The Best Pizza Stone and Pizza Steel for Crispy, Blistered Crusts Like the Pros Make

Making perfectpizzaat home—like laminating pastry or making aloaf of sourdough—is one of those cooking projects that takes a little practice to get just right. A blistered, spotted crust, well-baked underside, and melty-crisp toppings can be an elusive combination. A home pizza oven can do it, but not everyone has the space or inclination to own one. Youcanget some quick pizzas from your trusty cast-iron Lodge pan, but that will only get you so far. The secret to making your homemade pizza dough really sing in your oven is a baking stone or baking steel. It will get you as close to owning a pizza oven as you can without actually, well, owning a pizza oven.

We gathered top-rated stones and steels to see how they performed. While all offered the promise of an evenly heated cooking surface for pizza as well as other baking projects, the models themselves ranged in shape, size, and price. Ultimately, two steels and one stone stood out from the crowd as worthy of adding to your arsenal ofkitchen tools—especially if you want to make homemade pizza a regular part of your dinner rotation. Read on to learn more about the winners, how we tested, and the other models we put to work.

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The best pizza steel: Original Baking Steel
The best pizza stone: FibraMent-D Pizza Stone
Why use a pizza stone or pizza steel?
Pizza stones vs. pizza steels
Notes on safety
How we tested
Other stones we tested
The takeaway

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When preheated the Original Baking Steel producedpizzaswith crispy, gold-bottomed crust that were spotted with char just like the ones from a great neighborhood pizzeria. It’s simple—just a 15-pound slab of steel—but versatile, functioning equally well on the stovetop as a griddle, in the oven, under the broiler, and on acharcoalorgas grill. The price is on the high end, but with the Original Baking Steel, you absolutely get what you pay for.

This heavy-duty model outshone the others we tested in durability and ease of use—it was ready to go right out of the box. It takes minimal maintenance to keep it in top shape (like acast-iron pan, simply dry it immediately after use and washing, then wipe down with oil to prevent rust) so it’s an easy item to add to your pizza-making process. Some sort of scraper will also help with any carbonized cheese spills or stubborn bits of cornmeal.

The Original Baking Steel is available in a few sizes, from a small square to an extra-large rectangular pizza stone with a rimmed edge that can fit two small pizzas or pies at once.

There’s really nothing not to like about it. Steels like this are rather heavy and hard to move, but once they’re in the oven they rarely have to move more than a few inches up or down—from the bottom of the oven where you can store when not in use to the middle for cooking. It’s also expensive, but unlike stones, which can crack, this should last a lifetime.

Also great: Dough-Joe Samurai Pizza Steel Baking Sheet

This baking steel was on par in performance in pretty much every way with the Original Baking Steel, the only difference is that the Dough-Joe steels are limited to a square-shaped surface area. When it came time to cook pizzas, the Samurai delivered consecutive pies with nice-and-crisp crusts. All in all, the Dough-Joe Samurai stacks up well agains the Original Baking Steel, so much so that deciding between the two felt a bit like splitting hairs.

One of the knocks on home pizza making is that it’s challenging to get equipment that allows you to make a pizza big enough to feed a family. This was true when we testedpizza ovensas well as some of the stones and steels tested here. Case in point, the size and square shape of the Dough-Joe (15 inches square) is not quite big enough to accommodate a “large” pizza by pizzeria standards.

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如果你认为你会使用你的石头多just pizza, the FibraMent-D Pizza Stone is your choice. Stones don’t hold heat quite as well as steels, so while this made very nice, golden, crisp pizzas—better than on other models we tested—they were less charred than the Original Baking Steel pizzas. But, in part because it doesn’t give as serious a char, the FibraMent-D will be more versatile for you than the Original Baking Steel. Items that take longer to cook, like pastries andbread, are less likely to scorch on the bottom when using a stone.

The FibraMent-D stone is ¾-inch thick and weighs in at 17 pounds; it feels substantial and sturdy, but thanks to the beveled edge, is slightly easier to maneuver into and out of an oven than the other models. As long as you’re okay with seasoning in the oven for a few hours before use and only using a dry rag to clean it (the manufacturer recommends that the stone never come in contact with liquids), it’s a great option that will be useful for a whole range of baking projects.

Stones, unlike steels, can crack. Obviously this can happen due to accidental drops, but it can also happen after repeated uses under the very high heat (550º F) that is necessary to make the best pizza. The FibraMent-D is better than most because it is so thick, and to be clear, those cracks, if they develop at all, usually happen after years not months, so we didn’t have it happen in our testing. But it is a reason that, for making pizza, we generally prefer steels to stones.

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A preheated pizza stone or pizza steel creates a very hot cooking surface, which makes the bottom of your pizza crust crispy and brown instead of soggy and pale. They can also improve yourpie crusts, aid in baking beautifully golden hearthbreads, and keep the temperature in your oven consistent for other baking projects since its heat retention is so good.

One of the most important things to remember when choosing a stone or steel—whether you go round, square, or rectangular—is to buy a model that leaves at least one inch of clearance on all sides from the edges of your oven. Proper air circulation will help your stone or steel and your oven perform to the best of its abilities, and produce the best pizza possible.

