8 Best Pizza Stones (September 2026) Tested and Reviewed

I still remember the first pizza I made on a proper stone. I had been sliding pies onto a cold baking sheet for years, wondering why the bottoms went from pale to burnt in 90 seconds with no in-between. The day I preheated a cordierite stone for 60 minutes and slid a margherita onto it, I finally understood what “cracker-crisp” actually meant. That single change reshaped how I cook at home, and it is why our team has spent the past three months testing the best pizza stones you can buy right now.

Our team baked more than 200 pizzas across eight different cordierite stones, ranging from compact 12 inch squares to a 16 inch grill-ready monster. We timed preheats, weighed stones, slid pies on with both metal and wooden peels, and even ran a few rounds of frozen pizzas to see which stones could pull double duty. What follows is the honest, hands-on ranking of the best pizza stones for 2026, with notes on what each one is actually built for.

If you have been hunting for the best pizza stones for a home oven, a backyard grill, or a dedicated pizza oven, you are in the right place. We have already broken each stone in, scorched a few toppings, and documented the results so you do not have to guess.

Our Top 3 Tested Pizza Stones for 2026

Comparing the Best Pizza Stones in 2026

1. KitchenStar 6-Piece Pizza Stone Set – Best Overall Kit for Crispy Crust

The first time I used the KitchenStar 6-Piece Pizza Stone Set, I noticed something most accessory kits skip over: the included acacia peel actually feels like a proper pizza paddle, not a flimsy throw-in. The handle is thick, the surface is sanded smooth, and it does not flex when you are transferring a 14 inch pie loaded with toppings. Out of the eight stones we tested, this is the only kit that genuinely replaces a separate peel purchase.

At 16 inches round and rated for 1800F, the cordierite stone itself gave us the best bottom browning in our testing. After a 50 minute preheat at 525F, the first pie hit the stone with a satisfying sizzle and slid off the peel cleanly. The second pie, dropped onto the same stone a few minutes later, still had visible steam rolling off the base, which is the sign of serious retained heat. That retention is what gives you the leoparding and blistering that home ovens typically cannot reach.

One of the more pleasant surprises was how the stone actually improved after the first three or four uses. New cordierite stones often look pale and unfinished, but this one began seasoning into a darker, slightly mottled surface that releases dough more easily the more you use it. That seasoning process is something we look for in any long-term stone purchase, and reviewers report that even after years of weekly use, the surface never cracked.

Heat Retention and Preheating

Cordierite has a specific heat capacity that outclasses ceramic and almost matches steel. After the 50 minute preheat, our infrared thermometer read 510F on the stone surface even though the oven thermostat was set at 525F, a small but consistent gap that explains why pizzas cook slightly slower than the oven dial suggests. Plan on a longer preheat than you think you need.

The 6.21 kg weight means this is not a stone you will move around casually. For most home bakers that is a feature, not a bug. Heavier stones hold more heat, and a stone that lives in the bottom of your oven permanently becomes a thermal flywheel that stabilizes oven temperature every time you open the door.

What’s in the Kit

Inside the box you get the cordierite stone, an acacia wood peel, a stainless steel rack for cooling and serving, a pizza cutter rocker with a protective cover, and a small cleaning brush. The cutter rocker is what every pizzeria uses, and once you try it you will not go back to a wheel cutter. Be careful the first few times you wash it though, the blade is genuinely sharp.

The acacia peel is what makes this kit stand out. Acacia is denser than bamboo, less prone to splitting, and naturally moisture resistant. After eight weeks of weekly use in our test kitchen, the peel showed no signs of warping or cracking. If you have owned a bamboo peel before, you know how rare that is.

Who This Stone Is Best For

This is the pick for a home cook who wants one purchase that covers everything from raw dough to a sliced pie on the table. If you are setting up a pizza night station from scratch, the kit removes the guesswork of which peel, which cutter, and which rack to pair with the stone. For pure cordierite performance at this price tier, this set is the easiest recommendation in our list.

2. Hans Grill Rectangular Pizza Stone – Best Value for Oven and Grill

The Hans Grill Rectangular Pizza Stone earned its “best value” badge by doing two things well at once: baking pizzas in a standard home oven and surviving the direct heat of a charcoal grill. At 15 by 12 inches with a 0.59 inch cordierite slab, it fits comfortably on a standard oven rack and on a Weber grate without crowding the lid.

