Reddit mentions of Pizzacraft 15" Square ThermaBond Baking/Pizza Stone - For Oven or Grill - PC9897

thanks! yup i use this stone, and i can get the surface temperature to about 650. i feel like i could probably get it hotter, but i don't particularly want to blow through tons of gas.

I'd choose the small or medium Vornado fan before the Dyson. I've been using it fulltimeing for five years now and it really does make the whole room feel cooler.



I'd also recommend:


a washer/dryer combo if you have room.


Square Pizza stone and thermometer for the oven.


LED Bulbs for everything 12v and 110v


Shark Rocket Ultralight vaccum



Water Filter


Better mattress


Ninja Pro Blender/Food Possessor/Chopper


Mini Dish Drying rack

Sure, it's a stepwise thing, it's daunting to do everything from scratch your first time. The dough is the trickiest bit anyway. A recipe that I like to use is this one: http://www.susanscookingschool.com/pizzadough.html. Though if you like the one you're using then there's definitely no reason to switch it at least for now.

Here's the stone that I use. It's not too pricey and gets the job done for me. I would also get a pizza peelwith it at some point so you can transfer the pizza to the stone. There's the whole aluminum vs. wood debate for the peel material, but honestly if you use parchment paper to transfer the pizza to the stone, it doesn't matter what kind of peel you get. That's just my two cents.

Again, only go into it as much as you still have fun. No reason to get all the fixins if it gets to be too cumbersome of a process. I personally enjoy making the process a bit more intricate, makes it interesting to me to see how I can improve my pizzas. Good luck!

Stone for pizza is kind of two thousand and late :)

Some ovens aren't suited to steel, because the broiler is in a separate compartment, or because the peak temp isn't high enough to make the most of it, but, other than that, there's very few reasons to choose stone over steel.

The price of steel might be off putting, but, a quality stone will run you around $40. If you source the steel yourself locally,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=31267.0

you can get one for as little as $60. If you buy one online, you can get a pretty good sized steel for $90. All stones will eventually crack, while a steel will last you lifetimes, so, for the price of 2 stones, you can never have to purchase a stone again. Another big selling point is that, while a stone can't do everything a steel can, a steel will give you every bake time that a stone can and considerably more. Lastly, steel pre-heats considerably faster than stone, another big plus.

Can you find out the specs of the giftees oven? Peak temp? Does it have a broiler in the main compartment?

If you're truly are dead set on a stone, this is good one:

https://www.axner.com/cordierite-shelf-16x16x34square.aspx.

I think, though, with handling charges and shipping, it will run you at least $45.

Before it sold out, this stone

https://www.amazon.com/Pizzacraft-Round-ThermaBond-Baking-Pizza/dp/B005IF2ZNM/

was selling for $23, which, considering it's width and 5/8" thickness, was an amazing deal.

This one

https://www.amazon.com/Pizzacraft-Square-ThermaBond-Baking-Pizza/dp/B005IF3086/

is from the same company, but it's smaller than the other stone- 15". Pizzacraft sells a measly 1/8" steel sheet that they fraudulently advertise as being 'steel plate,' so I'm not a fan of the company, but the page does reference this stone as being cordierite, which would be very difficult to lie about- and would be quickly evident in the comment section if they did.

If you're up for a bit of a gamble.

https://www.amazon.com/CucinaPro-533-Extra-Thick-Baking/dp/B005CXCZLW/

The brown color seems to point to it being cordierite, as opposed to being a poured refractory, which is incredibly fragile, and is usually grayish white (and very cheap). At the same time, though, the company doesn't mention cordierite, but the comments section does. Cordierite usually has a slightly warmer color, but, if I had to bet, I'd probably bet on this being cordierite.

I'm also not that amped about advertising a 3/4" stone, but shipping a 5/8" one. 5/8", for this price, though, is a good deal.

Lastly, Old Stone is a very respectable brand

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-Oven-Round-Pizza/dp/B0000E19MW/

but, the comment section references a 3/8" thickness, which, imo, is too thin. The thickness of the stone speaks, to an extent, to durability and it governs the number of pizzas you can make at one time before needing to give it time to recover.

Like steel, a huge component of the cost of online stones is shipping. If you can find a ceramics supplier locally, you might be able to find a better deal on a cordierite kiln shelf. The cordierite kiln shelf you find at a ceramic supplier is the identical material retail baking stones are comprised of.

But, imo, steel is the better gift- if your friend's oven is a good candidate.