Pizza Baking Stone - Finding the best, after another cracks to pieces

Unfortunately, we are on the hunt for a new pizza stone...again!

We first had a Pampered Chef Large Round Stone with Rack. It worked beautifully, until one day when it was sitting on top of our stove and a glass spice jar fell on top of it from an upper cabinet and it immediately cracked in half. We didn’t bother calling customer service for a replacement, since it was our fault and didn’t break from normal use.

Next we thought we would try purchasing one at a local store. We picked one up on sale at Kohl’s and were happy with the price and look of our new stone, but it broke during its first use in the oven. So we promptly returned it and decided to go back to a Pampered Chef pizza stone.

We received the newly designed Pampered Chef Large Round Pizza Stone with built in handles as a gift and it served us well for years. Until this summer when friends at work were raving about summertime pizza on the grill. My husband and I thought grilling pizza sounded smart and simple. Our friends recommended putting a pizza stone on the grill, heating it up, and then baking a homemade pizza outdoors (especially useful during hot weather so you don’t need to heat up the kitchen). We gave this technique a whirl, but halfway through "baking" the pizza we heard a loud crack from the grill and sure enough our handy pizza stone cracked into a few pieces. Our stone was just beyond the Pampered Chef’s warranty period, so here we are searching for a new pizza stone again.

I'm sharing our thoughts and research in case anyone else is in our boat, trying to replace or purchase a pizza stone. Although we liked our Pampered Chef baking stones while they lasted, we’re going to try something new again. Unlike buying one at a local store where I have no idea what customers think of the product or if it works, I love that I can find detailed reviews on Amazon.

We’ve narrowed it down to three strong contenders:

First up, is Old Stone Oven 4467 14-Inch by 16-Inch Baking Stone

This pizza stone has a lot going for it as it is the baking stone recommended by Cooks Illustrated Test Kitchens and is the number one baking stone sold on Amazon. I like that it has bumps on the underside of the stone that raise it up enough to make removing it from the oven easier.

Next is the gorgeous Emile Henry Flame Top Pizza Stone, Black

This pizza stone is as functional as it is beautiful and could be used for both baking and serving. It is the most expensive of the three I'm considering, but I love that it's super easy to clean, in fact it's dishwashable, and is available in several colors.

Finally, a cast iron pizza pan, Lodge Pro Logic Cast Iron 14" Pizza Pan, Black

This cast iron pizza pan is really appealing with almost 200 reviews averaging a solid 5 stars. I certainly wouldn't need to worry about cracking a stone with this pan and since it's made of cast iron it should last forever.

It’s going to be a tough decision picking one of these three great options.  Whichever pizza pan / baking stone we purchase, hopefully will last for years to come.  Fingers crossed no more cracks. :)