Pizza Stone

JamieM · June 17, 2009, 4:18pm

Mike,

what’s the thickness of the WS stone?

mike_pobega · June 17, 2009, 10:45pm

About 3/4 inch.

JamieM · June 18, 2009, 4:16pm

Thanks, Mike. I’m thinking about replacing my current stone, which is probably 1/2" thick, but is a 15" round and I’ve slid a pizza partly off the edge before. It wasn’t pretty.

Daniel_Posner · June 24, 2009, 2:28am

The Pampered Chef has a very good one.

GregT · June 24, 2009, 3:28am

During the winter I make pizza at least once a week. In the summer, I make it on the stove. The flour you use and the temperature you set have more to do with the resulting crust than anything else. If you don’t get a temp of 800 - 900 degrees, then you don’t need to and in fact should not use 00 flour from Italy and you can cook a decent pizza in your home oven. In fact, you can cook on the floor of the oven - it’s usually steel or iron and hot as hell. At this point I’m trying to snag a yeast that will work the way I want it to. So far no luck - those I’ve caught are OK for bread but the pizza crust sucks.

Lisa_Lovullo · June 24, 2009, 4:21am

I’ve had three stones over the years, all purchased at WS. Lifetime guaranty sold me. This stone deserves romancing!

Ron_Kramer · June 24, 2009, 2:58pm

The pizza stone I bought 6-7 years ago exploded last week and one chard burned through my kitchen tile. The adjuster is coming today it will cost Thousands to replace the floor. GO WITH WS!

Josh_Beck · July 11, 2009, 10:22pm

I went into a WS today to investigate this pizza stone. What they had available was probably 1/2" thick at most, with four angled strips on the bottom that served as feet to raise the stone (not sure why those would help and not just be a pain), cost $43, and had no lifetime warranty. I didn’t see any reason to buy it.

Phillip_F_r_a_n_k_s · July 11, 2009, 10:36pm

Seriously folks, cast iron.

mike_pobega · July 11, 2009, 11:37pm

One word: Photo

A_Fruchtman · July 12, 2009, 1:11am

I think you’ve convinced me! Going to have to order one of these WS stones. Thanks for posting all your beautiful pizza pictures.

Josh_Beck · July 12, 2009, 1:42am

Mike, a picture of a pizza doesn’t tell me anything about the warranty, and I make pizzas that look great on my stones too. Your W-S stone looks pretty nice, I admit, but where can I find any info about said lifetime warranty? I was told today that there is no lifetime warranty on it and that W-S never offers lifetime warranties, only a few manufacturers do (Kitchenaid, All-Clad, etc).

mike_pobega · July 12, 2009, 1:48am

Josh, no biggie.
I have been told the complete opposite. Anything sold by W&S has the warranty. Things that have the name stamped on need no receipt. Even my Nespresso is warranteed beyond the manufacturers limits.

I am sure the skinny non W&S ones work too. I would stick with them.

Josh_Beck · July 12, 2009, 4:28am

Hrm maybe I’ll call WS corporate line or something. I’m a total geek about trying to improve my pizza and bread, and I’m not that bothered by $43 for a pizza stone, I was just surprised when the guy @ the store claimed there was no such thing as a warranty on the pizza stone…

CFu · July 12, 2009, 4:43am

let me know when you find out josh! Greatly appreciated =)

mike_pobega · July 12, 2009, 12:54pm

One more thing: if I am wrong about this, I apologize, BUT, if my stone cracked once a year, I would still pay $43 each time for a new one. I wish my favorite wine was that cheap.

What the photo does show is even cooking from bottom to top, without either burning but to get char at 510 F, in 9 minutes when put in the center of my oven. As stated elsewhere, I had a few others and none really did what this one does. 1/2 an inch is pretty good when copmpared to the 1/4 inch jobbies found all over the net.

Without exaggerating, I have probably made over 250 pies in the last two years, employing the oven and BBQ. versions include round and square, white, red and variously topped.

YMMV, but I only chimed in again since you called yourself a geek. Geeks tend to go to extremes. Forty three dollars is not extreme. Five thousand for a brick oven in you back yard is extreme. OK, so we’re quasi-extreme.

Peter_Cargasacchi · July 12, 2009, 3:28pm

I got the WS pizza stone maybe 8 years ago. I also highly recommend it. The newer ones look thinner, mine’s almost an ich thick and takes forever to heat up. Once it does I can whip out 10 pizza skins in 20 minutes.

(We built a Mugnaini(?) wood oven a coupla years ago and its easier and faster to use pizza skins made ahead of time.)

In order to amortize the cost of the wood oven we run a pet crematorium on weekdays. Its a very dignified service for your beloved deceased pet. It’s pretty quick too. We get the oven up to 1200 then gently place your pet into the wood chipper and send him/her on in. You get your pet back in an urn in less than 5 minutes.

The only drawback of the oven is you gotta start it about 8 hours before your gonna use it. But once its hot you can cook for a long time. We get it up to around 900. The next morning its still 450 inside.

t_moderne · July 14, 2009, 1:50am

How much to get my beloved pet served up on a pizza? I’m talking a regular pizza - not necessarily a “pobega” quality one.

Peter_Cargasacchi · July 14, 2009, 12:28pm

For chrissake man its a woodchipper not a cuisinart! It’ll make a fine sauce, but at best differentiating between chunky and extra chunky?

Toppings? No, I don’t think so.

And, if you get second thoughts, reconsider burial and perhaps an open casket, don’t ask me to re-assemble your dearly departed once it’s on its way. This ain’t the transporter on the Starship Enterprise.

Josh_Beck · July 15, 2009, 12:45am

If I help you coerce the pet into the chipper do you mind if my neighbor’s obnoxious standard poodle is only “mostly dead” at the time the ceremony kicks off?