# Cheap Pizza Stones?



## Russell (Aug 30, 2004)

Are pizza stones cheap? Since i am only a kid and only have allowence and babysitting money, i dont have a large budget.


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## scott123 (Aug 31, 2004)

Pizza stones can be cheap or very expensive.  The cheap ones tend to be thin and hold very little heat, which doesn't tend to make the best pizza.

Some people use unglazed quarry tiles which are very inexpensive. These aren't made for cooking, though and can crack/chip on you.  Some brick places carry fire brick.  Get some half bricks (1 1/4" thick I believe) and line your bottom oven shelf with those. Just make sure to leave an inch around the bricks for air to circulate.

A fire brick solution could be as cheap as $10. And it'll do an excellent job on pizza.


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## Robt (Aug 31, 2004)

I was in Princeton last year and for a not big city you have everything.[Maybe Einstein knew where he was moving].  I'll bet you can find a cool kitchen store there that will show you what they have to sell.  If you can find a few, you can now get a bunch of opinions.  Or you could do like the  first people who started adding stones to their stell oven.  An 18"square  piece of 3/4" marble left over at a stone contractor [know they have them there cause they were in my hotel room there].  Should be real near free since the color, or other asthetic doesn't matter, it's a scrap for him.

Thermo-dynamically what you are after is to heat a mass so that it will keep the "temperature" even such that what you are baking doesn't suffer from wild swings in the "temperature" while cooking in an oven.  Maybe you could say like baking in a brick oven.


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## Russell (Aug 31, 2004)

*great store*

there is a great one! called kitchen kapers. i just went there to buy a pastry bag and tips. Where did you stay? There aren't very many places.


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## Michael in FtW (Sep 9, 2004)

Actually ... thin pizza stones take less time to come up to temp. The thing to remember is that the stone doesn't heat up as quickly as the oven - it might take 15 mins to get the oven up to temp but another 30 mins for the stone to reach the same temp. And, that is where a lot of people get confused about pizza stones.

Heck, check your local WalMart store (I'm sure you have one since they seem to be everywhere) and you can probably get one for $15 or less. 

An alternative would be something like the old Wilton "Air Bake" pizza pan ... I'm sure there are other brands these days. The air-bake pan is one with two layers .. the top layer has a bunch of holes in it and the bottom part of the pan is solid.


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## CookSource (Sep 9, 2004)

Hi Michael !

Pizza Stones can be cheap or expensive like the others have said but they do make a difference in the quality of the pizza. I carry the bakers secret line at my store right now for 16.99 + shipping but it does come with rack, stone, and a cutter- 

http://cooksource.net/sub.asp?Item_Number=1039084&category=8

Hope this can help


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## Ferrous Cook (Sep 10, 2004)

Another alternative would be to use new unglazed kiln shelves, the type that they use in pottery kiln ovens. Get the ones that are made out of cordierite, and under no circumstance use a used one - the glaze splatter from previous projects can be toxic. They can be bought for around $20, measure an inch thick (thus providing excellent thermal mass) and are rated to withstand very high temperaures. And yes, cordierite is food safe.


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## Claire (Sep 19, 2004)

We've owned several pizza stones over the years, most of them were the most expensive ones (splurges made when we were in towns with great gourmet stores).  Owned several because we've moved a lot and sometimes the pizza stone had to go because of weight.  At any rate, when we moved here 3 years ago we bought a fairly expensive one.  I was shocked when it warped after a few uses, then broke in half.  We just did without for awhile, then I saw a cheap one (I think the brand was Cook's Choice, at the grocery store, for $12, including a rack to put it on the table if you so chose).  Had it for a couple of months now, and can't say that it is inferior or superior to the $30 versions we've owned.  It does take less time to heat up, and is easier on the back when  you need to remove it from the oven.  I have no pretensions of being a real baker, but so far it seems OK to me.


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## thier1754 (Sep 25, 2004)

*pizza stones*

We have Old Stone Oven stones at our online store and we've never had a return or a complaint.  People love them! You can find them here: 
http://www.thewhitewhale.com/cook2.htm .


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