If you’re looking to take your frozen pizza game to the next level, a pizza stone is your secret weapon. A pizza stone is a versatile cooking tool that helps distribute heat evenly, resulting in a golden-brown crust that’s delightfully crunchy.
Let’s explore the art of using a pizza stone specifically for frozen pizzas, ensuring that you achieve a restaurant-quality experience right in the comfort of your own home.
Most people have cooked frozen pizza at least once, and it is easy to assume that everyone knows what it is.
You probably made your own homemade pizza at some point as well if you’re adventurous in the kitchen.
A pizza oven is not accessible to most people, so they must use their basic kitchen oven. It’s for this reason that pizza stones are so useful.
What Is A Pizza Stone?
Using a pizza stone, a pizza crust can be evenly cooked by distributing heat throughout the surface. A perfectly crisp crust is also achieved by removing moisture from the dough.
Pizza ovens mimic true pizza ovens in essence, which ultimately improves the quality of the pizza.
Compared to just using an oven, pizza stones can provide a much higher level of quality to your pizza.
It should be noted, however, that the stone has some limitations, and you might want to think twice before using it to cook frozen pizza.
How To Make The Most Of A Frozen Pizza?
When cooking a frozen pizza, try the following next time you like your crust crispy on the bottom and slightly brown on top:
Before you begin, let the pizza thaw on the counter for an hour. Keep it food-safe, though – unless it’s cold in the kitchen.
Heat your oven to the hottest temperature possible and place a pizza stone inside. Be sure to turn on the fan/convection mode if your oven has one.
On the hot stone, place the thawed pizza. Then cook it until it’s done to your liking, watching it closely. Depending on how hot your oven is, it should take no more than 6 to 8 minutes.
What To Know Before Baking Your Frozen Pizza On A Stone
A frozen pizza should never be cooked on a stone. It’s better to be safe than sorry in this case. Due to the fact that most stones are made of ceramic or something similar, they are susceptible to thermal shock.
As the name implies, it refers to a rapid change in temperature that causes strain on a product’s material, resulting in it breaking or cracking. A preheated oven is ideal for using a pizza stone; it maintains its high temperature that way.
Due to the pizza’s drastically lower temperature than the stone, the temperature can change rapidly if it is placed directly onto a preheated stone.
Baking a frozen pizza directly on the oven rack is more effective than cooking it on a stone. Consequently, its crust will crisp up and there will be no thermal shock. A frozen pizza can also be cooked on a baking sheet, though you might not get the same crunch.
Thaw The Pizza
Let your frozen pizza “lose its cool” to prevent the rapid temperature change. Allow the ice to melt at room temperature for two to three hours. You can cook the frozen pizza once it is no longer so cold.
But what if you don’t have time to let it rest for 2-3 hours? If this is the case, don’t worry, you can try these steps.
Use A Microwave
Pizza can be heated in a microwave. Microwaves are efficient and quick, so this is effective. If possible, choose a microwave oven combo with a pizza oven. They heat the pizza uniformly from the inside to the outside thanks to their convection mode.
During the heating of your pizza stone, microwave the frozen pizza. It takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes for the pizza to be ready, depending on its size and crust. You can place it on top of the stone once it is ready without worrying about a thermal shock.
Cook The Pizza
Microwaves are not preferred by many people as they feel they change the taste of pizza. Simply cook your pizza instead.
Put your pizza on the rack of your oven and preheat the oven. Place it gently on the pizza stone after it has been cooked for some time. That’s all there is to it. Toaster ovens can also be used here.
It is possible to cook frozen pizza in a compact toaster oven. With this gizmo, you can reduce the load on your primary oven.
When your pizza stone is cold, you are most likely to avoid thermal shock.
You won’t have to worry about temperature differences or thermal shock. In addition to being the most effective way to keep your pizza stone safe, it does not require any additional steps.
How To Properly Use A Pizza Stone?
You can get the most out of your pizza stone by following a few tips and tricks. You should never place anything frozen on your stone.
Don’t let the stone transition from the oven to the countertop while it’s too hot. As with frozen pizza, this can cause thermal shock.
Let the stone preheat with the oven while it is placed on the lowest rack. A thermal shock could occur if you place a cold stone in a preheated oven.
What Surface To Use?
Some pizza stones are flat on one side and have ridges on the other. Use the ridged side of the pizza stone to cook frozen pizzas. Thermal shock is less likely to occur on this side of the stone.
Pizza can be easily removed from the stone by placing a baking sheet on top. Here, you should use parchment paper.
The high cooking temperature of the oven would destroy the wax paper lining. Additionally, it keeps your pizza stone relatively clean, so you don’t have to clean it afterwards. Maintenance of a pizza stone is no joke!
Time To Turn Up The Oven
After the oven reaches your desired temperature, let the stone heat up for at least 30 minutes more. Once the uncooked pizza has been transferred to the stone, use a pizza peel to ensure its safety.
A full hour of preheating at 500 degrees is recommended. If you have extra time, you can cook the pizza at that temperature too.
Keep an eye on your pizza; you don’t want it to be overcooked. You can then take out your golden-brown pizza and devour it.
The End Process
The job isn’t over after you’ve cooked your pizza. If you are not careful, you might still damage your pizza stone. Pizza stones are extremely hot so make sure you use thick oven mitts when you take them out of the oven.
Use a pizza peel to remove your pizza from the stone. If you haven’t lined the stone with a baking sheet, you will need this. Slice the hot goodness after it has rested for a few minutes. It is easy to make a mess if you lack patience. That would be the last thing you would want after all this “hard work”.
Cleaning Up
It doesn’t take much to keep your pizza stone clean. It is possible to make many delicious pizzas from your pizza stone if you take good care of it. That includes cleaning it. You should use very little water and no soap when cleaning your stone.
To remove caked-on stains, scrub the stone with a stone brush and warm water; let it dry completely before reusing it.
Also, don’t dip it in water. In the long run, that causes the stone material to deteriorate. Prior to scrubbing the stone, make sure it has cooled completely.
Final Words
This concludes our guide on using a pizza stone for frozen pizzas. All you need to know about cooking delicious pizza at home is covered in this article. Now you know what to do if you’re hungry and have a frozen pizza in the refrigerator or would like to reheat pizza on a pizza stone.