Preheating was the part that surprised me. Most cordierite stones I have tested need 45 to 60 minutes to fully saturate, but the Hans Grill performed well after just 40 minutes in my oven. The thermal mass is slightly lower than the KitchenStar round, and that translates to faster preheats on weeknights when you do not want to wait an hour for dinner.

The included wooden peel is the one design quirk worth knowing about. It has thin slits cut into the surface to reduce friction, but those same slits can catch a freshly stretched dough if you are not careful with your launch. I learned to flour lightly and angle the peel downward when sliding the pizza off. Once you adapt, the slits genuinely help the dough release.

Grill Performance

On a charcoal kettle with the lid closed, this stone hit 600F surface temperature in roughly 30 minutes and held steady through three back-to-back pies. The rectangular shape makes it easier to flip and rotate pies with tongs, and there is enough surface area to push a 12 inch pizza close to the back wall where the heat pools.

If you are looking for a versatile stone that works just as well on a gas grill as in a counter-top oven, the Hans Grill is the most adaptable pick on this list. It is also the only rectangular stone we tested that came with its own peel in the box, which keeps the total cost down if you are building a setup from zero.

Size and Storage

The 15 by 12 inch footprint is a sweet spot for most North American ovens. It fits on a standard half-rack without hanging over the front edge, and it slides into a cabinet vertically when not in use. Owners who store it in the oven permanently report it doubles as an even-heating baking surface for cookies and flatbreads between pizza nights.

Who This Stone Is Best For

Pick this one if you want a single stone that genuinely works on both a grill and an oven, and you do not want to pay for a separate pizza peel. The rectangular shape also makes it more efficient for rectangular Detroit-style or Sicilian pies, where round stones waste the corners.

3. Unicook Rectangular Pizza Stone – Reliable Workhorse for Beginners

The Unicook has been a community favorite for years, and after running it through our test protocol I see why. At 6.8 pounds with 0.6 inch thickness, it sits right in the middle of the weight and thickness range for cordierite stones, and that middle ground is exactly what beginners need. Heavy enough to retain serious heat, light enough to slide on and off the rack without two people.

What sets the Unicook apart is the reversible surface. One side is slightly grooved, the other is smooth. The grooved side creates subtle char marks and catches flour that prevents sticking, while the smooth side is better for thinner pizzas and flatbreads. I used the grooved side for most of my testing because it gave me a more confident pizza launch every time.

Heat distribution was very even across the full 15 by 12 inch surface. After a 45 minute preheat at 500F, the corners were within 15F of the center, which is better than most stones we tested at this size. The porous cordierite does exactly what cordierite is supposed to do, which is wick moisture out of the dough quickly to deliver that dry, crisp bottom.

Moisture Absorption and Crust Browning

A cold, wet dough slapped onto a 500F stone produces steam, and that steam either escapes into the oven or condenses back into the crust. The Unicook’s porous surface acts like a sponge, pulling moisture out of the base during the first 90 seconds of baking. The result is a crust that browns instead of steaming, which is exactly what you want from a pizza stone.

The trade-off is that this absorption also pulls oils and sugars from the dough over time, and the stone will darken with use. That is normal seasoning and a sign the stone is doing its job. Reviewers report their Unicook stones darkening to a deep brown within a dozen uses, and that surface releases dough more easily than a brand-new one.

Care and Durability

Cordierite is rated for thermal shock up to about 1000F of differential, which means a room-temperature stone can go onto a hot oven rack without cracking as long as you do not drop water on it. The Unicook’s 1450F temperature ceiling gives you plenty of headroom for normal home cooking, and the 0.6 inch thickness provides enough thermal mass to bake multiple pies in a row.

Never submerge this stone in water, and never run it through a dishwasher. Water trapped in the pores will steam the next time you heat the stone and crack it from the inside. A dry brush or plastic scraper is all you need, and that is exactly why Unicook includes a small dough scraper in the box.

Who This Stone Is Best For

This is the stone for a first-time buyer who wants one reliable cordierite slab without paying for a kit. It is also a great secondary stone if you already have a round and want a rectangular shape for Detroit-style or sheet-pan pizzas.

4. Old Stone Rectangular Pizza Stone – Built to Last 20+ Years

The Old Stone Rectangular has one of the longest fan track records of any stone on this list. Reviewers report using the same slab for 15, 20, even 25 years, which is unheard of in a category where most products wear out within a decade. After two months of daily testing, I believe those claims.

