How to Season a Pizza Stone

After sharing our family pizza night post, I received a few questions about how we seasoned our pizza stone.  Fortunately, we just purchased the pizza stone and I took some photos of the process.

I purchased the Big Green Egg pizza stone for my hubby for Christmas along with a table for the smoker.  When the table and stone were being delivered, the BGE authorized dealers gave me 2 tips that have helped a ton in our pizza making journey.  The first noted that we never want to soak the pizza stone or wash it with water.  The stone is very porous and when wet, could shatter under the extreme heat.  The second is that we should season our stone before using it.

I did some research online and there seems to be a difference of opinion on this matter. Some people believe that the stone does not need to be seasoned and the act of heating/cooking on the stone will allow natural seasoning over time.  There are also those that believe a seasoned stone will create a better cooking process and prevent the pizza dough from sticking to the stone.  We decided to season the stone and I am so happy that we did! Here are the steps to seasoning your own pizza stone at home.

Important! Do not preheat the oven until after the stone goes in.

Gather your stone, olive oil and a clean kitchen towel.

Start by pouring a couple of generous tablespoons of oil onto the stone and rub it in with your clean towel.  Allow the oil to completely soak in (this should not take long).  Repeat the process until the stone has been covered 4 times.  For reference, I used about half a bottle of olive oil.

You should wait each time to make sure the oil has soaked in before repeating the process.  When you have completed those steps, preheat the oven to 500 degrees and place your stone on the middle rack.

Bake the pizza stone for about 45 minutes, turn off the oven and let cool.  Remove from the oven with a pizza peel until you are ready to use.  Also, remember that when using your pizza stone, make sure the stone goes in the oven or BGE before coming to temperature. Not only will this give your pizza an even cooking service, it will also prevent the stone from cracking under extreme temperature change.

I hope this helps! Enjoy!