A well-cooked pizza is simply irresistible and you can never have enough. The crispy texture and tantalizing taste are what ensures our loyalty to this alluring dish. The best pizzas are cooked using a pizza stone which mimics the effect of using a brick oven. If you are wondering how to get an ideal stone for baking your pizza, get vital information from https://www.castelegance.com/top-four-pizza-stones-grill/, In addition to having the stone, it is important to know how to clean it in the best and safest way. Here are a few tip on how to clean your pizza stone.
For starters, soap is a NO NO! Never ever use soap to clean the stone. It may be tempting since soap is universally considered the best cleaning agent, but for a pizza stone, avoid it. Reason being, the stone is porous and it will absorb the soap. The next time you cook, you will have a soapy taste you can’t just wish away. Simply put, soap can ruin your pizza stone for good and you will never have authentic tasting pizzas as before.
In order to clean the stone, you first have to let it cool down. Remember pizza cooks with over 200 degrees Celsius and after you are done the heat is lost slowly. Therefore, give it a few hours to cool down before attempting to clean it. If you must remove it from the oven a bit earlier, make sure to use heat-resistant gloves to avoid burning yourself and also place the stone on a heat resistant surface.
After the stone has cooled down, the best way to work on it is by scraping it off. The main dirt that is usually on the stone is pieces of food stuck on the surface. This is the reason why scraping is the most common process of cleaning your pizza stone. There are several items you can use in the scraping, the most popular being a spatula, bench scraper, blunt knife or a hard brush. Gently scrub off the food pieces and do not be worried about the stained parts. As you use the stone more it will certainly have discolored areas and this should be no cause for worry.
Another good way of cleaning the stone is with the use of baking soda and water. You need to mix the
two in equal measure and mix thoroughly until they form a paste with a consistency similar to that of toothpaste. This solution works in removing stains that are deep set and which simple scraping cannot do. If you are wondering whether it will alter the taste of your pizza, rest assured it won’t since it’s only mildly abrasive. First, remove the big chunks with a spatula before applying the paste. Apply the paste and scrub the stone starting with the problematic parts first. After that, wipe with a damp piece of cloth.
As a last resort, you can use the self-clean option in your oven. In order to use this method, first clean your oven well to remove any grease stains. Next, clean the stone of any excess food particles before placing it in the oven. After you have placed it, set the oven to 500 degrees. You need to gradually increase the heat to prevent the stone from cracking. However, you should try avoiding this option since you may end up cracking your stone irrespective of following the process.
