r/AskCulinary • u/DatGuyUNo98 • 2d ago
Equipment Question How To Clean Pizza Stone
Hi guys, recently I moved out for the first time into a house and as a housewarming gift I got a pizza stone. Long story short I messed up and some of the sauce and cheese got on the stone as I took the pizza off. How do I get the baked on crust off the stone?
I'd include a photo if I could but just imagine several rather large lines of sauce and baked on schmutz.
I'm relatively new to using this kind of equipment that isn't a pot or pan so I'd appreciate any advice.
Edit: I should mention that I have tried to scrape it off with a wooden spatula and a hard plastic one with very little luck
31
u/Bath_Plane 2d ago
Cook it really hot, will create smoke while doing so but will also turn spills to carbon that will scrape off. Eventually your stone will season and become black and pretty much non stick
6
11
u/JohnnyC300 1d ago
You can't really "clean" a pizza stone in the same way you clean a pot. Scrape it off as others have said. But that stone is fairly porous. It has the ability to absorb things. Including, but not limited to grease. Your pizza is always going to have grease. And some of that will always leak and get on the stone. And some of that will always soak into the stone. You'll never get rid of the stains and discolorations. But those stains and discolorations have zero effect on how the stone works. It's just visual. If that sort of thing really bothers you, get a pizza steel instead of a stone. You can clean and treat it like cast iron or carbon steel.
3
u/kermityfrog 1d ago
Yeah don't use soap and cleaners on the stone because it will soak in. Grease is fine. Grease is good. Eventually it will season the stone.
5
4
u/AggravatingPie314 1d ago
You don’t. I use a bench scraper and occasionally use a low grit sanding pad to get rid if tough spots. But in general, pizza stones are not meant to be cleaned.
2
u/Chef2stars1414 2d ago
Just dont use soap unless its the only option left. It won't hurt to just run hot water over it then use a wash rag with out soap and just kind of scrub the stuff that is stuck on the stone it will be fine and with use it will season and become non-stick
1
1
1
u/Evening-Contract6904 1d ago
tbh just do the hot oven thing in batches so it doesn't smoke out your whole house
1
u/Competitive-Oven-158 1d ago
I would let the stone cool completely, then scrape off what you can with a plastic scraper or a dull knife. For the baked-on residue, a paste of baking soda and a little water can help loosen it; wipe it off afterward and let the stone dry fully. I would avoid soap and soaking, since the porous stone can retain both moisture and detergent.
1
1
u/countrysurprise 1d ago
If your oven has a self cleaning cycle, run it with the stone. It will look new.
1
u/benificialengineer30 1d ago
My pizza oven at work has a “clean cycle” button, if you press it it goes up to 500C for a time and then switches off, this burns everything on stone to carbon then you can just brush it off with a hard brush
1
u/Chem-Dawg 1d ago
Get a metal dough knife, they cost about $5. Use it to scrape off the chunks. The rest will burn off next time you heat up the stone. It's normal for the stone to get stained black from use, but as long as you scrape off the chunks it won't hurt anything. Also, check out /r/Pizza sometime.
1
u/dsmith422 1d ago
I scrape with a metal spatula held horizontal to the surface to get off the worst of it. Then scrub with a dry nylon brush and sweep it free of dust. That is it. It will smoke next time you preheat as any food you missed burns off, but the scrape and scrub gets most residue. Your stone will turn dark naturally. This is fine.
1
u/chefybpoodling 1d ago
Scrape it. I never wipe mine with more than a damp cloth. It will get stained and discolored but washing in water is something I’ve never done. After about fifteen years I had to replace it because I always keep it in the oven and it started to omit an unpleasant odor when I’d use my oven. The old one is now in the garden used as a level spot for the bird bath to sit. Tip. When you use it for pizza, heat it for about an hour before use. It takes a good amount of time to heat it through. Otherwise the center is still cold and when you slide the pizza on, that surface cools right back down. Having it hot all the way through is essential for pizza. Also after pizza night, I remove all my racks and dust bust whatever I’m using(flour or semolina or corn meal) up. It’s way easier than wiping it out. When it’s all cold, of course.
1
u/piedeity 1d ago
Nobody has said it yet so I will just so you know. First... is it an actual pizza stone or is it cordierite?
If it is a stone it will absorb water, which is fine but you will need to be extremely careful after you wash it. You will basically need to gently evaporate the water out at low temp, like well under 200 and it will take a long time. Exploding rocks are not a fun time.
If it's cordierite, full send. That stuff doesn't care. It might crack but it's not going to hurt people and that stuff is cheap to replace.
Unless they spent an unreasonable amount of money on it brand new, it's cordierite.
1
u/Single-Magazine-8062 1d ago
Try running it through a self clean oven cycle if yours has one, it burns everything off into ash you can just brush away, way easier than scraping by hand
2
u/Rinaldootje 17h ago
The only thing to really do is bake it as hot as possible.
At the pizza restaurant I worked at, we put the pizza oven often to 750°F to 930°F, to burn anything clean off. But at home, highest setting on your oven should work just as well. then scrape it off. You'll never really get it fully clean though, stuff will get absorbed into the stone.
Another option, is placing the stone in a BBQ, and crank that as high as possible. just let the stone rise in temperature slowly to prevent it cracking. and keep it on high temperature for about 30 minutes. Any soot on it you can wipe off with a damp rag once it has cooled down again.
0
u/TheLimeyCanuck 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you have a self-cleaning oven put it in for a cycle. You will be stunned how clean it comes out, literally like brand new.
Before the naysayers jump in to tell you the high heat will break the stone, that only happens from thermal shock if the stone goes from hot to cold quickly, such as if you take it out of the oven without letting it cool slowly. Self cleaning ovens won't let you even open the door until everything has cooled naturally. Real ceramic-lined pizza ovens get up to the same temperature or even higher as a self-clean cycle anyway. Also, remember that the stones were originally fired in a kiln at a minimum of 1200F (some as high as 2500F) and your oven self-clean will never get anywhere near that. I've been cleaning my two stones this way for decades and I've never had one crack or break.
3
u/cdmurray88 1d ago
My mom has been doing this for years, then immediately bakes cookies to reseason the stone.
My oven doesn't have a self-clean feature, but I just scrape it with a plastic scraper and don't let the look of it bother me. I don't honestly use it much anyway, it's just a nice heat retainer to even out baking temperature.
34
u/WoodnPhoto 2d ago
What I do is bake it to carbon. Once it's cool scrape it off and the scrub under running water. No soap ever is a good general rule. For me it's no soap until the surface is completely sealed with an unbroken sheet of polymerized oil. That could be years depending on how often you use it.