Ode to tonight's repast

TerzaRima

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Sorry. I just really love my pizza stone, and I can't sleep:

THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A PIE

I

Among all the shelves at William and Sonoma
The only thing I chose
Was the pizza stone.


II
I was of three minds,
Bianca, margerita or portobello
Which would mean the least chopping?

III
You should not soap or scrub your pizza stone
You should name it and sing it songs.

IV
A pizza and a Sam Adams
Are one.
A pizza and a Sam Adams and a pizza stone
Are one.

V.

I do not know which to prefer,
The yeasty bite of my stone baked crust
The tang of canned tomatoes,
The inspiration of artichokes on top
Or the minimum of cleanup.
 
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paprikapink

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Beautiful!

My pizza stone lives in the oven and tends to get a bit crusty. I think I'll get to work on a name for it now. Maybe Crusty..
 

Maryn

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If you never soap your pizza stone
The day will come soon enough
When it oozes orange oil without end.

(See why I don't do poetry?) We have a pair of pizza stones, one older than the other, and we didn't use dish soap on them, just hot water. When we baked a pizza one night, the orange oil rose from the stone itself, which looked and smelled and felt no different than usual. The oil smoked horribly, and seemed so fully embedded in the stone that we considered discarding it, if only we could find another one the same size. (We couldn't.)

Instead, I put it on cardboard on an empty rack in the oven every time I roasted meat or poultry. (I figured it could affect the flavor of sweet baked goods too much.) More and more oil seeped out, soaking into the cardboard, which I replaced after every use.

After maybe a dozen bakings, the orange oil slowed substantially. I ran the stone through the dishwasher several times (hottest water in the house) but not the drying cycle, before we used it again. It's okay again--but now I wash it in hot water and dishwashing soap every time.

Maryn and her Cautionary Tale
 

slcboston

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A pizza stone? Why have I never heard of such a thing before?

(And why does my kitchen now feel incomplete without one?) :)

- on a side note, I think I just settled what I'm having for lunch. :D
 

Maryn

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If you bake bread or rolls, the pizza stone is nice for that, too. Although my attempts at round artisan loaves are pathetic and turd-like, my daughter can do it. She's got her own pizza stone, though.

Maryn, not that good at bread
 

Maryn

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Every time I'm there for more than a moment, though, I start salivating. Most unbecoming.
 

slcboston

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If you bake bread or rolls, the pizza stone is nice for that, too. Although my attempts at round artisan loaves are pathetic and turd-like, my daughter can do it. She's got her own pizza stone, though.

Maryn, not that good at bread

Most of my bread tends to be loaves of something or other, for which I use my hand-dandy bread machine. But, as I said, now that I've heard of a pizza stone, I'm suddenly feeling inadequate that I don't have one. :D