Pizza Stone

It's time for my weekly Favorite Tip, Trick or Tool!

This week's tool is, the Pizza (or Baking) Stone!  I have long been a fan of the baking stone.  My mom has one and so I used it as a teenager just learning how to cook, and then left for college and was so sad to leave it behind.  Now that I have my own kitchen, I own TWO and I use them at least once per week.

Why a baking stone?  It works similar to a cookie sheet, except that the stone is supposed to heat up more evenly and thus bake your cookies, pizza, rolls, etc. perfectly evenly.  This is especially great for items such as pizza (thus the name "Pizza Stone") which are prone to being well done on the outer ring and doughy in the middle.  The other wonderful thing about the baking stone is that after greasing it for the first few uses, you are done! You have a stick-less cooking surface that really IS stick-less.

***FYI for baking stone owners- Do NOT wash your baking stone with dish soap.  The stone comes with it's own little scraper- which you use to clean the surface of the stone under hot water.  If you use dish soap it can soak into the stone and then later it will flavor whatever you cook on it.***

Does it work? Yes! I find that my crusts come out evenly cooked, and I never have a problem with food sticking to the stone.  Plus I honestly love having little gadgets that make me feel more adept at the whole cooking thing.

Where can I get one? You can find these pretty much anywhere.  This specific baking stone is from the Pampered Chef, but I have seen them at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Etc.  They are really becoming a lot more common and easy to find.