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Cooking pizza at home is one of those endeavors that can take a little practice to get just right, but once you do, the rewards are myriad: crackly, blistered, puffed-at-the-edges crust; a sturdy, shatteringly crisp underside; and whatever toppings your heart may desire. But if you don’t own a dedicated pizza oven, you’ll need to doctor up your home oven in order to mimic what restaurants and pizzaiolos have at their disposal.
Enter the pizza steel or pizza stone, a dead-simple tool—literally just a slab of steel, stone, granite, or other composite material—that soaks up the heat of your oven with its thermal mass, and functions as a super-hot surface that starts blistering and puffing your crust the moment it makes contact.
A pizza steel or stone has secondary uses and perks, too. Depending on its size you can repurpose it as a stovetop griddle or as a flat-top for your outdoor grill. Inside the oven, it helps to quickly reheat certain foods (like…leftover pizza) and foil-wrapped leftovers without worry of anything slipping through the oven racks. And they can also help your oven do its job better by creating extra heat sources directly on the racks, therefore distributing heat evenly throughout the oven. That thermal mass even helps to minimize the fluctuations caused by opening and closing the oven door as you cook.
After using steels and stones for a variety of the activities above, our top pick remains, for several years running, the Original Baking Steel, which produced excellent pizza and is light enough (relatively speaking) to easily move from oven to stovetop to grill.
Some cooks warn that a steel can get too hot to leave in the oven full-time during normal baking, but we haven’t found that to be much of an issue. Instead, sheet pans of roasted vegetables, pie crusts baked in Pyrex or metal dishes, or dishes like lasagna and gratin actually improve when baked on a pizza steel in the oven, with better, more even heating and caramelization. So we mostly leave them on our racks full time.
We gathered top-rated stones and steels to see how they performed. While all offered the promise of an evenly heated cooking surface, 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 of kitchen 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.
Why use a pizza stone or pizza steel?
The best pizza steel
Another great pizza steel
The best pizza stone
Pizza stones vs. pizza steels
Notes on safety
How we tested
Other stones we tested
The takeaway
Why use a pizza stone or pizza steel?
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 your pie crusts, aid in baking beautifully golden hearth breads, 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.
The best pizza steel: Original Baking Steel
When preheated the Original Baking Steel produced pizzas with 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 a charcoal or gas 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 a cast-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 them if you don’t want to keep them on the rack full time. It’s also expensive, but unlike stones, which can crack, this should last a lifetime.
Size: 14"x16"x.25"
Weight: 16 lb.
Another great pizza steel: The NerdChef Steel Stone
The NerdChef Steel Stone is very similar to the Original Baking Steel, with just two notable differences: an extra ¼-inch in width, and punched holes in two corners (which, silly as it sounds, make the steel a bit easier to move around since you can hook fingers through them). Otherwise it is the same thickness and length, arrives pre-seasoned and ready to use, has the same low-friction sanded baking surface that’s ideal for sliding your pizzas on and off, and is also made domestically in the USA.
NerdChef additionally offers three different thicknesses, starting at ¼-inch, then going up to ⅜-inch and ½-inch. The idea behind these thicker options is that with more steel, they will be better at storing up and holding onto heat, and therefore require less time to preheat in between cooking multiple pizzas. But be warned: even just an extra ⅛-inch in thickness adds considerable weight to the steel—the ½-inch thick steel clocks in at 32 pounds! This could stress your oven rack, not to mention your back when maneuvering it around.
We tested their standard ¼-inch thickness, and enjoyed crusts just as beautifully bubbled and blistered as those we cooked on the Original Baking Steel. The ¼-thickness seems to us the Goldilocks ideal: thick enough that the steel can do what it does best for your pizzas, but not so thick that it’s a liability when you need to move it around.
Similar to the Original Baking Steel, the NerdChef is a bit expensive and due to its weight, can be difficult and a little awkward to move around. But it’ll likely live right in your oven, and thanks to its elemental simplicity, it’s certain to last multiple lifetimes, so we think it’s worth the price.
Size: 14.25"x16"x.25"
Weight: 16 lb.
The best pizza stone: FibraMent-D Pizza Stone
Some home cooks prefer stones over steels because they find them to be more versatile for baking beyond pizza—since stones don’t hold heat as well as steel, they’re less prone to over-cooking things that take longer to bake at high temperatures, like bread and certain pastries. (We don’t find this to be a problem for baking at lower temperatures, though, and typically just leave our steels on the oven racks full-time.)
If you’re looking for a stone, you can’t go wrong with the FibraMent-D Pizza Stone. It’s ¾-inch thick and weighs 17 pounds, so it feels nearly as substantial and sturdy as a steel, and thanks to the beveled edge, is slightly easier to maneuver into and out of an oven than the other straight-edge stone models. It does require seasoning in the oven for a few hours before use, and the manufacturer advises only using a dry rag to clean it (the stone should never come in contact with liquids, else it could crack).
