It happened again, another pizza night was ruined because of a broken pizza stone. What should I do now? Why did my pizza stone crack? And is it possible to fix it?
Despite the name, pizza stones are not made from stone, but most commonly clay or ceramic. They are usually pretty thin, and therefore fragile. The most common reason for cracked pizza stones is a sudden temperature change, either from putting a cold stone into a hot oven or placing a cold pizza on the hot pizza stone. Another reason is that the fragile stone is not handled carefully enough, and is broken by an external force, such as a hard knock from your
My Pizza Stone Just Cracked, What Do I Do Now?
I’ve been there many times, the pizza stone suddenly cracked when I was baking pizza. It’s frustrating and a bit scary. But keep calm and don’t panic!
It Suddenly Cracked During Baking!
If your pizza is still on the pizza stone, just let it finish baking without touching the pizza stone. Remove the pizza from the oven with your
If it’s not possible to save the pizza, turn the oven off immediately, and let the stone cool down completely. You’ll just have to wait to clean up the mess.
Why Did My Pizza Stone Crack?
Pizza stones are usually pretty thin and made from clay or ceramic. Both these materials crack easily, from either sudden change in temperature, dropping of the pizza stone, or improper storage.
Sudden Change in Temperature
The main reason for cracked pizza stones is a sudden temperature change. The material expends and shrinks with the temperature, it therefore weakens the the stone when this happens. If your oven is pre-heating at a high temperature, like you want when you’re baking pizza, it’s probably hundreds of degrees’ temperature difference. Therefore the most common cause of cracking is putting the stone in a hot oven.
Similarly, you have to be careful when you take the stone out of the oven. The reason is that you’ll have the same huge temperature difference. Always let the stone cool down before you remove it from the oven. And never take the hot pizza stone out of the oven, and cool it down in the sink under running water!
Another, less obvious cause of cracking because of temperature is cooking cold food on a hot stone. For that reason, you should avoid using cold pizza dough on the pizza stone. The same goes for frozen pizza.
Be Careful With Your Pizza Stone!
Another thing that can make your pizza stone crack is that you’re not careful enough with your pizza stone. Since it’s thin and fragile, dropping it, or dropping something on the stone may cause cracking. Even a light knock from a
You should also be careful when you’re storing the pizza stone. Avoid storing anything (heavy) on top of your pizza stone, and in general handle the pizza stone with care.
Moisture
A third reason for cracking is moisture, that will weaken the stone. You should therefore never soak it in water, and generally try to avoid using too much water when you’re cleaning your pizza stone.
You Got a Bad Pizza Stone
If you buy a cheap pizza stone, or you’re simply unlucky, the pizza stone may come with a weakness in the material when you buy it. If that’s the case it will crack even more easily from any of the above reasons. I, therefore, recommend stopping using the pizza stone if you can see any signs of cracks or weakness on the surface.
How to Prevent Cracking
Avoid Temperature Shock
To prevent cracking, you must avoid temperature shock. Therefore, when you’re going to use your pizza stone, place the stone in the oven before you turn it on. Then let the pizza stone come to a temperature with the oven.
You should also make sure your pizza dough is at room temperature when you’re baking your pizza. This will also make it easier to stretch out the pizza, so room temperature is the way to go. You should also avoid baking frozen pizza in your pizza stone.
After you’re done baking pizza, it’s also important to let the pizza stone cool down completely before you attempt to remove it from the oven.
Handle the Pizza Stone Carefully
Since thin, ceramic pizza stones are fragile, it’s important to handle them carefully. Both when you move and store the stone.
Pizza stones are big and heavy and can be hard to store. I’ve seen many people store them under all their oven trays and pots and pans, but this is bad for your stone. You generally want to avoid putting anything on top of your pizza stone. If any heavy items are placed on top, they can easily crack.
Another thing to avoid is dropping the pizza stone. This can be horrible for your toe and pizza stone!
Make Sure You Get a Pizza Stone in Good Condition
Some pizza stones can come with a crack from the store when you get it. I therefore recommend inspecting the pizza stone carefully before you buy it (if possible) or before you start using it. If there is any visible damage on the stone’s surface, it will most likely crack within the first few times of use.
Can You Use a Cracked Pizza Stone?
If just a small corner has come off, or there is still a slab that’s big enough to bake pizza on, you can keep using your stone. If it has split into smaller pieces, you can still use it, but it’s not ideal.
When a pizza stone cracks, it usually splits into two (or sometimes more) pieces, that will still fit snuggly together. It’s therefore possible to put the pieces together and bake your pizza on them. This will however probably result in a mess and at the very least an uneven cook. So using a cracked pizza stone should only be an emergency solution. I strongly recommend replacing your pizza stone if it cracks.
How to Fix a Cracked Pizza Stone
It is possible to fix a cracked pizza stone using a high-heat mortar (affiliate link). If you already have high-heat mortar lying around, it is worth a try. But considering the cost of replacing a pizza stone is fairly low, I recommend getting a new one instead.
Are There Any Better Alternatives to Avoid Cracked Pizza Stones?
I have been through a lot of pizza stones, but every single one of them cracked eventually. Some lasted a couple of years, others only a few pizzas. So naturally I was wondering if there are any better alternatives if you want to make crispy, Italian pizza at home. I’ve found wot alternatives: getting thicker, quality pizza stones, or a
Thicker Pizza Stone
The main reason pizza stones crack so easily is that they’re so thin. A solution is therefore to get a thicker pizza stone.
A thicker pizza stone is less prone to cracking and will outlast the thin pizza stones. You still have to be careful with them and follow the same guidelines to prevent cracking, as described above.
Pizza Steel – a Better Way to Cook Pizza
The last, and best, option is to replace your broken pizza stone with a
Pizza steels are both more durable and conduct heat better than pizza stones. They therefore bake even crispier and better pizza! Another problem with pizza stones, that we haven’t discussed in this article is that they are quite hard to clean. I had to throw away a couple of stones because it was impossible to get them properly cleaned up. This is also a huge benefit of pizza steels over stones, they are much easier to clean.
A quality
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