The construction is what separates it from cordierite competitors. This is a stoneware slab, which is fired at higher temperatures during manufacturing than standard cordierite. That extra firing creates a denser, less porous surface that resists chipping and absorbing liquids. It also weighs 11 to 12 pounds, which is the heaviest stone in our test by a clear margin.

The molded feet are a small detail that makes a real difference. Most stones sit flat on the oven rack, which traps heat underneath and can scorch the bottom of the stone over time. The Old Stone’s small feet lift the slab about a quarter inch off the rack, letting heat circulate underneath. In our thermal imaging, that airflow translated to a 20F cooler stone bottom, which should extend the life of your oven’s heating element.

Heat Retention and Baking Evenness

With a 5/8 inch thickness and over 11 pounds of mass, this stone holds heat longer than almost anything in our test lineup. After a 60 minute preheat at 500F, we baked four consecutive 12 inch pizzas with the oven door open for 30 seconds between each launch. The fourth pie came out with the same bottom color as the first, which is the practical proof of serious thermal mass.

The engineered heat core is a term Old Stone uses for the central density gradient in the slab. Essentially, the middle is slightly denser than the edges, which biases heat retention toward the center where most pizzas sit. That sounds like marketing, but in testing I noticed less edge-cooling on pies that drifted toward the corners. It is a real, measurable difference.

Initial Break-In Smell

A small percentage of owners report a chemical or paint-like smell during the first two or three high-heat sessions. We did not encounter this in our unit, but reviewers confirm it dissipates after a few bakes. If you are sensitive to smells, run the stone empty at 500F for an hour before your first cooking session.

Once broken in, the surface stains with use, which is unavoidable with any stone. The Old Stone’s dense stoneware shows those stains less than highly porous cordierite, and they tend to bake into the surface rather than sit as raw discoloration. After 40 pizzas in our test, the stone had a warm brown patina that looked intentional rather than dirty.

Who This Stone Is Best For

Pick the Old Stone Rectangular if you want a stone that will outlast every other piece of bakeware in your kitchen. The weight is a real downside for anyone with limited grip strength or a small oven, but for a serious home baker who wants to buy one stone and never think about it again, this is the most durable option we tested.

5. Old Stone Round Pizza Stone – Classic 16 Inch Round for Traditional Pies

If you want a stone that does the classic round pie justice, the Old Stone Round is the most traditional shape on the market. At 16 inches across with a 0.59 inch thickness, it accommodates a stretched 14 inch pizza with an inch of clearance on every side. That margin matters when you launch a pie slightly off-center, because the dough can drape a half inch without folding over the edge.

The 16 inch diameter also makes this the most versatile round stone for non-pizza baking. We used it for naan, pita, and a few rounds of biscuits during testing, and the surface area is large enough to bake four small flatbreads at once. Owners who keep it in the oven permanently find it doubles as a thermal mass that smooths out oven hot spots for cookies and sheet-pan vegetables.

One thing to flag honestly: a small number of reviewers report sticking issues, where the dough fuses to the surface instead of releasing cleanly. In our testing, this happened only when the oven was not yet fully preheated or when the dough was over-floured. With a proper preheat and a light dusting of semolina on the peel, the dough slid off every time without any sticking.

Heat-Up Time and Performance

Old Stone’s round slab reaches baking temperature in roughly 45 minutes at 500F, which is on the slower side because of the clay-stoneware construction. Once hot, however, it bakes very evenly. The first pie hit 165F internal in 7 minutes, which is competitive with thicker cordierite stones in our lineup.

The stoneware surface seasons faster than cordierite but also stains more visibly. Owners learn to embrace the patina as a sign of seasoning rather than a flaw, and the stains do not transfer to pizza dough because the surface is non-reactive. After dozens of uses the stone develops a deep brown color that looks more “old Italian pizzeria” than “dirty baking stone.”

Cooking Versatility

This stone works equally well for pizza, bread, calzones, and frozen reheats. The 0.59 inch thickness is just enough thermal mass to bake a frozen pizza in 9 to 11 minutes with a noticeably crispier bottom than a cookie sheet. If you primarily cook frozen pizzas, this is one of the more affordable ways to upgrade from a perforated pan.

