Pizza stones crack if used in the gas grill?

[Michael Grofsorean]

mine had machine oil on it. i used dawn dish soap, then dried it, then oiled both sides with vegetable oil and then placed in the the bbq to cook off and set the finish. i still add additional finish layers at different times so as to build up a nice patina and carbon over time as i keep my plate outside.

DO NOT cook it in the house with oil. you will not get that smoke and smell out for years.

i'd soften up those edges and corners. an angle grinder will do the trick.

looks like you're in for a good time. just get a laser gun to measure heat of the steel so you know what you're doing. the steel is very versatile and easy to use. less is more as the steel retains heat and has a low recovery time between pizzas, unlike ceramic or stones do.

A wire brush was wholly inadequate to remove the orangish paint off of my steel, but scraping with a screwdriver moved most of it off. Then I ran out of light. Today, my palm sander mounted with 80 grit discs buzzed the paint off easily. However, there was a reddish tint on a lot of the plate and I feared that I somehow ground the removed paint back into the surface. I phoned the metal shop and was told that no, it's not the paint, but rather oxidation. So nothing to worry about. I gave the steel a kitchen sink bath in Dawn dish soap and put it back outside to dry (see photo and please pardon the vertical shadow across the steel).

Next step is seasoning: the metal shop dudes said do it at 250F just like cast iron. But articles such as this one say 500F for cast iron and for an hour. I cook with mostly cast iron but inherited my Lodge and Wagner skillets and never have to season them, so I don't know squat about seasoning. What do you recommend?

How to Season a Cast-Iron Skillet So That It Lasts Forever

Give a new pan a glossy black nonstick coating—or bring the luster back to a family heirloom—with this 3-step process for seasoning cast iron.

www.bonappetit.com

Finally, theory is that we would make our first attempt at making pizza tonight (it's already 4pm) on the steel. Now I'm not sure that I've left enough time for the seasoning step. Please advise.

P.S. Wife says 500F. She's got a carbon steel that she seasons in our oven. I don't use the thing. I use the cast iron. Grill is firing up ...

 

[Brett-EDH]

A wire brush was wholly inadequate to remove the orangish paint off of my steel, but scraping with a screwdriver moved most of it off. Then I ran out of light. Today, my palm sander mounted with 80 grit discs buzzed the paint off easily. However, there was a reddish tint on a lot of the plate and I feared that I somehow ground the removed paint back into the surface. I phoned the metal shop and was told that no, it's not the paint, but rather oxidation. So nothing to worry about. I gave the steel a kitchen sink bath in Dawn dish soap and put it back outside to dry (see photo and please pardon the vertical shadow across the steel).

Next step is seasoning: the metal shop dudes said do it at 250F just like cast iron. But articles such as this one say 500F for cast iron and for an hour. I cook with mostly cast iron but inherited my Lodge and Wagner skillets and never have to season them, so I don't know squat about seasoning. What do you recommend?

How to Season a Cast-Iron Skillet So That It Lasts Forever

Give a new pan a glossy black nonstick coating—or bring the luster back to a family heirloom—with this 3-step process for seasoning cast iron.

www.bonappetit.com

Finally, theory is that we would make our first attempt at making pizza tonight (it's already 4pm) on the steel. Now I'm not sure that I've left enough time for the seasoning step. Please advise.

the rust/oxidation is totally fine and normal. now that you have a clean surface, very lightly oil up both sides and burn that oil off to create a microscopic non-stick layer. i personally like the higher temps as when i did my first burn off, i applied another few layers of oil o the top of the steel. this way i was able to get a nice layer on top of it and let it cook/burn off the oil so it set a nice finish.

depending where you choose to store your steel you might need to reapply oil over time to help build up more layers on the steel.

for me, 250F would be too low and take too dang long. 500F is fine, just be smart when applying your subsequent oil coats during this seasoning process. the steel is hot and thus the oil gets very hot too, and quickly.

to apply more layers of oil, i fold paper towel down to a small square and then use bbq tongs to wipe the oiled paper towel across the steel. the oil will start to smoke immediately. just apply and pay attention so as to not burn yourself.

and don't even think of touching skin to the steel. i am warning you it is ridiculously hot. heck, you can cook a smash burger right there and get an amazing sear on a patty too. just respect the steel when its hot and cold. you'll be just fine.

seasoning will run you 30 minutes. bake your pies and remember not to go too hot on the steel so as to not burn your pies. i'm assuming you have screens that we previously discussed. if so, you'll be decking your pies for 1 minute, or 2 to develop that final crust crunch.

