The Oil Mistake That Could Cost You Your Pizza Stone

Making a pizza at home has many customization options, including how you cook it. Whether you prefer your homemade pizza from the air fryer, grill, or oven, many people opt for a pizza stone as part of their cooking process. Pizza stones, also called baking stones, are most commonly made of ceramic or cordierite, though some are made from composites.

These materials have better heat distribution than a standard aluminum sheet pan, allowing the crust to get puffier and the pizza to cook evenly whether you're cooking it in the oven, air fryer, or grill. The porous nature of pizza stones also pulls water out of the crust, leading to a crunchier, crispier edge. If you're going to use a pizza stone to make your meal, however, it's important to think about how you prep it.



Besides storing it in the oven to ensure it's fully preheated before you start cooking, you'll also want to avoid some pretty common pizza stone mistakes , namely, oiling the stone before placing your pizza on it. While you may think it will make your pizza stone nonstick, the stones are designed to be naturally nonstick when preheated and used correctly, and using oil can not only cause smoking in the oven, the oil can be nearly impossible to remove and throw off the flavor of future meals. Worse yet, if you oil it and then try to rinse the stone off, you run the risk of the stone breaking if it's still too hot.

Oil can ruin your pizza stone While ceramic and cordierite have similar heat retention to cast iron, prepping them to go in your oven is a different ballgame. Unlike cast iron pizza pans , which may need to be reseasoned with oil over time, pizza stones do not need to be seasoned with oil. Because pizza stones are made of porous material, when you add oil it gets absorbed into the pores.

While it might not cause an issue your first time using the slab, after several rounds of cooking the oil buildup can actually go bad and you can wind up with a stone that gives off funky smells or gives an unpleasant flavor to your pizza. The oil buildup in the pores can even cause the stone to crack or break over time. This is the same reason you should never use soap to clean a pizza stone (who wants soap being absorbed into the stone and giving off a weird smell or taste?).

Instead, thoroughly clean the stone by scraping it and wiping it with a damp cloth to help remove food debris. If your pizza sticks to your pizza stone, skip the oil and look for other solutions. Ensure your pizza stone preheats thoroughly, use cornmeal or flour when stretching the dough, and don't let your pizza sit for too long once you add the toppings (this can cause excess moisture).

With a little patience and proper maintenance, your pizza stone will help you make perfect pizza for years to come..