What could be better than a pizza stone? A pizza stone works as a portable baking oven, making crispy and pleasantly browned pizza crusts. Whether you live in a studio apartment or a log house in the woods, you can turn your kitchen into a chic pizzeria with minimal effort and a trustworthy pizza stone. However, because these stones offer delicious foods, they demand careful attention. Unlike a soiled casserole dish, you don’t want to soak your pizza stone in boiling soapy water overnight. You want to use as little water as possible on your pizza stone. Keep soap away from your pizza stone as a rule of thumb. Why? Read on and find out how to clean without soap and water. If you did use soap already, learn how to get soap taste out of pizza stone.
What Happens When You Clean Pizza Stone with Soap?
A pizza stone is a movable stone plate that allows home chefs to make pizza and other dishes with a crispier crust. In general, you don’t want to clean your pizza stone very often because cooking pizza will cause it to season up. If you do need to clean it, make sure you do it properly. Some procedures, such as soaking or using soapy water, might permanently damage your stone. Why does this happen? It’s because pizza stone has pores (little holes inside). The soap will enter within the pores of the pizza stone and make your baked food taste like soap. It’s possible that once you’ve ruined your stone with soap, it’ll never be the same again.
Most soaps include waxes and oils that tend to attach to the seasoning on a pizza stone, thus we don’t recommend using them. The soapy residue can then be transferred to food, creating a soapy scent and/or flavor. If required, wipe your pizza stone with a damp towel dipped in warm water. You seriously wouldn’t want the soap to sit on the pizza stone for too long, as it will cause serious issues.
How To Remove That Soapy Taste?
In case you didn’t know about the downsides of cleaning pizza stones with soap, then you probably are stuck with your pizza tasting soapy. Well, every problem in the world comes with a solution.
Technique #1
Now first, take your pizza stone, and bake it on a grill at least until the stone is no longer smoking. After that, we recommend soaking it in water. Baking it removes the hydrocarbons from the soap molecules as well as any other greasy residue from the pores of the stone. Baking will produce a caustic ash residue, which will be removed by soaking in water. After soaking in water, bake at 250 degrees F until completely dry. Your stone will be as good as new after this treatment.
Technique #2
Unroll crescent rolls and cover the whole baking surface with them, then bake as indicated. Remove the rolls from the stone when they are done baking and discard them. So that your next pizza doesn’t taste like soap, the rolls should have absorbed the most of the soapy flavor.
Now that you know how to remove that soap out of the pizza stone, causing your pizzas to taste soapy, it’s time for you to learn how to clean a pizza stone. Learning how to clean a pizza stone is very important, as mishaps like these don’t occur then.
How To Clean A Pizza Stone?
A pizza stone is a flat piece of porous material, such as ceramic, stone, or cast iron. Whatever product you use to clean the pizza stone with, it will absorb it. This could affect the flavor of the dish. In addition, too much wetness will damage the texture of the pizza dough. When the pizza is heated, the pizza stone absorbs moisture from the dough, resulting in a crispier crust. If there is water trapped in the stone, the crust will not crisp up. Before cleaning the pizza stone, ensure it has cooled completely. You don’t want to burn your hands or drop the stone because of the heat trapped inside.
Following are the tools you need to clean the pizza stone.
- Table knife with a sharp edge
- a spatula made of metal
- spatula made of plastic
- Stone Brush for pizza stones
- pads for scouring
- Toothbrush
- Bench Scraper
While some of these tools might scratch your pizza stone, they are surely going to help you out in cleaning carefully. However, it’s recommended to only use them when you have tried all other options for removing burned or trapped food. Unless you enjoy the flavor of soapy pizza, never use dish soap or any other cleaning agents on your pizza stone. Water is the only cleaning solution you should use on your pizza stone, and even that should be used cautiously.
How To Get Soap Taste Out Of Pizza Stone – Steps for Cleaning Your Pizza Stone
If you don’t have any soap on your pizza stone, here’s how to clean it:
1st Step: Using a short stream of hot water, wet the surface of the pizza stone. Use as little water as possible since the pizza stone must be dry before being used or stored.
2nd Step: Scrub the pizza stone well with a stone brush.
3rd Step: With a wet cloth, wipe away any food particles.