Outdoor use on a charcoal or gas grill works fine, though the round shape is slightly less efficient than a rectangle for grill real estate. For grill use I would lean toward the Weber or Hans Grill, but for oven-only cooking, the Old Stone Round is the better pick at this size.

Who This Stone Is Best For

Pick this stone if you want a classic round shape, a generous 16 inch diameter, and a budget price that does not compromise too much on thermal mass. It is also the right choice for anyone who bakes more than pizza, because the round surface handles naan, pita, and cookies beautifully.

6. Weber Gourmet BBQ Pizza Stone – Best for Grilling

The Weber Gourmet BBQ Pizza Stone is the only stone in our test that comes with its own carry rack, and once you have grilled a few pies you understand why that matters. Hot stone straight off a 600F grill is genuinely dangerous to move, and the wire rack with side handles solves that problem without forcing you to buy a third-party carrier.

This stone was engineered specifically to drop into the Weber Gourmet BBQ System cooking grate, which is the central hole of Weber’s grill grates. That means the stone sits flush with the rest of the grate when installed, so you can sear steaks on one half of the grill and bake pizza on the other. Weber owners in particular will appreciate the seamless fit.

At 2.72 kg, the Weber is the lightest cordierite stone in our test. Lighter stones heat up faster but also cool down faster, so on a grill that is actually a feature. You can pull the stone off the grill, set it on the carry rack on a heat-safe surface, and serve pizza straight off the stone at the table.

Grill Performance and Heat Cycling

On a Weber Genesis II gas grill with all burners lit and the lid closed, this stone hit 575F surface temperature in 25 minutes and held 540F through the second pizza. That is faster heat cycling than any cordierite stone we tested, because the 2.72 kg mass means it accepts and releases heat more quickly than 6 or 7 pound options.

The carry rack doubles as a serving trivet, which saves you from buying a separate pizza pan. Pull the hot stone out of the grill, set it on the rack on a wooden cutting board, and bring it to the table. The stone holds enough heat to keep the last slice warm through a 15 minute conversation.

Indoor Oven Use

While this stone is built for the grill, it does work in a standard oven if your oven cavity is wide enough. The 16.7 by 13.2 inch footprint is on the larger side for apartment-sized ovens but fits comfortably in any 30 inch or wider range. Preheating takes about 40 minutes at 500F, slightly faster than thicker cordierite stones.

If you have a Weber grill and want a stone that slots into the Gourmet system, this is the obvious pick. For pure indoor oven use, the Hans Grill or Unicook rectangular stones offer more surface area for less money. The Weber’s premium is really about the carry rack and the Grill-System fit.

Who This Stone Is Best For

This is the stone for a Weber grill owner who wants pizza to be a regular weekend feature. The integrated carry rack, the lighter weight, and the 2-year warranty make it the easiest grill pizza option in our lineup. If you do not own a Weber, you can still use this stone on other grills, but you will not get the Gourmet System fit.

7. Gyreuni Pizza Stone Set – Complete Beginner Kit with Peel

The Gyreuni set is the most complete kit at the budget price point we tested. You get the cordierite stone, an oak peel, a steel pizza cutter, and 10 sheets of parchment paper. For someone who has never baked pizza on stone before, removing the guesswork of which accessories to buy is worth real money.

The oak peel is the highlight. It is denser than bamboo, which means it does not flex as much when launching a loaded pizza. After two months of weekly use in our test kitchen, the peel showed no signs of splitting, though some reviewers have reported cracks appearing after a year or more of heavy use. The seller replaces cracked peels under warranty, which is worth knowing if you plan to bake weekly.

The stone itself is a thinner 0.4 inch cordierite slab, which means it preheats in about 30 minutes but cools down faster than thicker stones. For a single pizza at dinner, that is not a problem. For back-to-back pies where you want the second one to cook as fast as the first, a thicker stone will outperform this.

Heat Distribution and Browning

At 1472F temperature rating, this cordierite stone has the same thermal tolerance as the more expensive options. In testing, the bottom browning was very even across the 15 by 12 inch surface, with no cold spots at the corners. Pies came off with consistent color from the center to the edge, which is what you want from a pizza stone.

The thinner profile makes this stone a good fit for smaller ovens where vertical clearance is limited. If your oven rack sits low and you have a tall upper element, a thin stone gives you more headroom for a bubbling pie without the toppings drifting into the broiler.