 

[Michael Grofsorean]

the rust/oxidation is totally fine and normal. now that you have a clean surface, very lightly oil up both sides and burn that oil off to create a microscopic non-stick layer. i personally like the higher temps as when i did my first burn off, i applied another few layers of oil o the top of the steel. this way i was able to get a nice layer on top of it and let it cook/burn off the oil so it set a nice finish.

depending where you choose to store your steel you might need to reapply oil over time to help build up more layers on the steel.

for me, 250F would be too low and take too dang long. 500F is fine, just be smart when applying your subsequent oil coats during this seasoning process. the steel is hot and thus the oil gets very hot too, and quickly.

to apply more layers of oil, i fold paper towel down to a small square and then use bbq tongs to wipe the oiled paper towel across the steel. the oil will start to smoke immediately. just apply and pay attention so as to not burn yourself.

and don't even think of touching skin to the steel. i am warning you it is ridiculously hot. heck, you can cook a smash burger right there and get an amazing sear on a patty too. just respect the steel when its hot and cold. you'll be just fine.

seasoning will run you 30 minutes. bake your pies and remember not to go too hot on the steel so as to not burn your pies. i'm assuming you have screens that we previously discussed. if so, you'll be decking your pies for 1 minute, or 2 to develop that final crust crunch.

Excellent -- thanks for the fast reply. About decking the pies: you told me that I don't need to oil the screens (I do have them). Wife disagrees, but I'm going with you on this one. I bought that tool you recommended (came today). So when the cheese is bubbling on the top (pie on screen), you deck it. Am I to understand that the dough has cooked enough to that you can fit the tool between the pie and the screen to get it off the screen?

 

[Brett-EDH]

Excellent -- thanks for the fast reply. About decking the pies: you told me that I don't need to oil the screens (I do have them). Wife disagrees, but I'm going with you on this one. I bought that tool you recommended (came today). So when the cheese is bubbling on the top (pie on screen), you deck it. Am I to understand that the dough has cooked enough to that you can fit the tool between the pie and the screen to get it off the screen?

no need to oil the screens. the pizza shell will cook and will become easy to separate using the peel/turner.

gently slide the peel in between the pizza crust and the screen. when the dough is cooked/set, you should be bale to easily de-screen the pie for decking. go slow. you will see the dough is set/cooked which is when the center of the pizza/cheese, is bubbling. this means the dough has heated through enough to cook the dough and the sauce is conducting enough heat to melt the cheese.

you will feel it if the dough isn't set. it'll offer resistance and feel gummy. either way, it is hard to overcook a pie when on a screen so the screen is a good safety measure to avoid burning a pizza shell.

i won't get in between you and your wife. you have to keep her happy. do as you need to.

experiment. the screen is like a safety valve. you have lots of room for error using a screen. just don't overheat the steel. that does cause catastrophic results. i know from experience.

 

[Michael Grofsorean]

no need to oil the screens. the pizza shell will cook and will become easy to separate using the peel/turner.

gently slide the peel in between the pizza crust and the screen. when the dough is cooked/set, you should be bale to easily de-screen the pie for decking. go slow. you will see the dough is set/cooked which is when the center of the pizza/cheese, is bubbling. this means the dough has heated through enough to cook the dough and the sauce is conducting enough heat to melt the cheese.

you will feel it if the dough isn't set. it'll offer resistance and feel gummy. either way, it is hard to overcook a pie when on a screen so the screen is a good safety measure to avoid burning a pizza shell.

i won't get in between you and your wife. you have to keep her happy. do as you need to.

experiment. the screen is like a safety valve. you have lots of room for error using a screen. just don't overheat the steel. that does cause catastrophic results. i know from experience.

Pleased to report that the maiden voyage of my pizza steel was a success. We made two Margherita pies which, for us, is the acid test of pies because of the water content of the tomato. This is the first time I can recall getting the pie properly crisped on a Margherita. Interestingly, the top of the crust didn't look terribly browned, but turns out that it doesn't need to be because it was well cooked.

