Pizzacraft Baking Steel Review

We LOVE homemade pizza and bread! Previously, we reviewed the Pizzacraft Stovetop Pizza Oven, and today, we’re writing about their baking steel.

What’s better – baking steel or baking stone?

I own baking stones in different shapes and sizes – for baking pizzas and breads. We’ve found the baking steel far superior to the stones for these reasons:

• Stones are hard to take care of – they shatter and crack easily. They are difficult to scrub food bits off and keep clean.
• Steel heats up faster and is a better at transferring energy and conducting heat.
• Steel is thinner (1/4″ thick), easier to store and no worries of cracking.

Pizzacraft sells 3 sizes of baking steels: 14″ round, 14″ square and 22″ rectangular. For the most versatility in use, I highly recommend the 22″ rectangular steel – it allows you to bake pizzas as well as many loaves of bread at the same time.

This past weekend, we used the 14″ square Pizzacraft Baking Steel to bake loaves of french bread.

Previously, without the steel, I was having trouble getting the loaves to brown enough to get the super-thin, shattering, crackling-crisp exterior. My breads always looked fine, rose nicely, but I could never get it to brown top and bottom, without overcooking the bread.

With the Pizzacraft Baking Steel, look what I got:

Perfect baguettes. Tops and bottoms were equally toasty brown.

If you’re more of a pizza person, I highly recommend the stone-steel method – use a baking stone on the upper rack, and bake your pizza on the steel that sits on a lower rack. The stone radiates heat and cooks the top of the pizza very quickly – so that you end up with the crust and top perfectly cooked at the same time.

Pizzacraft sells their 14″ square and 14″ round baking steel for $39.99, though its for sale on Amazon for only $29.99. This is the best price we could find for a good quality steel, and especially since Pizzacraft is owned by The Companion Group, the makers of the Charcoal Companion range of products.

Their 22″ rectangular steel sells for $43.99 – if you have the extra money, this size gives you the most versatility.

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Pizzacraft Baking Steel Giveaway

Pizzacraft provided a product for an honest review & giveaway.