Introduction
Who
doesn’t love a mouth- watering pizza? The aroma, the melting cheese, the
irresistible combination of tender cheese, pizza toppings and crispy pizza
bread is nothing but an apple of the eye for the young and the old alike.
Pizza
with its Italian origins is Italian no more. Pizza is much like cricket with
its origins in England and being an avidly played game across the globe today.
The Italian pizza with all the name and fame due to its exotic flavours and
rich texture has now become part of the households.
Pizzas
which are available through various pizza outlets is now very much being made
inside the household. There are ovens which help the baking process and the
residents of the household have adequate interest in making a gourmet pizza at
home.
The
process of baking a pizza at home is developing. People, before becoming
experts are realising what can really enhance the final outcome so as to match
the perfect pizza that they have outside their homes.
The
pizza stone is one such equipment that propels the final pizza, to a level of excellence
from a considerably good pizza, made without a pizza stone.
What are pizza stones?
Pizza
stones are firm bases which are pre-heated in an oven and on which the entire
pizza with its toppings and cheese is placed before the final heat on button is
pressed.
The
baking of the pizza is more eloquent when there is intense heating of the base
of the pizza. Good heating given to the base of the pizza makes it crisp and
also results in fluffiness of the pizza. It helps the pizza to rise instead of
staying grumpy and sick.
Pizza
stones are essential since they act as a strongly heated solid base over which
the pizza base gets a strong foundation to heat up and bake appropriately. While
the baking would still proceed without a pizza stone in place but if one were
to indulge in gourmet cooking or delectable outcomes from the oven pizza stone
is the answer.
The
pizza stones are pre-heated in an oven to high temperatures. This pre-heated stone
fuels baking immensely, once the pizza is placed on top of the pizza stone and
the baking process is started.
The History behind pizza stones
Going
back in unremembered times, one well known food writer who went by the name of
Pat Bruno was the inventor behind this magnificent kitchen tool called as pizza
stone.
It
so happened that Pat was with a chef by the name of Julia who was adept in the
art of baking a pizza. Often, Pat heard Julia complain about the inadequacy of
what she baked. She always felt that there was something missing in what she
was doing even when she was gaining popularity each passing day. She let her
thoughts loose and Pat came to know that she thought that the pizza could
improve if there was a heated solid ceramic foundation over which the base
could be kept. From thereon, the idea carried and Pat Bruno invented the pizza
stone- the firm and hot foundation for turning out the crispiest and yummiest
pizza out of the oven.
Which is the best pizza stone?
Old
Stone Oven 4467 14-inch by 16-in is a standard pizza stone that is being used
today by many whether for household baking or for commercial usage.
Old
Stone Oven was a company established in the 80s’. They introduced the concept
of baking stones which makes them the founder of the concept, the product and
the innovator which helped in pushing the tastes and delicacies beyond
imaginable levels.
Why you should buy Old Stone Oven’s pizza stones?
Pizza
stones should be solid and thick. The pizza stones from Old Stone Oven stone
are the thickest when compared to the many other stones available in the market
from various other companies.
The
thickness of the stone enables maximum heat retention. The thicker the stone,
better the hotness it has which is fine suited for getting the best baked
pizza.
Pizza
stones from Old Stone are reliable because there has been a consistency in the
thickness which makes them porous. This is one serious advantage that Old Stone
has which makes Old Stone the leader of the pack since the time of its
inception around 30 years ago.
Old
Stone Oven pizza stones are available in rectangular and round shapes. Both the
shapes are available in 16 inches and are the most viable pick for any person
looking to bake a pizza and are on the lookout of a kitchen tool like pizza
stone to make a perfect pizza.
The
material used in making the pizza stone is firebrick. Firebrick is a material
used in lining of blast furnaces, kilns etc. Firebricks can withstand high
temperatures and can be heated and reheated any number of times without being
shattered against the rising heat or repeated heat exposure. This means that
firebricks have a long life.
Pizza
stone from Old Stone Oven are made of firebrick which makes the pizza stones withstand
high oven temperatures. Not only do these pizza stones from Old Stone able to
withstand high temperatures but they are also able to retain the maximum heat.
Therefore, the pizza stones from Old Stone are ideal kitchen tools for pizza
baking. They have a long life that saves the user the pain of replacement. At
the same time the users do not have to worry about constantly re-heating the
pizza stone because of poor heat retention.
There
are companies manufacturing and trading pizza stones made of poor material.
These pizza stones are unable to withstand repeated high temperatures and have
very short life calling for replacement. Also they have poor heat retention
which means the user will have to reheat them in the oven before setting the
actual pizza baking process in oven- a certain loss of time, electricity and
moreover it kills the enthusiasm of gourmet cooking. In case of commercial
applications a pizza stone which is made of poor quality it will be wasting
substantial time of the cook and the customers might walk away disgruntled due
to lag in service.
Old
Stone has ensured adequate thickness, appropriate material to make their pizza
stone a robust kitchen tool which is a support rather than being a hindrance to
making a mouth-watering pizza.