Stones, unlike steels, can crack. Obviously this can happen due to accidental drops, but it can also happen from thermal shock, or even 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, such cracks, if they develop at all, usually happen after years not months; we didn’t have it happen in our testing. But it is a reason that, for making pizza, we generally prefer steels to stones.
Size: 15"x20"x.75"
Weight: 17 lbs.
Pizza stones vs. pizza steels
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.
Some pizza 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, assuming they’re preseasoned, usually arrive ready to go, which is a plus for impatient bakers. Also, durability, which can be an issue for stones (they 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.
Notes on safety
Despite such simple shape and function, baking steels are the type of cookware that require caution while in use, especially for beginner home cooks. It’s a good idea to invest in some sturdy heat-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 oven mitts 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.
On that note, when your pizza is done cooking, do not attempt to take out the stone with the pizza. Instead, use a pizza peel to transfer the pie to a pizza pan or cooling rack. Keep the steel in the oven until it has cooled completely.
We also advise against frozen pizzas on pizza stones because, again, they can crack when suddenly exposed to lower temperatures (like a pizza straight out of the freezer). You can make frozen pizzas to your heart’s content on a steel though.
How we tested
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, measuring the temperature of the steel with an infrared thermometer to gauge how the stones and steel absorbed and held onto the heat, both as the oven preheated and once it was turned off.
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 a galette on a piece of parchment paper directly on top of each model; and finally, roasting a sheet pan of carrots tossed 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.
Other stones and steels we tested
From the makers of the well-regarded cast iron skillet, the Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast-Iron Baking Pan has a number of distinguishing features. First off, it’s made of cast-iron, another terrific material for heat retention and conduction. Second, it’s round in shape and almost looks like a paella pan, with handles and a rim that’s about ¼-inch tall around the circumference. By using it like a steel—preheating it in the oven as we did the others, then sliding pizzas directly onto it— we got crispy crusts and admirable blistering, and thanks to the handles, we found it much easier to maneuver in and out of the oven. Other online reviewers called out its broad versatility as a stovetop cooking vessel for things like dosa, pancakes, and tortillas, as well as general stovetop sauteing and searing, and at about $70, it’s a great value for a piece of cookware that’s nearly indestructible. While most cooks would likely learn to work with its unique shape as a pizza steel, the raised edge makes sliding the pans in and out of the oven slightly trickier, and without a fully flat surface, you can’t leave it in the oven full-time. But this is a great choice for those who are interested in broader versatility on the stove-top or for baking other types of foods.
Ooni, maker of the popular, and in our opinion, the best pizza ovens, offers a steel for traditional home oven pizza making. It’s square and just slightly thinner than other pizza steels we tested. With proper preheating, we got admirable blistering and the crisp-chewy pizza crusts we were hoping for, and its thinner, smaller shape makes it a bit easier to maneuver and lug around. We found the smaller, square shape to be a bit limiting—at 13 inches, you’ll need to wield your pizza steel with confidence and dexterity to ensure that it lands squarely on the steel. While home pizza makers will learn to adapt, we think that a larger, rectangular shape is the better way to go.
The Old Stone Pizza Kitchen (formerly Honey Can Do) Rectangular Pizza Stone is a great value at just $40. At 14 by 16 inches it has plenty of surface area, and with ½-inch in thickness (its Amazon page lists the thickness at ¾ inch, which we measured to be incorrect), it’s relatively lightweight and easy to move around. We didn’t find that the pizzas had quite as pronounced blistering as the thicker FibraMent (or any of the steels that we tested) and the stone benefitted from more time in between pizza bakes in order to preheat. But for an inexpensive stone that can improve your pizza game, and will also live full-time on your oven rack—applying gentle, even heat underneath pie pans and baking sheets—it’s a stone you likely won’t regret purchasing.
This baking steel was on par in performance of the Original Baking Steel and the NerdChef, yielding puffy, charred, crisp crusts. The only difference is that the Dough-Joe steels are limited to square-shaped surface areas. As we found with the Ooni, we think that this shape can be limiting, allowing less of a buffer when sliding pizzas in and out when making larger pizzas, and not as good of a match when baking sheet pans directly on top of them.
The Pizzacraft Thermabond Baking Stone performed 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.
The Pizzacraft Rectangle Baking Steel is 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.
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The K Rocksheat Pizza Stone is 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.
The Emile Henry Flame-Top Pizza Stone looked 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.
The Boska Ceramic Pizza Stone baked 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.
The King Arthur Baking Steel did 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 the Fiero Forni Italian Pizza Stone is 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.
The takeaway
Any of these stones or steels will improve your home baking, but the Original Baking Steel takes the top prize because of its versatility and indestructible construction. If you’re looking for the best baking stone, choose the FibraMent-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.
Looking for other pizza making tools? Check out reviews of best pizza cutters and best pizza ovens too.
