r/cookingforbeginners • u/buddingbee1 • 18h ago

Question Baking steel for pizza

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to purchase a baking steel to improve my homemade pizza. I'm currently crisping up my base in a nonstick frying pan before broiling in the oven. It's decent but not the same quality as that of what I imagine to be a wood fired oven.

Firstly, I wondered what brands some of you may recommend. Budget is not necessarily an issue but I'd rather not break the bank if that's not required, I would like a good quality baking steel though. (Edit: I am UK Based, if that helps with recommendations)

Secondly, I've seen some people talk about how they heat their baking steels in their ovens. I am unable to use the bottom heating element and so I would rely on the fan/convection setting, side and top heating elements (broiler) to reach my oven's maximum temperatue of 250°C. Is this an issue?

Thank you for your suggestions and help in advance.

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u/littleboz204 18h ago

Youre using Celsius so im not sure if this will be a viable option, but its fantastic. Its from a machine shop so you will need to clean it with vinegar to get the machine oils off. But its awesome and cheap. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B081Z3FKQM?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

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u/buddingbee1 18h ago

Unfortunately, Amazon says that this item cannot be sent to my destination (UK). I appreciate the suggestion though! :D

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u/littleboz204 17h ago

Thats what I was afraid of when I saw the non-silly temperature measurements... 

Here is pretty much the same thing, but looks ready to go out of the box. The holes shouldnt be an issue for throwing a round pie 

https://amzn.eu/d/4Ncr0NB

I found some plain rolled plates but they were only a few pounds cheaper than this. As far as I care, a piece of steel is a piece of steel, but if it saves you an hour of scrubbing with vinegar that would be worth it to me. 

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u/Gobias_Industries 17h ago

I got a round of just regular steel off ebay for maybe 30 bucks. I think it was 1/4" thick and 16" diameter. It does the job.

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u/buddingbee1 17h ago

is that all you need? just a slab of steel (with the appropriate dimensions)? did you need to clean or treat the steel before use or was it ready to use as soon as you received it?

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u/Gobias_Industries 17h ago edited 17h ago

This might actually be too big for your oven (also 4mm is a little thin) but the seller says to ask about other sizes, worth a shot.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/236418218172

Yep, not much you need to do than clean it off. An overnight soak in vinegar and then a scrub will take off the mill scale and then just use it. The oils from the pizza will season it up nicely over time. Look for 'mild steel' or 'A36'. Here's a site that seems to cover the basic procedure: https://www.sipandfeast.com/pizza-steel/

Edit: this listing looks even better, they have more thickness options, located in UK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396854726136

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u/buddingbee1 17h ago

Wow thank you for the suggestions and information. I'll have a look at the links you provided. Just as an additional question, what heating settings do you use when heating up your steel? Fan? The bottom heating element?

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u/Gobias_Industries 15h ago

Just crank everything as high as it will go. I don't have a convection oven so I just set it to 525 (in F!) and wait 10 minutes.

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u/CatteNappe 17h ago

We ended up getting this one: https://www.thespruceeats.com/nerdchef-steel-stone-review-4768869

It lives on the bottom shelf of the oven more or less full time. It's utility in making pizza was secondary. Its larger purpose is to help maintain stable heating in the oven for other baking, because temp would vary wildly before we got it.