Pampered Chef Large Round Baking Stone - 1370 Review

It seems like every woman in my neighborhood is selling something, and appearances at neighborhood "parties" are usually more of an obligation than anything else. But when I heard a friend was having a Pampered Chef party, I couldn't resist going. And while there, I was equally drawn in by Pampered Chef's Large Round Baking Stone after sampling some food she had cooked with hers.

About the Pampered Chef Large Round Baking Stone
This large stone retails for about $26, measures 15 inches in diameter and is made of a lead-free natural clay. The baking stone is perfectly designed for preparing pizzas, but can be used for almost any kind of baking. The stone should be seasoned prior to use by spraying the surface with a vegetable oil spray. Pampered Chef also recommends seasoning the stone by baking high fat foods on it (such as refrigerated biscuits) for the first several uses. The stone should only be cleaned with hot water, and you should never use soap on the stone, or wash it in the dishwasher. My stone came with a simple nylon scraper to use to scrape it clean. The stone gets incredibly hot and Pampered Chef states that in addition to using it in an oven, it is also microwave safe and freezer safe, though I've never been inclined to do anything but bake with it.

Using the Pampered Chef Large Round Baking Stone
I love to use this stone to bake homemade pizzas from scratch, but it's also great for heating up a frozen pizza. When heating up premade pizzas, I let the stone preheat along with the oven, which helps brown the pizza crust nicely. When baking homemade pizzas, I par-bake the pizza dough on the stone, then pull it out, put toppings on it, and finish it off back in the oven until the cheese melts. I also use the stone to fix a Pampered Chef recipe for a chicken and broccoli pastry ring (see photo), and I use it to make pinwheel appetizers out of crescent pastry as well. We end up using the pizza stone several times a week, even if it's just to heat up bread. The stone conducts heat very well, and cleans off easily once it's cooled down, although it does mark and stain easily. After three or four uses, my round baking stone began getting pretty ugly with dark burn marks, but judging from the instructions that came with it, this is normal.

The stone does get very hot, and it's pretty heavy, particularly when it has to be carefully carted out of the oven using oven mitts. Pampered Chef sells a remarkable woven round tray that fits perfectly underneath the stone, so I always remove the stone from the oven and set it on the tray for serving. The tray and stone, paired together, make a dramatic serving piece with handles that can easily go from the kitchen to the table.

Cat's Bottom Line
I love Pampered Chef products and this stone is a particular favorite of mine. While I've owned baking stones in the past, this one is so perfectly sized and easy to use that it's quickly become a staple of our kitchen. Paired with the large woven round tray from Pampered Chef, the baking stone becomes more than just bakeware, it also doubles as a serving tray. The stone can be heavy, hot and unwieldy, and you have to be very careful to clean it properly, but the results are well worth it!