10 Uses for a Pizza Stone

Baking stones are heavy and take up a lot of space.

And yet I own at least a dozen of them.

I love my baking stones. I have all shapes and sizes, ranging from small flat ones to big, heavy 9x13s to a couple of covered bakers.

It's like a little family of cookware.

A few people on Twitter this week said they had stones sitting unused in their kitchens, and they asked me what they could use those stones to make.

Oh my!

As with the original tool in this series (the bundt pan), I was shocked that people have stones that they don't use. I use one or more of mine at least once a day.

I decided to focus on the flat "pizza" stone today. The following list is just a small sample of its possible uses.

As is my tradition, I didn't include the original, intended use for the stone on my list. That means neither homemade pizza (not even heart-shaped pizza) nor frozen pizza appears below.

{Following the list, please find some tips for cleaning, seasoning, and using your stone.}

10 Uses for a Pizza Stone

1. Convenience foods. Honestly, this is probably what we use our flat stones for the most, aside from pizza. Chicken nuggets, frozen french fries, jalapeno poppers, biscuits, frozen pizza, Hot Pockets, pizza bites... all of those frozen convenience foods will cook better if you put them on a stone in the oven.
2. Homemade (and healthy!) chicken nuggets - To make homemade chicken nuggets, combine corn flake crumbs with grated Parmesan cheese (the freshly grated stuff, not that white powder in the can). Cut a chicken breast into strips or bite-sized pieces. Dip the pieces into beaten egg, then into the corn flake/cheese mixture. Bake on a stone at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Homemade (and healthy!) french fries - Basically, you just cut the potato into fry shapes, season, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350.
4. Homemade (and healthy!) snacks - To make potato chips, cut the potato into thin slices, season, and bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Alternately, cut pitas or tortilla into wedges and bake for 8 to 12 minutes at 350.
5. Falafels - I like to make falafels on my stone. The nice thing about stoneware is that the stone absorbs excess moisture. That makes your falafels light and crisp and not at all soggy. Perfect!
6. Homemade pretzels - When we made these, we used a kit from Auntie Anne's, but you could just as easily use a recipe and make pretzels from scratch. Want a quicker way to make pretzels at home? Use prepared breadstick dough, form into pretzel shapes, and bake.
7. Quesadillas - Take a tortilla, add a handful of cheese and whatever toppings you like (sliced black olives, mushrooms, and salsa if you're Joe and me), top with a second tortilla, and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes or until the cheese melts.
8. Mushroom bread - Roll out a package of crescent rolls on the stone. Add a tablespoon of melted butter to a pound of sliced fresh mushrooms, toss to coat. Spread mushrooms over the crescent rolls, top with grated Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
9. Apple strudel - This particular recipe is amazing, and it is super easy to create because it starts with crescent rolls.
10. Giant cookie - Cookie dough is naturally thick, so you don't have to worry about it running off of the stone. Use commercially prepared dough or a homemade recipe, spread it thick on the stone, and bake. You'll have to check it often; the large cookie will take a lot longer to bake than smaller cookies from the same recipe. When it's finished, you can decorate like a cake or top with fruit to make a dessert pizza.

Tips for Using a Baking Stone

• Did you notice that cookies were conspicuously absent from my list of uses? It's because I don't like cookies prepared on a stone. I think they turn out better on a metal baking sheet. I wanted to state that explicitly.
• If you're using your stone for the first time, bake something fatty on it or spritz it with a bit of cooking spray. Don't go overboard on the cooking spray, though, because it can make the stone sticky.
• Once the stone has become seasoned, it will have a non-stick quality.
• Don't ever use soap on your stone. Clean it with very hot water, scrape the debris off, and put it away. It's as simple as that!

What do you use your pizza stone for?

Have you seen the rest of the series?

Photo source