Old StonePizza Steel for Oven, 14x14-Inch, 1/4-inch Thick

Wow was I surprised when the mail came when this was delivered. It is heavy. The box it was shipped in was thick and surprisingly not all crushed. This steel plate is similar to the look and feel of cast iron items. It's heavy, porous, and needs to be treated like it will rust.Mine arrived in beautiful condition. I gave it a scrub with water only before trying it out the first time. From there on out I have cleansed it just the same as I do with my cast iron pans and dutch oven. Mainly have used this in the oven so far, but it did go to the grill once and worked fabulous.This thing holds heat for a decent amount of time after removing it from the heat source. So, if you like to dish out half the pizza then come back, the remaining half is still nice and toasty.Now, if you're wondering if this will make a difference in how your pizza is going to come out of the oven, let me tell you.... IT IS GREAT! Thin crust pizza with that perfect cracker crust! It makes a great difference.Not the biggest, but small and medium pizzas can definitely fit. What's better is with the mote around the edge you're able to cook a variety of items on this without worry of juices dripping into the oven.This is not the cheapest item in your kitchen, but the one item you will NEVER need to replace.

Old Stone Pizza Steel for Oven, 14x14-Inch, 1/4-inch ThickThe first thing you'll notice is that this weighs a ton. OK, well, not literally. My bathroom scale shows it about 12 pounds (not sure how accurate that is). In any case, this is a solid hunk of metal. It's finished like cast iron. This is the type of thing that will last a lifetime, and then some.The idea with this is that you heat it up in the oven - and then it conducts heat directly to the pizza crust (or anything else you want to cook on it). And here's why weight is important. The weight equates to the ability to store and deliver heat. This will hold a lot more heat than a "pizza stone". Put it in the oven, preheat - and let this sit in the oven for 30 minutes or more to come fully to temperature.I initially tried it with frozen pizza (yup - shoot me now) and the crust was much better than just throwing it on the rack. The crust browned a little from the bottom, and it wasn't soggy/cold in the center.Yes, it's a bit expensive, but this won't warp or crack. Treat it right, and it will last forever. I'd recommend treating it like a cast iron pan. Don't soak in soapy water. Season with a light coat of vegetable oil as needed.

When it arrived I was surprised, I thought that they send me several by accident because of its weight. It's a heavy duty steel pizza pan. I'm not sure what the magic of the composition does but this pizza is excellent! Living near Buffalo, we gave highly competitive pizza places (with wings,) and this pan makes comparable pizza. Costs are insane for eating out or take out. This pan is awesome!Ease of use:Has an indented well bordering the edges to hold sauce or cheese. Crispy crust! I buy dough at Wegmans and make excellent gluten free pizza also (sprinkle a little corn starch on pan for that.) My advice is to roll out your dough to fit the pan carefully and there will be no over hang. Olive oil brush the exposed crust after all toppings are in place, yum! Check that it fits on the pan with little/no over hang. It is easy to cleanup as nothing sticks to the pan.I store this heavy pan in drawer right under the oven. This would make an excellent gift for someone who is hard to shop for, homemade pizza is fun and this tool makes it a success. Nothing is built to last anymore but this is. Adding a pizza 'peel' or special pizza dough makes an awesome present. I highly recommend this for a gift or yourself.

I was surprised when the box arrived at how heavy it was. Not that I couldn't handle it, but when expecting a pizza steel, it was surprising. In the past I have used the stone ones and the problem there is that they are porous. Consequently, they soak up the stains so you have tomato and cheese stains that you can't scrub out. This steel one won't ever have that problem, and it also will retain the heat every bit as good as the stone ones thanks to how thick it is. The surface has a smooth coating on it so it won't be a problem to clean thoroughly.To be honest with you, I am tired of eating so much pizza with the thick cheese layer. Cheese has more fact by volume than marbled beef. They take cow’s milk, skim the pure fat off of the top, and that is what they make cheese out of. On the other hand, I want to use whole grain flour, and San Marzano tomatoes instead of that sugar loaded sauce, and white flour which has been denatured. So, overall, I can custom create a great pizza with lots of mushrooms, sliced bell peppers, and onions, as well as chunks of broiled chicken squares throughout, and get the seasonings with oregano, basil, etc. just right. Having a stone/ steel plate as thick as this is the ideal foundation for such a creation. I highly recommend this.

I've had lots of pizza stones and always love the results, but inevitably I'll go to use it and will discover that somehow it has cracked. No one ever fesses up to breaking it so I am guessing eventually thermal shock, and scratching from use/cleaning, take their toll on stones.This steel plate is surprisingly heavy and is about 1/4" thick. Arrived well packaged, super flat, and preseasoned, so all it took was a quick wash and I was in use the same evening. Results were terrific and definitely an improvement over a pan or just on the rack. I leave it in all the time to help it moderate my oven's poor temperature control.Cleans up well and the errant cheese shred may melt and burn, but does not stick.Great for the price and could have a variety of uses if you need a dense food safe steel plate for something.