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We help you find the best BBQ pizza stone for your gas or charcoal BBQ. Getting a good pizza stone will increase the quality of the pizzas you make. The stone helps give a crispy base and makes for an authentic stone baked recipe.
This post suggests some helpful advice and guidance for what to look for when buying a BBQ pizza stone and how to look after it to get the best performance.
Some pizza ovens already come with a stone built on so I take a look at what to look for when buying a pizza stone.
Contents
- What is a pizza stone for?
- Why do I need a BBQ pizza stone?
- Choosing the best BBQ pizza stone?
- Weber Pizza Stone
- High Quality BBQ Pizza Stone
- Low Cost BBQ Pizza Stone
- Using a pizza stone on a gas BBQ
- Pizza Oven Pizza Stone
- DIY Pizza Stone
- Manufacturers Range Of Pizza Stones
- Which BBQ pizza stone to choose?
- What else can I cook on a pizza stone?
- Pizza Stone FAQ
- Your Comments
What is a pizza stone for?
A pizza stone is a device you can place on or in a BBQ. It gets really hot and acts like the middle of a real pizza oven. The pizza oven would normally have a stone interior and be made of stone or brick walls to contain all the heat.
The fires of the coals would sit on one side of the pizza oven and make the whole pizza oven like a furnace. The pizza would then be loaded in to the pizza over and start cooking it.
Cooking times in a pizza oven are normally around the 1- 2 minute mark (sometimes as low as 50 seconds). This happens because the heat is all around the oven and cooking is nice and even.
Why do I need a BBQ pizza stone?
Similar to the above, we can recreate the effect of a pizza oven on a gas bbq and even on a charcoal BBQ by using a pizza stone. The stone will help retain heat and offer a way to cook the under side of the pizza giving the base a crispy texture.
Choosing the best BBQ pizza stone?
There is no 'one size fits all' to choosing a BBQ pizza stone so picking the right one for your use is not easy. There are a few we can choose from and they vary in cost so deciding on the best bbq pizza stone is not a quick and easy decision.
As I mostly use a gas BBQ for my pizzas, I'm looking at the Weber Pizza Stone, a low end one and a high end one to decide on the best BBQ pizza stone to choose.
Weber Pizza Stone
Weber do their own official Pizza stone but availability varies. If unavailable, try the Onlyfire version. This fits in amongst the Gourmet BBQ grill system is is made for Weber BBQ's. As one of the leading providers with the most comprehensive range of products and services in the industry, today Weber is internationally synonymous with barbecuing innovation, perfect barbecue products and the ultimate barbecue experience. With offices in over 40 countries on all continents, we continue to promote the Weber BBQ culture around the world.
High Quality BBQ Pizza Stone
So the higher end range normally retail around the £30 to £50 mark here in the UK. Something like this Pizza Stone Set is a good option. It has a higher price tag but the extra thickness are what gets it a place on the best BBQ pizza stone list.
Low Cost BBQ Pizza Stone
While this stone is not a low end pizza stone, it certainly is low cost. It still performs well but not as expensive as the above and is still good quality. This one from Amazon is a good low cost stone. I actually have two of these so I can do 2 pizzas at once side by side on my gas BBQ.
Using a pizza stone on a gas BBQ
Place the pizza stones on a cold BBQ and then switch on the gas and ignite. The pizza stones should be brought up to temperature gradually. Avoid placing a cold stone on a hot grill as this may shatter the stone.
Once they get to temperature then it is time to start cooking. To check everything is up to temperature you can use the built in Weber thermometer on the BBQ. Alternatively you can use an Inkbird Wireless Bluetooth Thermometer which allows you to see how the temperature is in the BBQ while not needing to be nearby. It's a little bit lazy but having a thermometer with an alarm or alert is very useful when you have friends over to cook for.
Pizza Oven Pizza Stone
If you have a pizza oven then it is quite likely a stone will have come built in to your pizza oven already. Most of the time they are removable and they can be replaced. For my home pizza oven, I can purchase a replacement Woody Oven pizza stone if this was required. This will give me the ability to get a fresh clean stone if I so wished.
