By Jason McKnight | www.amazinghomemadepizza.com
We all love pizza. But who wants to spend $25-$50 on a store-bought pizza stone? With this DIY article, you'll be able to make your own for much cheaper! This is a quick and easy project that can be done in about 20 minutes. It's also an excellent way to reuse old materials you might have lying around the house. The best part is that it only costs less than $5!
A pizza stone is a rectangular stone or steel that is placed directly in your oven. It can be used to bake pizzas, breads, and other baked goods. It absorbs heat from below while also radiating some of its own stored thermal energy back up into whatever you're cooking (which helps brown crust).
Pizza stones are made from lots of different materials, but the most cost-effective and easy to work with is unglazed quarry tile. These are usually found in hardware stores or home improvement centers, and they're inexpensive too!
I never thought I would stroll through the aisles of Home Depot for my gourmet cooking supplies, but that is exactly what I do. My local home improvement store has unglazed quarry tiles which come in various shapes and sizes to offer you an easy-to-use surface whenever you need it.
Now, glazed tile often has lead in it so you want to be careful where you buy your piece. Most of what you are going to find is going to be red and about one-half of an inch thick. Generally, the pieces come in two sizes:
6" x 6"
11" x 11"
You will want to choose unglazed tiles that are at least ½ inch thick, but 1" is better. Some people get worried about lead in the tile if they don't know where it comes from, so contact the manufacturer to be sure.
You don't need to go out and buy special tiles to use on your pizza surface. You can find these at any home improvement place like Home Depot or some local tile makers in your area. Expect to pay a little over a dollar per square tile for the smaller ones.
Once you have made your pizza stone, here is a list of other items that can make your pizza making easier and more enjoyable.
First off, you need to have a peel (a flat board with a long handle) so it is easy for the toppings not only stay in place but also slide onto an oven stone without spilling over any edges of either side as they are being transferred from one surface into another. A good quality wooden cutting knife will help slice through all those layers quickly and easily.
A pizza wheel is also a useful tool to have on hand for cutting through the pie.
You will need something to store your pizza dough in, so it doesn't dry out. A good quality pizza dough container is a great investment and will last you for years to come with proper care and handling, as well as having an airtight seal that prevents any moisture from seeping into your precious crust-making material!
The best way of storing all those toppings so they don’t get soggy or go bad too quickly, can be done by investing some time at home making up batches ahead on their own individual serving size containers or jars.
This makes topping pizzas quick work without wasting anything because everything comes prepped.
Pizza making is a fun activity that the whole family can enjoy. My kids love getting involved and I find if they made it, they want to eat it even if it is topped with lots of healthy veg!
Pizza stones are a great way to make your pizza crust crispy and delicious, but they're also expensive! Following the steps above you can quickly and easily make your own pizza stone for less than $5.