, frozen food items (chicken breasts, pot pies, roasts, chops) away from stoneware. Thaw dense, frozen foods in the refrigerator before baking. While baking, do not place any other pan or rack on top of the stone.
The Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is good at retaining heat so you can cook pizza evenly in your oven, but it does not offer the durability or convenience of other pizza stones or grill stones. To prevent cracking and keep the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone pristine, there are many rules to follow. Your Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is no longer usable after one false move, wasting your time and money on an unreliable product.
As the clay surface of the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is capable of wicking moisture away from the dough, it does create a crispy crust with a chewy center on most pizzas. The Pampered Chef Pizza Stone cannot be used with a top burner or any other direct heat source, such as a grill or a broiler.
Maintenance and Seasoning
Clay in the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is unglazed and becomes seasoned over time. As you use your Pampered Chef pizza stone, it will turn golden brown. While you are attempting to achieve this with a pizza stone, it may take some time to reach this point.
The seasoning of the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone creates a semi-nonstick surface, making it easy to remove pizza and other foods. The stone may initially stick until it becomes more seasoned and builds up a layer of seasoning.
As the clay surface of the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is porous, it picks up the flavors of other foods you cook on it and gives off odors when you bake. When flavors and odors get trapped in the pizza stone, they mix with the food you cook on it, so your pizza may taste like fish if that is the last thing you cooked on it.
You can use the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone as soon as you purchase it, meaning you can use it right away. The grain does not need to be soaked before use or undergo any preparation before cooking. You can keep it in good condition by soaking it in water, scraping it, and drying it with a towel.
The Pampered Chef Pizza Stone Verdict
A Pampered Chef Pizza Stone produces a pizza in your oven that is usually prepared to your liking. It is quite disappointing, however, that this pizza stone cannot be used on the grill or any other surface that receives direct heat. This defeats the purpose of making an authentic brick oven pizza at home.
Flavors That Linger
If you simply replace your standard pizza pan with the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone, you won’t get that true pizza flavor you are looking for. The flavor and smell of the cooking surface may linger when you are baking your pizza if you cook other foods on it in your oven.
Cracking
A simple error in the instructions could render the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone useless. Pampered Chef Pizza Stones can crack and break if you fail to preheat the stone or cook a dense frozen food in the center.
An Uneven Distribution of Heat
As clay is the main conductor in the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone, it does retain heat, but many have reported that it does so unevenly. This may be due to the way the pizza stone ages organically. Seasoning does not occur in a uniform manner.
One of the major disadvantages of purchasing the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone is that you cannot use it on the grill or with any direct heat source. Pizza grill stones just can’t handle the heat and aren’t as durable or safe as this pizza stone.
If you are looking for the best pizza stones for your oven, we have also compiled a guide that can help you.
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