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Season Pizza Stone?

ChargerGary
ChargerGary Posts: 3
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
I am using my pizza stone for the first time. Does it have to be seasoned before use? Most instructions for pizza stones indicate they should be placed in a cold oven and then the heat is built up. Is it ok to put the pizza stone in (cold) once the egg achieves proper heat (450-500)?

Thanks for any help!


Gary
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Comments

  • egret
    egret Posts: 4,188
    If it's a BGE pizza stone there is no pretreatment required......
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  • vidalia1
    vidalia1 Posts: 7,092
    You do not need to season a BGE pizza stone. When i get my fire going i put the platesetter & the pizza stone in at the same time and let the temp get to 500-550. Let the smoke clear and let the stone heat up for 30-40 minutes. then bake ur pizza.
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    What do you mean by "season"? Fibrament stones are the only ones I've seen that have a "break in" period where it should be heated at lower temps for several hours before the first time you use it. Normal ceramic pizza stones don't need to be broken in. NO pizza stone that I know of should be "seasoned" if you mean a method like using oil to season cast iron.

    As far as putting a cold stone in a hot oven, any substantial stone should be ok with that. I have both BGE stones and a stone I bought at Crate and Barrel 7 years ago. Both do fine being placed in a hot oven. BUT, you really should be preheating your stone before you bake on it, so normally I would expect you to put a cold stone in a cold Egg and then let it all preheat.

    Here's a link to my pizza hints and tips page: Pizza Hints and Tips

    Good luck!
    The Naked Whiz
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  • ChargerGary
    ChargerGary Posts: 3
    By seasoning, I meant to put some cornmeal on the stone so the pizza won't stick. What I get from all your great help is that I will start the fire, put the plate setter and pizza stone in when the fire just gets going, and let it stay in for a while at 500 degrees--then put the pizza on.

    I was afraid that the fire won't get up to 500 with the plate setter and stone in--that's not a problem?

    Gary
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  • civil eggineer
    civil eggineer Posts: 1,547
    You don't need to season it but I would let it warm up with the egg. Build your pizza's on parchment paper and set them on the heated stone, paper and all.
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  • wrjohns
    wrjohns Posts: 11
    TNW,

    Thanks for that link. Extremely well-timed. My wife was considering buying the pampered chef pizza stone, and now she's convinced to use the BGE stone :-)

    I have a question about the smoking part. I assume you add the soaked wood chips shortly before adding the pizza, to prevent the wood chips from burning all up while you wait for grill to come to temp. But in this case, how do you add the wood chips, with everything else blocking your access to the fire?

    Do you remove the preheated pizza stone + preheated plate setter + grate, throw on stones, add everything back?

    Thanks
    Wyatt
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  • civil eggineer
    civil eggineer Posts: 1,547
    I never use wood chips or chunks when cooking pizza's and they take on a nice mild smoke flavor from the lump alone. Also most people don't soak their chips with an egg because it serves no purpose. Disperse some throughout the lump prior to lighting and you will have a steady stream during your cook. Carefull, I think you could get to much smokey goodness when cooking pizzas. Start without and add small quantities to see what you like.
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    No I don't soak them because I am lazy. However, Harold McGee says you should for a hot cook like this in order to keep the temperature of the chips down. Smoke consists of chemicals that provide flavor. At high temperatures though, these flavorful chemicals break down into simpler chemicals which are not so flavorful. FWIW.....

    Since I have the plate setter leg to the back, I can lift up the pizza stone just a wee bit in front to dump in a handful of chips to get one big burst of smoke. I then immediately put the stone down, add the pie and close the lid. Works great if you like smoke, which I do.
    The Naked Whiz
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  • ChargerGary
    ChargerGary Posts: 3
    I did my first pizza with all the guidance concerning temp and heating. It was fantastic!! Such a great smoky flavor. I think you're right about adding chips--it would be too much.

    Gary
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    you point about McGee is an interesting one. He goes into it in "On Food and Cooking..."

    it's a genralization that i think deals with the wood actually burning in an environment where it would flame up. when i toss in the wood during a pizza cook, the lump is of course raging, probably much hotter than 1100 or so. added chips burn up quickly. they don't really burst into flame, but it's pretty hot in there nonetheless

    i've always wondered about it at lower temps though. when going lo and slo, the chips never do anything other than smolder, and never actually "burn" (with flame) at all. there's not enough oxygen for them to burn up as they do in a gasser or weber

    i wonder if at these lower temps (touching charcoal that's maybe 1100), it is still "too hot" according to McGee's point. the environment is at 250, but the wood chips are smoldering because they are touching 1100 degree lump. ..or whatever temp the lump is at (meaning, the lump itself isn't burning at 250, but closer to 1000 or so).

    be interesting to know at what temps he's actually talking about achieving the better flavor compounds.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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