We all love a good pizza. There’s nothing better than smelling it coming out of our oven and enjoying it with friends, family, or honestly by yourself! But what’s less fun is when we have the food coma kind of feeling and all of the sudden our last desire is to get up and clean the pizza stone. Certain things stick and it seems like we’re standing there just a little too long.
That’s why we can follow some of the easy pointers that others have found useful when cleaning their pizza stone. Are you even supposed to wash a pizza stone? No more guessing. Let this be your guide!
How do you take care of a pizza stone?
The first thing that anyone needs to know is that a pizza stone is a porous kind of material meaning that it’s going to absorb water and cleaning materials/solutions a lot more than any other piece of cookware in your home. You also can’t just go ahead and get to work on it because it needs to cool down so it doesn’t crack.
What You Need to Clean Your Pizza Stone
- Bench scraper
- Plastic spatula
- Toothbrush
- Cloth
Cleaning pizza stone with baking soda
- The first thing is to definitely allow the pizza stone to cool as trying to clean it right away can cause it to crack or worse, burn yourself.
- Use your spatulas or brush to get rid of any food scraps from the stone.
- Mix together 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda to create the paste. Then use your brush to scrub the paste on the stone.
- After stains are removed use a slightly damp cloth to wipe away the paste.
- Allow the stone to dry completely.
Now, do you follow the exact same steps if you burned the pizza and the stone is completely covered in soot and black stains?
How to clean a pizza stone that is black
You may ask yourself, “Can you wash a pizza stone?” as that is the inclination when dealing with a really dirty pizza stone. The answer is no matter how dirty your pizza stone appears you can’t just throw it underwater or let it soak. It will ruin the stone and potentially warp it.
But if you have a particularly dirty pizza stone that is black we can use a pizza stone cleaning brush and a few different hacks to solve this issue.
Here’s what to do:
- First, understand that the stone goes black from the oils and fats that get absorbed into the porous material from the pizza. It doesn’t affect your flavor or cooking.
- To get some of the stone to return to its color grab your pizza stone cleaning brush. The baking soda and water paste is a good place to start but if that does work. Use this.
- Now is the time to bring in the scraper. Use a plastic spatula or scraper to scrape at stuck bits.
- Time to anti-up the baking soda recipe by using three parts baking soda to one part water. This will increase the strength of the scrub.
- Wipe off the scrub and let it dry completely. If you still see some bits that just aren’t going away you can try to bake it off by turning your oven up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This will help melt off tough bits.
What happens if you use soap on a pizza stone?
We talked a little about the frequently asked question, Are you supposed to wash a pizza stone?” But what happens if we use soap on the stone and we wash it? The simple answer is that the next time you go to have pizza you could be tasting the soap you used in the first place because it will absorb right into the stone.
But a number of other things can happen if you don’t care for your pizza stone properly.
- Trapped water that neer gets out can lead to mold and unclean water inside of the pores of the stone.
- It can warp your stone which will permanently damage it.
- Soap is not the only thing that can be absorbed. Any product clean can also be absorbed which is why it’s important to only use baking soda.
How to dry pizza stone
You still need to fry your pizza stone because eventually, you will use a slightly damp cloth to wipe up any of the paste that you scrubbed in the previous steps. The good news is that this is one of the easiest steps. You can initially take a dry cloth to wipe up anything and then let your stone sit out to dry for a few hours before using it again.
How to clean a pampered chef pizza stone
Cleaning a pampered chef pizza stone is a completely different process and one that many are thankful for. The reason behind this is that a pampered chef pizza stone is not actually a porous stone which means it acts much more closely to regular dishware. That means that you can use liquids like dish soap and water, as well as soaking methods and it won’t ruin your cookware.
Let’s go through the process of properly cleaning your pampered chef’s pizza stone.
What You Need
- Dish soap
- Sponge
- Drying Tower or Drying Rack
Instructions for Cleaning Unglazed Stoneware
When your stoneware starts to darken it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, for cooking pizzas and other foods, it’s usually how great chefs will develop their seasoning. This is because unglazed stoneware has a non-stick finish usually.
- First, let the dish completely cool before trying to clean it. It can still crack if it changes temperature too quickly or you could burn yourself.
- Once cool take a scraper and run the dish through warm water. It’s not porous so you can use this to your advantage.
- Continually scrape the stuck-on food and unwanted leftovers with the scraper to really clean it. You can use dish soap as well to rinse.
- Make sure you rinse all the dish soap away as you don’t want residual left behind because it will get into your food.
Now some pieces of cookware when it comes to stone pizza dishes are going to be dishwasher safe. Check the bottom for any printing as this is one of the easiest ways to clean your dish. Just know that when you run it through the dishwasher you lose some of that seasoning effect.
Great Hacks to Clean Your Pizza Stone Dish
Not all hacks apply equally. For instance, we know that we have to treat porous stones completely differently than a pizza stone that can go in the dishwasher. Make sure you are familiar with the type of pizza stone you have for ultimate success.
- For water-safe or non-porous pizza, stones go ahead and let your stone soak in warm water for 30 minutes before trying to scrape any food off. This will really help loosen things up.
- Using the backside of a sponge to scrub is better than sandpaper. Getting it a little damp will also work well in removing black stains or stuck on pizza bites.
- Refrain from drying your pizza stone dish with paper towels or any kind of material that disintegrates with water. This will just end up sticking to the stone like the rest. Use a non-shedding cloth to pat dry.
- When in doubt you can always burn anything off in the oven. Setting your oven to high temperatures will cut you some slack with scraping.
Don’t Be Fooled
Cleaning a pizza stone certainly doesn’t have to be hard. But many are fooled into thinking they can clean it the exact same way they clean their other cookware. This couldn’t be further from the truth unless you want to eat soapy pizza the next time you decide to use it. In reality, you want to keep water away from your pizza stone because the materials are porous and can absorb it. This can end up warping the dish or creating mold if it has a hard time getting out.
But no one wants to see the black yucky stains on their pizza stone. That’s why you can create a basic paste with baking soda and water. The more baking soda you add to the mix the stronger it’s going to be. You can apply it like a spot treatment and scrub to try and remove your stains.
All this advice however goes completely out the window when you have a pampered chef pizza stone. These are usually dishwasher safe or at least can be cleaned with water and soap!
