The stone pizza baking plate from the company Smile is ideal for baking pizza as well as bread. It is round, made of chamotte ceramics, accumulates and distributes heat exceptionally well, and absorbs...
The stone pizza baking plate from the company Smile is ideal for baking pizza as well as bread. It is round, made of chamotte ceramics, accumulates and distributes heat exceptionally well, and absorbs moisture from baking. With the use of the plate, baking time can be reduced by up to 5 minutes, and thanks to the metal base it has, serving the pizza is made...
The stone pizza baking plate from the company Smile is ideal for baking pizza as well as bread. It is round, made of chamotte ceramics, accumulates and distributes heat exceptionally well, and absorbs moisture from baking. With the use of the plate, baking time can be reduced by up to 5 minutes, and thanks to the metal base it has, serving the pizza is made easier. Additionally, the plate comes with a pizza cutting tool.
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It takes a long time to reach temperature in an electric oven, resulting in the pizza not being cooked properly on the bottom if you rush. I assume that in a gas grill, everything will be done faster.
For its price (11 euros) I would say it is good, as well as for someone to experiment. It does not have a spatula. Something that is very basic to handle the pizza on the stone.
The prices dropped significantly and it was necessary to buy it. I bought it in December 2020 for just 9.95 euros (+3 shipping). Its construction is (probably) Hungarian, the material is ceramic, it has a diameter of 33cm and a thickness of 8 millimeters. The package includes a pizza cutter and a metal base that can be used as a clamp.
Before the first use, I washed the stone with lukewarm water. Detergents are not suitable for cleaning it. I let it dry. The manufacturer allows a maximum temperature of 250 degrees Celsius. I will use it on a gas grill. To avoid any cracks, I placed the metal clamp upside down on the cast iron grates and then the stone. This way, the stone was about 4 centimeters away from the cast iron.
Attention! Place the stone in a cold oven-grill and then turn on the device.
When it reached 200 degrees, I sprinkled some flour and semolina for extra absorbency. I baked a 700g pizza with a diameter of 28cm made by a bakery and I put it on frozen.
Without rotations and excessive time, the pizza was ready in 9-10 minutes. The baking time depends, of course, on the thickness of the dough, whether it is frozen or fresh, etc.
There was a small sticking of 2 centimeters of the dough in the first baking (no problem with the following pizzas). I removed it from the stone by pulling it. The bottom side was crispy and the top was melted. The pizza manufacturer probably added oil to the dough.
Every time I put the next pizza, I wiped the stone with kitchen paper to remove the burnt flour and semolina and added new ones.
*Do not cut the pizza on the stone and do not use sharp objects to clean it. If it sticks in any spot, try using a plastic or wooden spatula. Let it cool almost completely before cleaning it with lukewarm water only.
Update January 28, 2021:
Unfortunately, during the second baking of 4 pizzas, just as I finished, while I was taking out the last pizza, I saw that the stone had cracked (I also uploaded the photo). I had read about a similar incident from another user, but I thought they had it at a high temperature. I hadn't raised it above 220 degrees.
I sent a message to the company from which I purchased the stone and the next day they responded that out of the dozens they sold, I was the first with a similar problem. Fortunately, they will send me a replacement without any cost for replacement or shipping of the damaged one.
I am changing the initial rating from 5 stars to 3, I am waiting for the new stone and will update with new impressions.
On February 9, 2021, I received the new stone without any cost.
To warm up the plate, it takes about 35-40 minutes for those who are not familiar, compared to a regular sheet that takes a few minutes. Certainly, the stone provides better results, but if it is used repeatedly in a short period of time, for example, pizzas, on the 3rd or 4th pizza, it no longer has the same temperature, resulting in not being cooked as well on the bottom. In comparison to a regular oven tray, which may not provide as good results, but you can cook 5 pizzas with the same outcome. Maybe it needs 1 hour to heat up to the maximum temperature or a thicker plate, 2cm+, to store more energy and not have the same issue.
I put it in a wood-fired oven, slowly so as not to break it from thermal shock, and after almost every dough I baked on it, it would break... at first in 2 pieces, then in 4... I think the material shouldn't break so easily... what a shame
I bought it for a gas grill-oven. I tried it on a metal tray and the bottom of the pizza got burnt and hardened. With the stone, the results were better because it cooked evenly from the top as well.