Well, after 23 years of nearly weekly use and, by my best estimate, more than 2500 pizzas, it’s time to say goodbye to my trusty pizza stone.
It started forming a hairline crack 2-3 years ago, but it held on strong. Then a couple of months ago, a second crack formed and intersected the first. That about did it.
Bought this thing at my local supermarket (Fred Meyer, for those who know) when I started my pizza journey, primarily because I was poor and I could feed myself for two days for a few bucks. I started with a crappy NY-ish style recipe from the internet. It was bad. From there, I just tweaked it, week by week. Just minor adjustments each time. No Reddit, no online pizza forums. No idea what things like hydration percentages or long fermentation were. I just…figured it out.
Since then, this thing has made pies for countless friends and for me and my wife nearly every Friday since we met. I’ve made pizzas for James Beard-awarded chefs on this thing.
I’ve used other stones with more mass and seemingly better design, but this one was the best one I’ve used, for some reason.
For those who will say, “Great! Now you can buy a steel!” I have a steel. I bought the Modernist Cuisine steel right when it came out. But, in order to achieve browning that I’m happy with, I use a small amount of sugar in my dough, which means the bottom burns before the top is satisfactorily brown. So, I bake in the stone then use the steel to finish the bottom of the pie for just 15-25 seconds at the end of the bake. Works perfectly. (Picked up this tip many years ago from Tony Gemignani, who’s an old HS buddy, when he was visiting my city and we had breakfast one morning.)
Anyway, I already bought the replacement stone. Excited to see how it performs on its maiden voyage tomorrow night.
Added a few pics of a couple of pies from over the years…
by delicious_things
25 Comments
23 years!!! Rest In Pizza 🫡🍕
You have both the stone and steel in the oven at the same time? Steel on bottom shelf?
23 years? That’s awesome! You must have been taking real good care of your stone. Mine never lasted me more than maybe two years til they cracked in half. My current steel has lasted us maybe 5ish years so far.
My stone cracking in half was the best thing that ever happened to it! Makes it twice as easy to remove and clean, or store, or transport to cook at a friend’s house! Seriously, if I ever have to buy another I might crack it on purpose.
I slide the two parts together in the oven and it works perfectly fine.
That was a good, long run! Enjoy the memories
gorgeous
Looks like the last 3 stones I had before they all broke and I got sick of buying new ones. I got my steel so there’d be less time between pies. I always cook 4 so recovery time was killing me. 3/8” steel is amazing and heavy. Yes the steel has a bit of a learning curve till you get the process down. Quite a few burnt bottoms. I have an electric oven with heating elements on top and bottom so I crank the broiler after 2-3mins and lift it up with the peel to finish the top.
Awwwww! Rip 🥺🥺🥺🥺
Need to share your recipe. I’m amazed at the quality of pizza you’re able to get from a conventional oven and stone.
23 years is impressive! The two-stage stone and steel method is a fantastic idea. That’s cool you went to HS with Tony! Beautiful pizzas, by the way.
What. Kind of tease IS this. You know we need hydration levels. Fermentation times? Type of flour. Ratios for yeast, sugar. Are you adding any fats? Why are you showing us the most delicious pizza and leaving us, the sub full of pizza tinkerers and experimentaters with….nothing. Nothing to start an experiment. I’ll even take the shitty original recipe and work on it for the next 10 years if I can get to that.
It is sad about the stone. Now how do you know James Beard award winning chefs. Are you writing a book or something? I’ll read it. I hope the new stone works out just as well.
RIP to the champ of champs.
That crust looks delicious!
RIP to your stone. Great pizzas.
Btw.. At first glance I thought that photo was a horrendous slice.
Thank it for it’s service….
Then move on to a steel.
Loved reading the story of you and your stones journey. Great stuff and your pizzas look awesome. Hope the new stone treats you just as well!
God this actually made me so sad. A tool that lasts that long and works so well becomes a friend; Rest in peace soldier. Hope you find a new stone that works for you and you can keep making great pizzas. 23 years with a backstory of the hard times it got you through… sheesh.
Sorry for your loss. 👍
dough recipe plssss
That impressive! Now’s time for a oven steel. Gets hotter and wont break
Keep the shards they make great heating pads.
Heat them in the oven and then wrap them in a towel
The final slice 🫡
Pizzas look great! Will need a recipe now…