We oiled the screens with canola oil and the pies eased off in the predicted 3 minutes or so. I learned that I should let them go a bit longer than 3 minutes to cook the top more before decking. Your recommended peel tool was perfect.

I seasoned the steel for 90 minutes before turning down the temp a little to get the steel surface close to 550. Wound up working at 560 per my IR reader. Coaxing the steel to the target temperature involves some nerking around, but once set, seems to hold.

Son the younger just came in and had the last of the pies, commenting spontaneously on ideal crispness. Combined with my Italian-American wife's seal of approval, we have a home run. Now it's on to Sunday when we make pies for 30 to celebrate my 70th. Prep work begins Saturday including a meeting on work flow. Brett, thank you for your stewardship!

 

[LMichaels]

Looks good to me!

 

[Michael Grofsorean]

Pleased to report that the maiden voyage of my pizza steel was a success. We made two Margherita pies which, for us, is the acid test of pies because of the water content of the tomato. This is the first time I can recall getting the pie properly crisped on a Margherita. Interestingly, the top of the crust didn't look terribly browned, but turns out that it doesn't need to be because it was well cooked.

We oiled the screens with canola oil and the pies eased off in the predicted 3 minutes or so. I learned that I should let them go a bit longer than 3 minutes to cook the top more before decking. Your recommended peel tool was perfect.

I seasoned the steel for 90 minutes before turning down the temp a little to get the steel surface close to 550. Wound up working at 560 per my IR reader. Coaxing the steel to the target temperature involves some nerking around, but once set, seems to hold.

Son the younger just came in and had the last of the pies, commenting spontaneously on ideal crispness. Combined with my Italian-American wife's seal of approval, we have a home run. Now it's on to Sunday when we make pies for 30 to celebrate my 70th. Prep work begins Saturday including a meeting on work flow. Brett, thank you for your stewardship!

Today is Sunday and the guests are here in about 4 hours. Yesterday, I made my second run with the steel, this time with my eldest son who has been deputized by my wife as chief pizza chef. Unlike this past Wednesday's maiden voyage, regulating the temperature of the steel was more difficult. Running out of fuel, of course, helped this complication. But even when resuming with a full tank, it seemed that opening and closing the Genesis lid dropped the temperature of the steel a lot. It took a long time to get a couple of pies cooked.

My son is strongly advocating two changes:

(1) Running the grill with the burners fully open because opening and closing the top will drop the temperature and we have a lot of pizzas to make. After what I saw yesterday, I'm inclined to agree with him, thinking that he can use the grill lid as a temperature regulating device. Turns out we have a windy day, too.

(2) He saw the note on this string of messages about the Kamado where some steel cylinders were used to elevate the pizza stone which, in theory, would help cook the top better because the pizza is higher in the box. I have some old bricks from the flue that used to exist in our 1890 house from the coal burning fireplace. Theory is that they would be sufficient heat resistant. I'm less enthused about this idea, but he's really pushing for it.

I'm attaching a photo of two of the bricks. I figure I'd have to get the green stuff off of them if we are going to try it.

Apart from these points, my son sprayed avocado oil on the top crust to get it to brown more. Seems to have worked.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Claude M]

Interesting discussion. I thought most of the pizza stones out there are made of cordierite. This stuff is the material used inside pottery kilns which get very hot (2K Fahrenheit range). I've been using a Red Sky brand stone for a very long time. I haven't cracked it yet but now I'm thinking I've just been lucky. I always bring the temp up slow and let it cool off when I'm done with lid on. Maybe that's helped.

 

[TomRc]

I bought 2 stones and a custom stainless shroud when I decided to first foray into the pizza grill zone a couple of years back. Having heard of their propensity to crack, I figured to be out in front of it and ready to go with a new stone in the event of a failure. As luck would have it, I’m still going strong on stone #1 almost 3 years later. I store the stone right on the grill so it’s the same temperature as the grates at start-up and I always make sure the grates don’t have any residual grease on them from a previous cook that might affect the stone. I’m honestly totally clueless as to whether my methods are working or if it’s just dumb luck but I’m not about to change my technique anytime soon just to find out.

 

[LMichaels]

Why use a stone at all? Seems to me a good thick steel plate will work just as well. Me, I've use either nothing at all. Just be a man and slap that pizza on the grates or I use my cast iron griddles