# Pizza stone/tile



## Kitchen sink (Feb 8, 2008)

I have cooked many a pizza on my gas BBQ but find that the stones crack and break after many uses. I am going to try unglazed tile next and am wondering if I should raise the tiles above the grill or lay them on the grill? Would appreciate any information that anyone might have.


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## Lost in Here (Jun 8, 2007)

It depends on the thermal properties of the tile. Like the stones, it will expand when it heats up and contract when it cools down. This leads to cracking after many uses. 

If you raise the tile above the grill, it will heat more evenly, thus should expand more uniformly, because it will not be in contact with the thermally conductive metal. 

This should lead to more use before it also cracks.

However, if the tiles don't expand much during the heating process the effects may be negligible. 

Long story short, raising it above the grill can't hurt, but leaving it on the grill could.


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## Kitchen sink (Feb 8, 2008)

Thanks for your advice. I will raise the tiles off the grill and see how long they last.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

You say your doing this outside so are you leaving the tile outside where it gets wet?
It may look dry on the outside but is not dry on the inside so once you put it on the heat it would expand more then if it was all dry.


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## Kitchen sink (Feb 8, 2008)

Yes I keep the tile outside, inside the covered BBQ and here in the desert of southern CA it only rains a couple of days a year. The stone was not wet, but I will make sure that it doesn,t get wet.
Thanks for the tip:up:


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Sounds like your keeping it the right way.


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## TechGuy (Feb 12, 1999)

How do you clean the stone? We've got one and have stuff really baked on there...


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Blowtorch!


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## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

TechGuy said:


> How do you clean the stone? We've got one and have stuff really baked on there...


you won't get it back to original cleanliness.

just clean it the best you can and leave it at that.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Don't know if it is good to do or not but PAM oil spray on it before cooking may help. May have to but a lot on it the first couple of time so that it soaks in.
But don't know if this is a good or bad thing to do. 

Also if what your cooking does not need to be right on the tile can't you just put foil over it. 
Then cleanup would be really easy trashing the foil.


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## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

TechGuy said:


> How do you clean the stone? We've got one and have stuff really baked on there...


Yay! Something I KNOW something about!!  Stoneware of any kind should *NEVER* have soap used on it--soak it in clear water, scrape it and rinse it with really hot water. Don't leave a bunch of crusties on it, but the discoloration is just part of the seasoning process. Also you shouldn't use any spray shortening (ie Pam) on them either--something about those things keep the seasoning from happening.

Use your cooking stone to cook high fat foods first--chocolate chip cookies are an excellent first food for a new stone. :up:  Those leave a kind of residue on the stone that speeds up the seasoning process. After a couple of batches, your stone will be well on it's way to being non-stick!


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## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

Kitchen sink said:


> I have cooked many a pizza on my gas BBQ but find that the stones crack and break after many uses. I am going to try unglazed tile next and am wondering if I should raise the tiles above the grill or lay them on the grill? Would appreciate any information that anyone might have.


Have you tried a pizza stone made specifically for the grill? Big Green Egg grill company makes a set of stones specifically for their grills--but I'm sure you could use them on your grill just as effectively. I also found a snippet that said to make sure to either double up on the stones or to use a "place setter" or some fire bricks to set your stone on.


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