Pizza from the Home (Depot) Hearth

Karen asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said, "a pizza stone." Then, I thought about it and surfed the net and changed my request to "a rectangular pizza stone." After scoping out the models on Amazon, with their varying sizes, I said, "a 16 x16 pizza stone, cuz ya know, I like big pizzas." Each time I updated Karen I worried that she'd already bought my present. She hadn't.


A little more surfing and I discovered that any hardware store would have ceramic tiles of all sizes (virtually the same as the product sold as a pizza stone). All I had to do was find an unglazed and untreated one in the size I wanted and bring it home for cheap. I called Karen one more time and asked her to hold off while I looked into this option. The retail pizza stones run from $20-50 (not including the $70 All-Clad model). At Lowe's, the tile isle was comparatively cheap and the options were dizzying. I didn't bother the staff with my confusing request ("You wanna do what with a floor tile?!?!"). Luckily, they had a natural stone tile or two (or several dozen, actually). I chose a 18 x 18 square to bring home in the hopes that it would fit into my cheap-ass Hot Point gas oven. Instant brick oven effect!


For me, the biggest catalyst in my decision to create a hearth for baking was the crust at Tarrantino's Pizza. The bottom of the crust is divinely crisped (same effect at 8 1/2 - and neither of them have brick ovens!). I want that. My pizzas suck in the crust department, even when I do them right on the rack (okay, if I grill the crust, then they're good). The solution is a piping hot rock to slide my pizza onto. It will absorb the moisture and sear the dough, to make it crisp and chewy. In the picture above, I achieved the crispy bottom crust effect and it was just the first time using the "pizza stone." Definitely a good sign.


Anywho, there's another story to be told about how I have a lot of work to do on my pizza dough technique (the yeast didn't activate much and I over kneaded the dough). But, I'm too excited to share the news about my new pizza stone for under $10 and the beginning of my new pizza making journey. Two more dough balls in the fridge. Any suggestion on how I should top them?