Baking Steel still a thing?

Langner91

NDG said:

alaskanassasin said:

Not big enough just tell her the forum collective said it’s not going to work .

This might be the first time the forum history a discussion has saved me money lol

This might be the first time in forum history a discussion has saved ANYONE money!

NDG

caliking said:

I love this thread. It reminds me of me 😆

Live long enough & you acquire lots of sh*t . . sad thought as I now remember I have 2 more stones in my shed (BGE branded med/large).  It would be funny for me to update that picture again, but its getting embarrassing since my OP was about buying a baking steel   

SonVolt

NDG said:

Wife reminded me I have this cast iron piece, can someone explain to me how cooking NY style dough on this in house oven at 500F would compare to: 1) baking steel 2) baking stone


 

This is probably my favorite piece of Lodge cookware (I have 2). Sadly, Lodge redesigned it, made it thinner, and removed the lip around the perimeter.  I mainly use it as my go-to griddle for tortillas, flatbreads, searing steaks (set on top of my gas grill), crepes, and a million other things. 

That said, the pizza steel works better for pizza b/c it's easier to launch onto. The lip on the Lodge gets in the way here. I'm not a metallurgist, but I think steel has a higher heat capacity than cast iron. For pizza, the baking steel is superior IMO.

NDG

@SonVolt thanks for reply.  I can see how launching on this CI pan is unrealistic now bc of lip / shape . . . that would be a messy clean-up!!

I think CI holds heat longer, but I agree with your thoughts, that thermal conductivity of a Baking Steel (A36, etc) is prob higher than CI, so it would transfer heat faster/better for a pizza cook.

Anyway, apparently I own 37 baking stones, so I will start my NY pizza journey with them and re-visit Baking Steel if I am not happy with results. 

SonVolt

The jump from stone to steel was night and day for me. YMMV. 

Botch

I've seen it recommended to put CI/steel on top of a ceramic stone; supposedly keeps the heat constant for multiple pies.  

alaskanassasin

No mercy @SonVolt

RRP

Botch said:

I've seen it recommended to put CI/steel on top of a ceramic stone; supposedly keeps the heat constant for multiple pies.  

I had never heard that, but for some reason the logic escapes me!  I mean if the steel
 retains the high heat then with a stone on top that just means a uniform baking surface for multiple pizzas, But what do I know?…

Botch

Well, a steel plate holds a lot of heat, but it also transfers a lot of heat too; after a couple pies the steel may be a bit cooler than when you started.  The ceramic, while not as conductive, would act as a heat source for the plate above it, replenishing some of its heat energy (a second steel plate, instead of the stone, would do the same thing).  
Hope that makes sense.  

NDG

First NY style in house, 2 stones setup worked decent, few tweaks needed.  I wanted big slice foldable and it checked that box. 

caliking

That's a good looking pie!

What are the other boxes to check?

alaskanassasin

that looks great @NDG what rack height in the oven and temp?

NDG

Tnx.  I followed suggestions in Tony G’s book, “The Pizza Bible” where you make his NY dough then use 2 stones in oven at 500f.  6 mins on stone at top of oven (second rack from top), then transfer to bottom stone (bottom rack) for another 6 mins.  Concept is the switch just assures 1 stone stays hot.  

I need to tweak many things, too boring to share, but all in all I was happy with stones I have, not sure baking steel needed at this time but thank y’all for sharing your experiences!