Is there anything not to love about a pizza stone? Pizza stones produce deliciously charred and crispy pizza crusts, like a portable brick oven. It doesn’t matter if you live in a studio apartment or a cabin in the woods, you can turn your kitchen into a trendy pizzeria with a pizza stone. We also have compiled a guide that will help you choose the best pizza stone for oven.
However, as these stones deliver special pies, they also need special care. A dirty pizza stone should not be soaked overnight in a sink of hot soapy water like a dirty casserole dish. You should expose your pizza stone to as little water as possible. Avoid the use of soap near your pizza stone as a general rule.
How do you clean a pizza stone without soap and water? Doesn’t it get germy and smelly without the occasional bath? Pizza stones are quite unlike people. Extreme heat can kill off germs, allowing them to survive. Between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, bacteria multiply. On your pizza stone, your pizza will be cooked at temperatures that are at least three times higher than that.
Although pizza stone stains or caked-on grease may not make you sick, it is probably a good idea to clean it after each use. Check out these tips for cleaning your pizza stone.
How to Clean a Pizza Stone
Pizza stones are flat and usually made from a porous material like ceramic, stone, or cast iron. Whatever you use to clean the pizza stone will absorb into it. The flavor of the food can be affected by this. Too much moisture will also affect the texture of the pizza crust.
The pizza stone absorbs moisture from the dough when heating the pizza, resulting in a crispier crust. If the stone contains water, the crust won’t cook to a crisp. You should always wait until the pizza stone has cooled before attempting to clean it. Heat can be trapped inside, and you don’t want to burn your hands or drop the stone.
It is likely that you already have the tools you need to clean your pizza stone. Use a thin tool that can slide under stuck food pieces, or something abrasive to scrub away leftover grime. When it comes time to clean your pizza stone, keep one or more of the following handy:
- Bench scraper
- Blunt table knife
- Metal spatula
- Plastic spatula
- Stone brush
- Sandpaper
- Scouring pads
- Toothbrush
If you can’t get rid of burnt or stuck pieces of food any other way, use these tools. No matter what you do, never use dish soap on your pizza stone or any other cleaning products unless you like the taste of soapy pizza. Water is the only liquid you should use to clean your pizza stone – and even that should be used sparingly.
Maintaining the Safety of Your Pizza Stone
Yes, the only moisture you should introduce to your stone is boring old water. In addition to the baking soda and vinegar paste we discussed earlier, there is another cleaning method you can use. Here are some things you shouldn’t do with your pizza stone:
- Soap
- Cleaning chemicals
- Oils
Natural oils from the foods you cook will build up in the stone and make it non-stick. The pizza stone will not bake the crust properly if it gets too wet. Before using your pizza stone, it should be completely dry. To remove crumbs, you can use a damp towel, but make sure the pizza stone is dry afterward. A pizza stone should not be placed in the oven to dry because trapped water could cause the stone to crack.
An Easy Step-by-Step Guide to Cleaning a Pizza Stone
So, without soap and a sink filled with water, here’s how to clean a pizza stone:
- A small stream of hot water should be used to wet the surface. Use as little water as possible, as you will need to completely dry the pizza stone before you can use it again or store it.
- Scrub the pizza stone thoroughly with a stone brush.Remove any food particles with a damp rag.
- Allow the pizza stone to air dry or use a clean towel to dry it.It may not be necessary to use water at all if you can scrape away food with the brush first.
- Water might help loosen food, but it isn’t necessary.
You can store your pizza stone in the oven to minimize the chances of it breaking between uses, and it will be seasoned every time you use it. The oven might take longer to heat, however.
Cleaning Pizza Stone Stains
The stains on a pizza stone are symbols of love and attention. Imagine the delicious pies you’ve baked on your stone. The stamps left by good meals and good times are natural and desirable characteristics of the stone. Unless you can’t stand the sight of the stains, there is no need to remove them. The following steps will help you remove stains:
- Scrape away food pieces with a spatula or brush.
- Mix equal parts baking soda and water to make a paste. Mix 1 tablespoon of water with 1 tablespoon of baking soda, for example.
- Rub the paste on the stains. Work the paste in circles until the stains are removed with a brush.
- Wipe the surface with a damp cloth.
- Let the stone completely dry.
Baking soda paste can be applied to grease stains, let it sit for a few minutes, scrub it off with a brush, and wipe the stone down with a damp rag. Baking soda will remove stains from the stone without altering the taste of future pizzas.
You shouldn’t worry about overcleaning your pizza stone since darker stains are natural. Darker pizza stones have more seasoning and better non-stick properties. You should be proud of your stains!
Start seasoning the stone by baking baked goods, such as buttery bread or cookies, without using any oil or grease. You should avoid cooking anything on your stone that has a strong smell, such as fish, because the stone might absorb the odor.
Burned Pizza Stone Cleaning
For stubborn pieces of food that won’t come off with a scraper or brush, give your pizza stone a deep clean in the oven. To do so, follow these steps:
- The oven should be set to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the pizza stone on the top rack of the oven.
- Bake it for about an hour.
- The stone should be checked. Grease bubbles should form and pop.
- When the bubbling has stopped, start the auto-clean cycle. It might produce a lot of smoke if the stone is very dirty.
- Food pieces should burn off.
- Wait for the oven to cool down after the cycle is finished.
- Remove the pizza stone and wipe it down with a clean cloth when it has cooled.
Last but not least, if the heat doesn’t clean the stone, you can sand it down with a piece of medium-grit sandpaper.
Cleaning a Moldy Pizza Stone
You may have exposed your pizza stone to too much moisture if it is moldy. Mold can grow only in moist environments, so you may not be letting your pizza stone completely dry before storing it.
What should you do? Mold can be removed with a baking soda and vinegar paste. Here’s what you need to do:
- Mix a splash of vinegar with a teaspoon of baking soda until the mixture resembles a paste.
- With a brush and paste, scrub the mold.
- Wipe the stone with a damp cloth.
Stains can also be removed with this paste. You may want to throw away your beloved pizza stone if this method does not remove the mold. While most molds cannot survive temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit, keeping a moldy stone might not be worth the risk.
We don’t recommend using bleach, detergent, hydrogen peroxide, or tea tree oil on a pizza stone. Pizza stones are porous, so any chemicals placed on them will absorb, and some mold-killing chemicals are toxic.
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