ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Testing Out The Pizza Stone

Recently, I acquired a complimentary pizza stone from CSN Stores with the caveat that I must review it — a task that I was more than happy to undertake. The product in question: Fox Run Craftsmen 3-Piece Round Pizza Stone Set. That’s right: this wasn’t just a stone. It was a set. Color me excited.

First things first, I needed pizza dough. When I first decided to embark on this pizza odyssey, it was 11:30 PM, which I realize is late but such is the way life happens. I knew i could have made the dough in my bread machine, but that process would take an hour and a half, and I didn’t want to wait until 1:30 AM to have my first bites of pizza. Luckily, there is a dreadful pizza place just down the street from me that I knew was open, and even though they have what is widely regarded as the worst pizza in Los Angeles, I figured I could still buy some dough from them for about $2 or $3.

And so I trekked down to Raffalo’s — I shudder to even speak its name — and walked into the restaurant, which of course was empty on account of how generally BAD it is. I asked if they sold pizza dough, and a rather sturdy woman looked at me and said, “Dough? Uh, yes. $7.” Really? REALLY? Seven dollars for a small ball of dough? FROM RAFFALO’S? This wasn’t like Pizzeria Mozza. This was Ra-frickin’-lo’s.

I immediately gave the woman a disgusted look and said, “Seven dollars? For dough?” causing her to respond, “Well, this isn’t just any dough. This is OUR dough!” I then became all indignant and said, “Uh, thanks. I’ll pass.” And to that the woman retorted, “You can probably go to Domino’s. They’ll give it to you for cheap. But not US.”

Shut up, lady.

Well, as hungry as I was, I refused to be fleeced by Raffalo’s, and so I put the whole pizza plan to rest until the next day when I was able to buy a purdy little ball of whole wheat dough from Fresh & Easy. Problem solved.

Next up: the sauce. I found a cool recipe online that seemed crazy in its simplicity. I thought for sure pizza sauce would involve simmering tomatoes on a stovetop and carefully adding spices and flavorings along the way. Not necessarily! The recipe I used had me mix tomato paste with warm water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste (optional, but I recommend it), onion powder, marjoram, basil, pepper, cayenne, red pepper flakes, and salt to taste. Surprise, surprise — it worked quite well. Perhaps a touch too sweet, but I just upped the garlic and pepper to give it more of a savory bent.

Le Sauce.

The pizza stone set: the stone, a flimsy pizza cuter, and a little stand.

As per the directions, I place the stone in the cold oven and let it heat up with everything else. Cold stone + hot oven = cracks and disaster!

Meanwhile, I roll out my dough into a nice sized pizza (no larger than 12″, the diameter of my stone) and cover it with sauce. Why the parchment paper below? WELL…

Turns out that my pizza stone kit didn’t have a paddle or “peel,” — a.k.a. one of those broad things that allows people to transfer a pizza from a counter to a blazing hot stone. In the past, when I’d made pizza, I’d lay the circle of dough on the pizza pan and dress it from there. However, I couldn’t do that with the stone because a) it would begin to cook the dough, b) it would be way too hot for my precious finger tips to risk touching, and c) the stone might actually cool down during the pizza creation process.

As a result, I needed to make my pizza on the counter and then somehow transfer it to the stone — no easy task without a peel. My friend jash came up with the smart idea of simply transferring the pizza via parchment paper, which is what I had to resort to, but I couldn’t help feeling major frustration that a pizza stone KIT wouldn’t have a peel too. Now I have to go buy one, which isn’t the end of the world, but I come from a school where once you buy a KIT, you shouldn’t have to buy other accessories to fully use said kit. Also, I like to complain.

Nevertheless, I forge onward with my pizza, adding shredded mozzarella and pepperoni. Usually I skimp on the cheese a bit, but this time, I really went all out (not that you can see because the giant pepperoni slices are blocking the view).

Despite not having a peel, I manage to get the pizza in the hot oven where it bakes away quietly.

About ten minutes or so later, the pizza is ready to go…

The royal stand awaits.

Ta-da! You can’t see, but the pizza is resting atop the stone, which in turn is perched on its stand. Also, the pepperoni shrunk a lot.

Oh look, the pizza cutter works!

The final product.

The Verdict: gooooood. This was some damn good homemade pizza. The sauce was delicious, even despite being a shade too sweet, and the crust perfectly crispy. I might wager to say this was the best homemade pizza I’d ever cooked. Not so bad for a $20.00 pizza kit.

The lack of a peel, however, is a real problem. If you’re going to grab yourself a stone or a stone kit, just be sure to procure a peel too. Otherwise, it’s all rather useless (unless you want to futz awkwardly with parchment paper like I did).