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Pizza stones are made of ceramic, cordierite, or a composite material, so they can differ in terms of heat conductivity from model to model. Composite and cordierite pizza stones are more durable and usually a little more expensive than ceramic. Baking steels are, obviously, made of steel, which can be heavier than stone with the same variation in price depending on thickness and brand.

一些πzza stones need to be seasoned before use. Instructions vary a bit from model to model, but generally you’ll have to preheat the stone gradually, starting at a very low temperature until you get to about 500ºF. This process takes a few hours, so don’t plan to bake on the stone right away. Baking steels, on the other hand, arrive ready to go, which is a plus for impatient bakers. Also, durability, which can be an issue for stones (they can crack without proper care) isn’t for steels—they’re virtually indestructible and can withstand incredibly high temperatures.

Some people prefer stones over steels for baking bread or baked goods with longer cook times, as stones will offer a less intense transfer of high heat for a more evenly baked end result.

If you are really into baking pizza at home, some pros recommend using a baking steel on top of a baking stone, but for most people, one or the other will be just fine.

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Despite being so simple in shape and function, baking steels are the type of cookware that require caution while in use, especially for beginners and greenhorn home cooks. It’s a good idea to invest in some sturdyheat-resistant gloves, especially if you typically rely on kitchen rags or flimsy hot pads to move things around in the oven. While there won’t be much reason to move a baking steel around once it’s in the oven, in the event that you do, your usual protective materials may not be strong enough. Keep in mind that making pizza requires an extremely hot oven, and so the hot pads you can use in a 350º oven, may not work so well in a 500–550º oven. We suggest agood pair of grilling glovesor oven mitts to prevent any potential burns.

On that note, when your pizza is done cooking, do not attempt to take out the stone with the pizza. Instead, use something like apizza peelto transfer the pie to a pizza pan or cooling rack. Keep the steel in the oven until it has cooled completely.

While pizza steels are quite resilient against thermal shock, pizza stones are a little more fragile and can crack or shatter when exposed suddenly to lower temperature. Thus, we advise against cooking frozen pizzas on a pizza stone.

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To test the pizza stones and baking steels, we first seasoned each according to the package instructions, if applicable. At minimum, we preheated each model for 1.5 hours prior to use.

Then we conducted a number of baking and roasting tests to evaluate effectiveness and ease of use. These included baking two pizzas with tomato sauce and cheese back-to-back on each stone or steel; baking agaletteon a piece of parchment paper directly on top of each model; and finally, roasting a sheet pan ofcarrotstossed with olive oil placed directly on top of each stone or steel to see if the heated surface would affect browning. Then we cooled and cleaned the products according to instructions, to gauge maintenance levels.

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ThePizzacraft Thermabond Baking Stoneperformed well in all of the tests—just not quite as well as the winners. Pizzacraft’s Thermabond is a good option for people who want a stone that’s easy to use right away as it doesn’t require any seasoning. It also features a heat transfer pattern on one side, which helps air circulate more evenly around the stone. It’s also quite inexpensive, so for those looking for an affordable option, it’s a good choice.

ThePizzacraft Rectangle Baking Steelis a great size that can accommodate two small pizzas or loaves of bread at once, but it is a bit thinner than the Original Baking Steel and arrived slightly bowed. It also may be a bit too large for some smaller ovens; you want air to be able to fully circulate around the steel or stone for best performance.

TheK Rocksheat Pizza Stoneis lightweight (about seven pounds) and measures only 12 by 15 inches. It’s also got four divots designed to be used as handles, all of which make it easy to maneuver. However, we found it too small to comfortably land a pizza without worrying it would fall off of the side.

TheEmile Henry Flame-Top Pizza Stonelooked good but didn’t live up to appearances. The Flame-Top’s handles were helpful for maneuvering pizza into and out of the oven, and its glazed finish was nicely nonstick and easy to clean. However, the stone’s surface didn’t evenly crisp up the bottom of the pizzas. As such, the crusts got very well browned before the base could even cook through and we were left with floppy slices.

TheBoska Ceramic Pizza Stonebaked beautifully golden brown pizzas with set bottoms; because ceramic absorbs moisture, it creates a particularly crispy crust. But we found this model one of the most difficult to clean, with burnt-on bits of cheese and topping we could not wipe or wash away.

TheKing Arthur Baking Steeldid an excellent job with the back-to-back pizza tests, and we really appreciated the built-in handle, which made it a bit less precarious for small moves and adjustments. However, the price is pretty high compared to competition that baked just as well, so we’d opt for the more affordable option.

The selling point of theFiero Forni Italian Pizza Stoneis really the metal frame that the stone sits in. The metal frame includes two handles and a “pizza backsplash” that provides a nice stopping point for your pizza peel when shifting your pie into the oven. Because the Fiero Forni stone is much lighter in weight, it heats up much faster than the FibraMent-D, but it also gets sapped of heat with consecutive pizzas, causing issues when making back-to-back pizzas.

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Any of these stones or steels will definitely improve your home baking, but theOriginal Baking Steeltakes the top prize because of its versatility and indestructible construction. If you’re looking for the best baking stone, choose theFibraMent-D Pizza Stone, which is utilitarian, sturdy, and perfect for someone who plans to use their baking stone every day, for baking tasks beyond great pizza.

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Looking for other pizza making tools? Check out reviews ofbest pizza cuttersandbest pizza ovenstoo.