Not too long ago, I did a series of how-to videos for the e-How Network (with the help and cajoling of my friend and talented video producer, Lisa Fenderson). Today, I had a viewer question regarding one of these videos and thought I would share it with you.
The viewer’s question: I was looking at your videos on cleaning and curing pizza stones. I have an uncured pizza stone that I need to disinfect, but not sure how to do so. Can I spray it liberally with vinegar or soak it in vinegar to disinfect it, then season it well after it dries?
And my answer: I’m not sure why the stone needs to be disinfected…is there mold or some other contaminant? If it’s simply dirty, soak the stone in plain, warm water for about 10-15 minutes, then take a plastic spatula with a flat end and scrape the dirty surfaces with the flat end. (They make little, plastic wedges for this type of cleaning, but not many people have one laying around their home.) Once you have scraped all residue from the surfaces, towel dry and then allow the stone to dry on the counter. Once dry, oil the top of the stone thoroughly (but don’t leave a ton of residual oil…you want it oiled, but not drippy) and bake the stone in the oven with no food on it for 15 to 20 minutes at low-ish temperature (250-300 degrees fahrenheit). This will allow the oil to soak into the stone and start curing very slowly. You can repeat this process (just the oiling and baking steps) several times if you like.
The first time you use the stone for cooking, oil the top again lightly, and then bake something that has a fair amount of fat/butter in the recipe on the stone (cookies and croissants work well). Repeat this several times, and you will see your stone darken in color (which means the stone is curing). You will be able to tell when your stone is well-seasoned (cured) once you clean it with a little water and a plastic spatula or plastic wedge and it resists the water like a well-waxed car. Once it’s seasoned, cleaning is simply a matter of rinsing with a little water, scraping with a plastic spatula or stone-cleaning wedge, and drying. I know this sounds like a lot of work to condition a stone, but once it’s done, you’ll have a great baking tool to use in your cooking forever.
If instead the stone is truly “contaminated,” I’m not entirely sure I would try to condition it for food use. Although a good, hot oven will kill almost any contaminant, whatever has penetrated the stone might taint the flavor of any food cooked on it. Because stone is an absorbent material, it does soak up smells and substances. I wouldn’t use vinegar because that will be absorbed into the stone, and as you know, vinegar has a very strong aroma that will penetrate the stone and likely the food you cook on it. (That’s also why you’re not supposed to clean stones with dish soap, besides the fact that it will strip some of the nice curing you’ve worked so hard to develop on your baking stone.) If it’s contaminated with something truly foul, I wouldn’t risk ruining food that you spent time and money preparing. Stones are relatively inexpensive, and I might just invest in a new stone rather than spend a lot of time trying to fix a stone that may not render good results. (Just my personal two cents!)
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!
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Here’s a link to the videos to which the viewer was referring. Curing a Baking Stone and Cleaning a Baking Stone