Maureen I don't have any problem with the crusts by using or Baking in pans or on Cookie tins. Wouldn't hurt to try. Every one talks about Chicago, Sicilian Pizza,etc., most are baked in Pans. Like I said many, many, times before. I built one of my Pizza ovens and it had sort of a stone shelf, that I cooked on but I used Pans . It Baked better that the Pizza oven, that I bought. There are those who dissagree but have never tried anything different, to compare. I'm always experimenting and tasteing to make the best, that I can. The Clean Cycle works. I know because the control on the pizza oven, that I built got stuck and the temp went to 900 deg. The black shelf was white again. Lou LOU

Cookie8: Here is a Pizza Dough recipe and baking tut for prebaked dough. If you want I'll put in a tutorial for a Calzopizza , " Stuffed Crust Pizza " A 12 inch round pizza will take from 8 to 12 ounces of dough. According to thickness you want. After the dough is made weigh it out and roll into balls. Oil the pans and place a dough ball in the pan and flatten slightly, working the dough towards the side of the pan, with the palms. Then let it rest a few minutes. Repeat this every so often until the dough reaches the side and up, enough for a crust about 1/2 ? inch. Let it raise slightly , pinch the dough all over, with a fork and put into the oven to bake at 400 deg. If it bubbles while baking pinch it with a fork again. When light tan specks show ,take them out onto a rack to cool fast. Then you can use them right away or freeze , to use later. When cooking the Pizza, place the Pre Baked dough back in the oiled pan , Or cook on your Stone. Put a latel of sauce on the dough and swish it around, sprinkle some Parmesan or Romano , put it in the oven for a few minutes. Take it out and spread the topping of your choice and the Cheese Topping. A good topping cheese is a mixture of Mozzarella and Provolone chopped and mixed. The provolone gives it a good flavor and doesn't get like rubber when it cools. I use all Provolone. A little trick for baking. Keep a cup of water and brush handy, to baste parts that are cooking too fast. If you can get new metal pans, (uncoated) they have to be cured in the oven, so they won't stick. Coat them with oil and bake them for at least 6 hours. Never clean them with soap and water. Just rinse with water & wipe with a paper towel. Dough recipe: 1 cup of warm water (not hot) 1 Package of Active Dry Yeast 1 tablesps sugar ,in a half cup of warm water 1/4 Cup of Veg. Oil 1 teasp. Salt About 3 1/2 cups Flour ½ cup of Whole wheat flour or up to 1 cup Place in a mixing bowl, the Water, 1 cup of flour, wheat flour , yeast if risen Add the oil and salt and more flour. Add enough flour to make a soft ball of dough, that doesn't stick to your hands. Knead until smooth. Put it back in the bowl , Smooth side up and Rub on some Veg. Oil Cover and set in a warm place to rise until it doubles in bulk. I put it in a warm oven, Covered with a damp towel and place a pan of hot water on the bottom shelf. It rises in about 1 hour. When doubled, punch it down and knead it well. Divide into Balls , about 11 to 12 ounces and place in oiled pans. 12" round Dough should be about 3/16 " thick on the bottom and about 1/2 in. around the edge. For Sicilian Pizza , I used most of the dough in a 11" X 16" pan ( a bit thicker ) Follow the previous instructions. Good luck, Lou

So I took the drive to SLT and was disappointed to see that their steel is 14x14 rather than a more standard 14x16. I already don't like the 14" dimension on my stone (although I realize it's about as deep as reasonably fits in a residential oven) but I wasn't willing to sacrifice the width. I should have looked it up online first instead of assuming it would be a standard size. While there I doublechecked at bakingsteel, yes theirs are 14x16 and I and saw that for $20 more they have one that's 3/8" thick rather than 1/4". Might just go for that one for the heck of it, I find there's a distinct difference that I prefer between pizzas I've cooked on a stone as opposed to a pan, and I hope I'll see added improvement with a steel.

The reason why Pampered Chef pizza stones don't need to be preheated is because they are thinner than most other baking stones. Thicker and heavier pizza stones are more likely to break if they are cold and you stick them into a hot oven. Another thing that makes Pampered Chef's stones different and in some cases better is that it's ok to bake foods that have oil such as cookies on them because they have a surface that isn't porous. Here is a link that might be useful: Perfect Pizzas Every Time With The Pampered Chef Pizza Stone