4th Step: Allow the pizza stone to air dry or dry it with a clean cloth.
5th Step: If you scrape away food with the brush first, then no need to use any water at all. Water may aid in the loosening of food, although it is not required.
6th Step: Store your pizza stone in the oven between uses to reduce the odds of it breaking, and it will be seasoned every time you use it.
The steps above will help you in cleaning your pizza stone the right way, allowing you to never go for buying another one again.
How To Get Soap Taste Out Of Pizza Stone – Bes Way to Preserve Pizza Stone For Future Use
To preserve pizza stone for future use, simply use water. Yes!! The only moisture you want to introduce to your stone is plain old water. However, you can also clean using a baking soda and vinegar mixture, but that’s a different story. Here are things you shouldn’t put on your pizza stone:
- Cleaning chemicals for soap
- Oils
- Detergent
- Shampoo
Natural oils from the items you cook will build up in the stone, making it non-stick. The pizza stone will not bake the pizza crust properly if it becomes too moist. Before utilizing your pizza stone, make sure it is thoroughly dry. You can wipe off any crumbs away with a moist cloth if required, but make sure the pizza stone is dry afterward. What I mean to say is, that the cloth shouldn’t be too wet, that it doesn’t allow the pizza stone to easily dry afterward.
What About The Stains? How To Clean them?
Stains on a pizza stone represent all that food you cooked on it. Consider all of the amazing pies you’ve baked on your stone. These natural and wanted marks of delicious meals and nice moments may be on the stone. Unless you can’t take the sight of the stains, there’s no need to remove them. Here’s what you should do if you want to get rid of stains:
- Scrape away any remaining food with a spatula or brush.
- Combine 1 tablespoon of water with 1 tablespoon of baking soda as a paste
- Scrub the spots with the paste. Work the paste in circles with a brush until the spots are gone.
- Using a moist towel, wipe the surface.
- Allow for thorough drying of the stone.
Baking soda, unlike soap, can remove stains from the stone without harming the flavor of subsequent pizzas. Remember that deeper stains on your pizza stone are normal, and you don’t need to worry about over-cleaning it. More seasoning and greater non-stick properties are associated with a darker pizza stone.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Can we Use a Dishwasher To Clean Pizza Stone?
Many people might wonder if soapy water causes issues to the pizza stone, then can they put it in the dishwasher instead? Well, the answer is no!!! The dishwasher also cleans the dishes using soap. You can simply not clean the dishes without using the dishwashing detergent, and dishwashing detergent contain soap. Yes, it might not be the same soap as others, but it’s still there. When cleaning the pizza stone, avoid soaking it in water or using soap or detergent. A heated pizza stone should never be dipped in chilly or cold water.
This will make the situation even worse for the pizza stone, leading to permanent damage.
Can We Put Oil On Pizza Stone?
Oil should never be used on a pizza stone. Unlike cast iron, which has a smooth surface, stone has a porous ceramic surface that does not season. 10 minutes before putting the bread/pizza in, reduce the temperature to the required temperature. Never, ever, ever put it in water or apply oil to it. Once that oil adds up on the pizza stone, it enters the pores, leading to permanent damage. Now, you can never take that oil back out of the pores of a pizza stone. So be careful. Also, bear in mind if you put oil under pizza dough for it to not stick with the pizza stone, you’re in for a burn. Many cases have been reported where people who put oil on pizza stones saw their oven smoking and their pizza burning.
Understandably, you want to apply oil to the pizza stone because you don’t want the pizza to stick. But this is not the right way of doing it. Try using different types of floors instead, to stop pizza bread from sticking.
Conclusion
To extend the life of your pizza stone, it’s important to follow everything mentioned in this article. And don’t forget to avoid using soap. You’ll need a moist dishcloth and some warm water for this. Wet the towel with hot water and squeeze out any extra liquid before using it to wipe down both sides of the pizza stone. If persistent stains remain after two or three wipe-downs, sprinkle a little amount of baking soda onto a damp sponge and scrape away at them until they’re gone. Rinse well with cool water and dry completely before storing for the next time.
Hopefully, you learned how to get soap taste out of pizza stone. It’s time to start making great pizzas again!
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