Frequent baking and dripped cheese can make the pizza stone sticky and get your pizza stuck. And the sticky nature of the pizza dough doesn’t make the situation any better. This leaves you searching for a solution to this problem.
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How to Remove Pizza Stuck to Stone?
Preheat your pizza stone and match its temperature to the temperature of the oven. Spread some flour on the pizza stone before placing the pizza dough on it. You can also use cornmeal powder as a substitute for flour. Use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza from the pizza stone.
We’re just getting started! Stick to us till the end to learn how to handle sticky pizzas.
Why is Pizza Dough Sticky?
Dough simply sticks to everything. It’s this property that makes dough stay together while cooking. Regardless of what food you’re baking with it, doughs will stick to basically any surface.
This useful property of dough can oftentimes be a nightmare for the baker. If you’ve ever baked a pizza before, you know what we’re talking about.
Be it a pizza stone or pizza screen, your pizza will give you a hard time.
The ingredients used in dough such as gluten and yeast combine together when kneaded. This bonding makes the dough smooth, springy, and elastic. As a result, dough sticks to almost anything it sits on.
The presence of water also plays a huge part in making the dough sticky. The more hydrated dough is, the more sticky it’ll get. Raw pizza doughs adhere to the surface of the pan once it’s exposed to heat.
How Does Pizza Stick to Pizza Stone?
Pizza stones can be an essential tool for those who find convenience in gourmet homemade pizzas. Pizza stones help the pizza to sear, giving it a crispy and thin crust.
Specifically designed to make pizza, even pizza stones can’t help but get stuck to pizzas. Judging from everyone’s complaints on the internet, something became clear to us—you’re all doing it wrong!
Here are the most common reasons why your pizzas get stuck to pizza stones-
Not Preheating The Stone
This is a common mistake most of us make while baking pizza. Not preheating the stone makes a huge mismatch in temperature between the stone and the oven.
The side of the dough sitting on the stone sticks to it more firmly. Your pizza will be baked and ready, but the bottom won’t be baked properly. As a result, you’ll be left with a pizza that remains stuck to the pizza stone.
Using Oily Stone
Some of us don’t clean the pizza stone after baking pizzas. We leave it unattended until we need it the next time. This is a highly unhygienic practice.
Leaving the pizza stone uncleaned lets the pizza residue stick on the stone. Pizza extras like cheese and sauce can stick to the stone, making it greasy. And greasy stone can be another big reason for your pizza to stick to the stone.
Many people also have a tendency to oil the stone before baking the pizza on it. They believe that it’ll help the pizza to bake well and get off easily. But what it actually does is clog the pores in the stone. It’ll only aid the pizza to stick to the stone.
Baking For Too Long
Another common mistake we notice people make is cooking the pizza for too long.
Some of us want our pizzas to have that extra crispy crust. So we let the pizza bake for an extra while in the oven. What we don’t understand is that this only incinerates the crust, making it stick more firmly.
How to Remove Pizza Stuck to Stone?
Removing pizza that’s stuck to the stone is a tricky thing. You should never let your pizza reach such a conclusion and prevent such scenarios from happening.
You can try the back and forth motion to get your pizza off the stone. Take a pizza peel and thrust it smoothly below the pizza. Jerk and pull the pizza a bit from the stone. Continue this process until you get the pizza off the stone.
Using two pizza peels instead of one can be even more helpful in this situation. Two pizza peels can cover much more area, getting you a cleaner peel of the pizza.
Not many brands offer quality pizza peels in the market. Despite that, we managed to find a few which satisfied our requirements. Here are some pizza peels you might wanna try out-
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Try out these pizza peels if you are struggling to have a clean peeling experience.
Keep a plate in your reach to put the pizza on. Make sure to throw some flour on the plate before placing the pizza on it.
This method might get your pizza off the stone, but it won’t ensure a clean peel. In fact, there’s no fix-it-all method once your pizza reaches this stage. So we highly suggest you take the necessary steps to make your pizza less sticky.
You can store your pizza by freezing it just like freezing baked croissants. Make sure to wrap the pizza in an airtight container before storing it in the refrigerator.
Tips to Prevent Pizza From Sticking
A well-baked pizza should never stick to the pizza stone by the time it’s ready. And to have that, we must perfectly execute some essential tricks.
Here’s how you can prevent your pizza from sticking to the pizza stone-
Preheat the Pizza Stone
Always start off by preheating the pizza stone to match the oven temperature. This will ensure that the crusts are evenly cooked and don’t stick to the stone. Put the stone in the oven and let it heat for 10 minutes before placing the dough.
Start With Little Water
The key is to use very little water in order to keep the dough less sticky. Doughs with high hydration will only give you a hard time picking them off.
Apply Cornmeal Powder
Apply a pinch of cornmeal to the stone before throwing it in the dough. This will ensure that the pizza won’t stick to the stone, and be cooked to perfection. You can also try flour instead. Flour can be a great substitute for cornmeal powder.
You should only use flour only when your dough is fully formed and ready for shaping. Do not apply flour while kneading the dough.
Avoid Using Oil
Do not apply any kind of oil to the pizza stone. You might think that doing so helps the pizza to bake properly. But it doesn’t.
Keep Track of The Temperature
Try not to overcook the pizza. Keep track of the temperature of your pizza. The best cooking temperature for pizzas is about 450-500 degrees F.
You can check the temperature of your pizza by using a green egg thermometer.
Use Two Dough Scrapers
Dough scrapers are a very handy tool to deal with messy situations. It’s very helpful when it comes to shaping your dough. You can also use dough scrapers to form your dough and mix flour.
We suggest that you use two dough scrapers for your pizza dough. Preferably a plastic, and a metal dough scraper.
Dough scrapers can easily clean up leftover doughs too, making them a versatile tool for the kitchen.
That’s all you need to keep your pizza from sticking to the pizza stone. Thanks to this, you can finally enjoy your pizza without going over any more fuss.
FAQs
Can you make pizza without a pizza stone?
Yes, you can. Although your pizza won’t have the same feel to it. You can bake your pizza on a regular oiled pan. Just make sure that you get the temperature right and don’t overcook the pizza.
Can I grill Pizza?
Of course, you can! You can either use a charcoal grill or a gas grill to bake your pizza. The advantage of a charcoal grill is that it’ll add a special flavor to your pizza. The best part is, it’s also very easy.
Where should pizza stone be stored?
After you’re done cleaning your pizza stone, dry it and store it somewhere clean. The place should be well-ventilated as well. A good place to store your pizza stone would be the bottom rack in the oven.
Wrapping Up
That’s everything we have on how to remove pizza stuck to the stone. Clean your pizza stone thoroughly after baking your pizza. Store the pizza stone somewhere clean and well-ventilated.
Thanks for investing your valuable time. Have a productive day!