Making my stone clean

mr toad

What is the best meethod to make my pizza stone white (virginal) again - I do not want to go to Eggtoberfet with a nasty stone - 

lkapigian

Raging heat , clean burn 

If you have a self cleaning oven you can do it in there as well 

lousubcap

While I've never done an intentional clean burn, if you toss it in the BGE and run  at 500-600*F for an hour or so you should be good. Hopefully the experts will be along.  

Botch

Before I got an Egg, I used a belt sander (true story).  But I too recommend a clean burn.
 
PSA:  Fresh mozz is available in small round balls, which will roll off your pizza onto your hot stone easily when you snap the pie off the paddle.  Not recommended for pizzas.  

Photo Egg

Wrap it in Heavy Duty aluminum Foil for the event.

ColtsFan

I never go nuclear but 600* for a couple hours will take care of it

RRP

Rodney, 
I just scrape mine with a flat bladed sharp metal spatula. But, is it REALLY that bad?

I mean assuming you will cook more than 1 pizza then to the Eggfest attendees after the first pizza comes off won’t it “show similar signs of having been used?”.

Besides I highly doubt your old buddy Ed Fisher will shame you and ask you to leave! 

GrateEggspectations

Belt sander, @Botch?

HeavyG

I picture him with an 80 grit belt in play and wondering why his pizza stones only last for a year before they get too thin and crack.

Botch

Yup.
I see folks on EweTube make pizzas on metal peels, and get them to slide off all the time; I had nothing but problems until I finally wised up and got a wooden peel.  One of the last ones done with my metal peel stuck again, I lost my temper and snapped the hell out of it, and the dough still stuck.
The pepperoni, half the sauce, and the round mozz balls (see above) all slid onto the 500˚stone.  Nothing to do at that point but turn off the oven, open a window, and go get a big mac.  
 
I scraped and soaked and scrubbed that stupid stone, finally gave up and cleaned it off with my belt sander; just that once.  
And before someone suggests using parchment...
 

 

Photo Egg

Botch said:

Yup.
I see folks on EweTube make pizzas on metal peels, and get them to slide off all the time; I had nothing but problems until I finally wised up and got a wooden peel.  One of the last ones done with my metal peel stuck again, I lost my temper and snapped the hell out of it, and the dough still stuck.
The pepperoni, half the sauce, and the round mozz balls (see above) all slid onto the 500˚stone.  Nothing to do at that point but turn off the oven, open a window, and go get a big mac.  
 
I scraped and soaked and scrubbed that stupid stone, finally gave up and cleaned it off with my belt sander; just that once.  
And before someone suggests using parchment...
 

 

I feel that pain. Wood peel to launch pie and metal peel to rotate and remove pie.
I have also used an orbital sander on my stones.

HeavyG

Photo Egg said:

Botch said:

Yup.
I see folks on EweTube make pizzas on metal peels, and get them to slide off all the time; I had nothing but problems until I finally wised up and got a wooden peel.  One of the last ones done with my metal peel stuck again, I lost my temper and snapped the hell out of it, and the dough still stuck.
The pepperoni, half the sauce, and the round mozz balls (see above) all slid onto the 500˚stone.  Nothing to do at that point but turn off the oven, open a window, and go get a big mac.  
 
I scraped and soaked and scrubbed that stupid stone, finally gave up and cleaned it off with my belt sander; just that once.  
And before someone suggests using parchment...
 

 

I feel that pain. Wood peel to launch pie and metal peel to rotate and remove pie.
I have also used an orbital sander on my stones.

I have also used an orbital sander on my stones.

You're still talking pizza stones right???

Photo Egg

HeavyG said:

Photo Egg said:

Botch said:

Yup.
I see folks on EweTube make pizzas on metal peels, and get them to slide off all the time; I had nothing but problems until I finally wised up and got a wooden peel.  One of the last ones done with my metal peel stuck again, I lost my temper and snapped the hell out of it, and the dough still stuck.
The pepperoni, half the sauce, and the round mozz balls (see above) all slid onto the 500˚stone.  Nothing to do at that point but turn off the oven, open a window, and go get a big mac.  
 
I scraped and soaked and scrubbed that stupid stone, finally gave up and cleaned it off with my belt sander; just that once.  
And before someone suggests using parchment...
 

 

I feel that pain. Wood peel to launch pie and metal peel to rotate and remove pie.
I have also used an orbital sander on my stones.

I have also used an orbital sander on my stones.

You're still talking pizza stones right???

Better power tools than farm animals.

Legume

@Botch just give those balls a quick pinch so they don’t roll around so much.

Langner91

We are still talking about pizza, right?

RRP

Legume said:

@Botch just give those balls a quick pinch so they don’t roll around so much.

I have used those tiny balls many times and have never had one roll out of my pizza sauce. But pinching makes sense if someone has had a problem before!

danhoo

Why bother cleaning a pizza stone? It's one thing to scrape sticky bits off, but years of seasoning? 

HeavyG

danhoo said:

Why bother cleaning a pizza stone? It's one thing to scrape sticky bits off, but years of seasoning? 

I'm guessing in this situation it is mainly just an aesthetic thing - cooking for a crowd at THE major Eggfest of the year you want everything to look spick & span.

danhoo

HeavyG said:

danhoo said:

Why bother cleaning a pizza stone? It's one thing to scrape sticky bits off, but years of seasoning? 

I'm guessing in this situation it is mainly just an aesthetic thing - cooking for a crowd at THE major Eggfest of the year you want everything to look spick & span.

Ok, if that's the goal. I'd prefer a well used, well seasoned stone and that's not something that happens overnight. I have a 10 year old rectangular one and this summer bought a round one for the 24 inch kamado so I could get it higher in the dome. The new one has 5 to 6 cooking sessions and over 30 pizzas but its not even close to the slick black finish on the old one that has likely cooked hundreds of pies.

zaphod

i once went at one of my stones with a flexi-spatula - so thin metal.  Afterwards the edge i'd honed on that flipper could have taken down a bull elephant.

it was actually pretty handy to have a edge on my cooking flipper.