Most of the time though, a well maintained pizza stone will last a long time.
Manufacturers such as Ooni will offer replacement parts and accessories for their ovens if you need new parts.
DIY Pizza Stone
There is an option for a DIY (do it yourself) pizza stone which comes in the form of a floor tile or other solid piece of ceramic or even volcanic material. Anything which can withstand but also retain heat will work as a pizza stone.
Now before you read on - disclaimer - I would recommend if you are doing this to use a natural stone. Anything manufactured or with additional chemical material may be dangerous so be careful. Also, when dealing with food, make sure to have a barrier between the food and the stone such as foil or baking paper.
Some good materials that can be used as pizza stones are:
- Cast iron
- Ceramic
- Granite
- Steel
- Volcanic rock
Need some dough?
Ooni have brought out a range of mixers so you can create and make your own pizza dough. The Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Dough Mixer has a big 7.3 litre capacity to make up enough dough for a few pizzas or even for hosting a pizza party.
Manufacturers Range Of Pizza Stones
If you buy a pizza oven then there is a good chance that the stone will come as part of the package. However some BBQ manufacturers do have the ability to purchase a specific add on for their range, but it's not always necessary.
If you are using a Weber BBQ, a Kamado Joe, Big Green Egg or Outback barbecue then a generic stone will work. Just make sure to measure the size within the grill area to make sure it will fit in.
Most pizzas do not exceed 12" so a 12" to 13" square (or circular diameter) stone will suit most needs. There are some providers such as Ooni who do a large pizza stone capable of cooking 16" pizzas in their Ooni Koda 16 oven.
Which BBQ pizza stone to choose?
Well in my opinion having more than one from this list of best BBQ pizza stone is key. I think buy a couple of what you can afford. I think this as cooking more than one pizza at a time is possible on a gas BBQ and therefore make the most of the space you have. A normal pizza oven will cook a pizza in 60 to 90 seconds, but only one at a time. This option will take about 5 - 8 minutes to cook a pizza, but you can do two at once so works out well.
Now you have the stones, get cooking with our BBQ recipes. Starting with the best simple pizza dough of course. Happy cooking.
What else can I cook on a pizza stone?
Most types of bread that you can cook in a conventional electric or gas oven can be cooked on a pizza stone. The trick is to make sure that the maximum temperature is high enough to cook it but not too high that it burns the edge and leaves the inside doughy.
A flatbread such as a focaccia or naan bread can be cooked in the pizza oven. You could even try something like a pizza oven cooked quesadilla.
Top tip - Pizza oven gas
It is much easier to control the temperature of a pizza oven if using a gas attachment. If your pizza oven has the ability to purchase an optional gas attachment like this then it is recommended.
Pizza Stone FAQ
A good quality pizza stone will be around 15mm thick. Most pizza ovens range from 12mm to 15mm. The stone may take a little longer to heat up, but it will retain heat better.
The thickness of the stone is important as a thicker stone will keep heat in longer and stay warm enough between pizza cooks. Every time you put dough on the stone to cook, it will be cooled a little so may not crisp as well. See the question about why my pizza base is not crisping up.
A good pizza stone I can recommend is the Woody Oven Pizza stone. This comes in at 12mm thick and holds heat for a while.
If you are using a pizza stone, this will help you get better cooking across the base of the pizza. If you cook multiple pizzas in a row then it may be your stone is losing temperature between cooks. If this is the case you should consider a thicker pizza stone. This will help it retain heat for longer.
Before you use your pizza stone for the first time you should run the pizza stone in the oven for a full cycle. This means you should light the pizza oven or BBQ with the stone in, get it to temperature and then let it all cool down. Then the next time you heat it up it will be ready to go. This will help eliminate cracking of the stone on the first cook.
When it comes to cleaning a pizza stone the simplest way is to get a stiff brush and burn the residue of the food to a crisp and then brush them off the pizza stone surface. Simple but effective! Don't use liquids on a hot pizza stone as this may crack the stone.
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