Home › Home & Kitchen › Kitchen & Dining › Bakeware › Pizza Stones How to Use a Pizza Stone Published: July 9, 2026 · Updated: July 9, 2026
Put the cold stone on a middle or lower rack, heat the oven to its highest setting, and let the stone soak up that heat for a full 45–60 minutes before you bake. Slide the pizza on with a peel dusted with semolina or flour (or on parchment), and the stored heat crisps the base fast — never wash it with soap or plunge it in cold water while hot, which cracks it.
Recommended Preheat the stone 45–60 min at max heat, launch with a floured peel, and never soap or shock it — A pizza stone works by being a big heat battery: it must be fully saturated with heat so it blasts the underside of the dough the moment the pizza lands, which is why timing the preheat matters more than anything. Set the stone in a cold oven (going in cold avoids thermal shock), crank the oven to its maximum — usually 250°C/480°F or higher — and wait a full 45–60 minutes after it reaches temperature, not just until the oven beeps. Build the pizza on a peel scattered with semolina or flour so it slides freely, or on a sheet of parchment if you're nervous, then launch it straight onto the hot stone; a frozen pizza goes right on too. Because it's porous, never use soap (it soaks in and taints the next bake) or set a hot stone under cold water or on a cold surface — the shock cracks it. Let it cool completely in the oven, then scrape off crumbs and wipe with a damp cloth; stains and darkening are normal and harmless. The same routine crisps bread and reheats leftover slices.