The
16-inch size of the pizza stone is significantly large to place a family sized
pizza. Moreover, once the pizza done cutting and slices if required can be done
on the pizza stone itself. It is too hard and any kind of cuts and scrapes due
to knives won’t impact it to the least.
Why we chose Old Stone?
If
there’s anything that we would want to suggest to anyone, it is something which
makes sense and fulfils the purpose. Upon dissection of the need for a pizza
stone in making luscious pizzas at home it was clear to have a product with thickness
in its character, the ability to withstand high temperatures ingrained in its
properties and the option of shapes for an adequate surface to accommodate the
largest pizza dimensions. Old Stone pizza stones were just right.
Old
Stone has a history of 30 years. This exposure to the industry, consistency in
product features (that have been designed keeping in mind the stated and
unstated needs of the customer) makes it a viable brand name. In fact, before
we say anything we saw it in the market and saw it in the choice the customers
made.
Pizza
stones may be a small part of the kitchen tools but even this small part counts
for us when we recommend something to the buyers. We found reliable, long
lasting ingrained on their pizza stones and thought it is good to recommend and
clarify to those who want this clarity.
Testing the pizza stones
The
pizza stones should be primarily tested for their endurance to the temperature
and the heat retention. This is because the ability to withstand high
temperatures is a key parameter that differentiates one pizza stone from
another. At the same time, good heat retention is a strong parameter which
again helps in determining the length of time for which no repeat pre-heat
would be required before the baking process were to restart.
As
stated earlier the pizza stones from Old Stone are made from firebrick, a
material, which is used as a lining in blast furnaces where the temperatures go
up to 3000 degree Celsius. Pizza stone made from firebrick makes them
intrinsically capable of withstanding temperature as high as 500 degree Celsius
of the oven. One property of firebrick is that the heat loss is substantially
low. This means that while pizza stones from other competitors would lack the
endurance and strong heat retention, pizza stones from Old Stone Oven will be
able to stand out as they are already doing. The tests on firebrick prove that
easily.
Who are the Buyers?
Pizza
is made commercially but it has become a preferred delicacy at home with it
being like by everyone from little children to adults of any age.
People
do like to go out and have pizzas since they don’t want to mess up the taste of
pizza even a tiny bit by making it at home. This makes the pizzas a
commercially made product. The commercially made pizzas are made in big a stone
oven that eliminates the use of pizza stones since the hard solid stone
foundation is already in-built in commercial ovens.
In recent
times, with everyone falling heads over heels for this Italian originating food
item, people are experimenting more at home in perfecting the art of making a
gourmet pizza. The gourmet comes later, but making a simple pizza has
definitely begun in households. This has a clear implication that pizza stones
are already an essential kitchen tool for making pizzas at home.
The
buyers are therefore, housewives who would like to try their hands on newer
recipes, pizzas, pastas to reach the hearts of the housemates through their
stomachs.
What to look for?
Housewives
or anyone else who wishes to buy a pizza stone to make a near perfect pizza
must look for solidarity in a pizza stone. By solidarity it is meant that the
stone should be thick and must have adequate dimensions. Pizza stones vary in
dimensions from the highest, 18*17*3 to the lowest, 13*13*.8 in inches. If
there is lesser number of members in the house a smaller dimension of the pizza
stone would suffice while for a family which has around ten members
approximately can buy a pizza stone with 18*17*3 inches dimensions.
The
material of the pizza stone is another parameter to consider when buying a
pizza stone. While firebricks is the best material to look for as already
discussed users can check to see if the product material mentioned on pizza
stones is firebricks or not. It would be best to stick to a firebrick since it
has all the properties required like excellent heat retention and heat
withstanding capabilities.
The
pizza stone should be odourless. The stone itself should not emit any foul
smell. This is an important parameter. Firebrick does not emit any smell upon
heating. This makes pizza stones from Old Stone a viable option for the
customers to choose from since they are made from firebricks.
Also,
the pizza stone should be easy to clean. Pizza stone from Old Stone is easy to
clean and generally the bread crust does not get stuck on the surface. It is
however recommended to clean the stone immediately after the pizza baking is
completed.
Alternatives and other viable competitors
While
getting a stone oven with an in-built stone is a brilliant idea it is often put
down because of the expense involved. Pizza stone remains an inexpensive
option. However, the alternative to getting a quality pizza stone is to get the
cheapest one or to not use one at all.
The
Stone Bake Oven is another good brand after Old Stone to provide quality pizza
stones to the users.
In The End
Cooking
at home has picked up as a trend. People want to experience the fun of eating
outside, right in the comforts of their homes. Pizzas have become one key item
that fits the bill and the palate.
The
market is large and not fully explored. It is set to grow with aware
housewives, people interested in gourmet cooking, increase in the number of
cooking shows like Master Chefs.
Pizza
stone is not a small item on the bucket list of kitchen tools. It is an
important one is one were to introspect closely. Choose wisely though!
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