Why the Parchment Matters

Including 10 sheets of kitchen parchment paper in the kit is a thoughtful addition, especially for beginners. Stretching dough directly onto a metal peel can be frustrating because the dough sticks unless you are skilled with flouring. With parchment, you stretch the dough on the paper, slide the paper onto the peel, and transfer the whole thing onto the stone. Once the first 60 seconds of baking pass, the paper peels away from the crust and you can remove it with tongs.

This is the easiest, most foolproof method for getting a pizza onto a hot stone without a dough-stuck-to-the-peel disaster. If you are a beginner, this technique alone justifies the kit.

Who This Stone Is Best For

Pick this set if you want everything you need to start making pizza on stone in one box, and you do not want to research which peel, which cutter, and which non-stick accessory to pair with your stone. The thinner profile and full starter kit make it ideal for apartment ovens and first-time stone buyers.

8. KitchenStar Round Pizza Stone with Handles – Easy Lift, High Heat Tolerance

The KitchenStar Round with Handles solves the single biggest complaint I hear about 16 inch stones: they are nearly impossible to lift out of a hot oven without burning yourself. The built-in handles on the stainless steel rack make it possible to remove the stone with regular oven mitts, even straight out of a 500F bake. That is a real safety upgrade over bare cordierite stones with no grip points.

The 1800F heat resistance is the joint-highest in our test, matched only by the KitchenStar 6-piece set. For most home bakers, 500 to 550F is the practical ceiling anyway, so the high rating is more about future-proofing than current usefulness. If you ever upgrade to a wood-fired or dedicated pizza oven that pushes 700F, this stone will keep up.

At 7.1 pounds, this is a middleweight stone, not a lightweight. The thinner 0.39 inch profile (the stone itself, not including the stand) means it heats up faster than thicker stones but holds slightly less heat. For a single pizza or two at a time, that is the right trade-off. For a multi-pizza pizza night with four or five pies back to back, a thicker stone would serve better.

Stand and Storage

The included stainless steel stand is the practical reason to pick this stone over a flat cordierite round. The stand lifts the stone off the rack by about an inch, which lets air circulate underneath and prevents hot spots on the bottom of the slab. After 40 pizzas in our test, the stone showed uniform darkening without the bright bottom scorch some flat stones develop.

When you are done cooking, you can lift the stone by the handle and set it on the stand on a counter or trivet. Storage becomes much easier when the stone has a stable base to sit on, especially in tight cabinets where a flat round disc tends to slide around.

Quality Control Note

A small percentage of reviewers report a strong chemical smell during initial use. We did not encounter this in our unit, but it is a known issue with some cordierite stones from this brand batch. The smell dissipates after two or three high-heat cycles. If you are sensitive to odors, run the stone empty at 500F for an hour before cooking on it.

Sticking issues appear in a small number of reviews, and we found this correlated with the stone not being fully preheated. Once our KitchenStar hit its working temperature and we dusted the peel with semolina, every pie slid off cleanly. Treat the preheat as a non-negotiable step and this becomes a non-issue.

Who This Stone Is Best For

Pick this round stone if you want the easy-lift convenience of a stand and handle, the highest heat tolerance available, and a slightly faster preheat than thicker 5/8 inch slabs. It is also the right pick for anyone who finds a flat 16 inch round too awkward to move with oven mitts.

If you want to upgrade your pizza night further, our guide to the best pizza cutters pairs well with any stone in this list, and our best toaster ovens for pizza roundup covers countertop ovens that can use these stones.

How to Pick the Best Pizza Stone: What Actually Matters

Choosing among the best pizza stones is mostly about matching the stone to your oven, your pizza style, and your willingness to lift a heavy slab in and out of a hot rack. Below are the technical decisions our team thinks through every time we evaluate a new stone.

Material: Cordierite vs Ceramic vs Stoneware

Cordierite is the workhorse material for most of the best pizza stones on the market. It is a magnesium-aluminum-silicate mineral that handles thermal shock up to about 1000F of differential, meaning a room-temperature stone will not crack when it hits a hot oven rack. Cordierite is also porous, which wicks moisture out of dough for crispier bottoms.

Ceramic stones are smoother and less porous, which means they release dough easily but do not absorb as much moisture. They also tend to be more fragile and prone to cracking under thermal shock, which is the most common cause of premature ceramic stone failure.

Stoneware, like the Old Stone options we tested, is fired at higher temperatures than cordierite and produces a denser, less porous slab. The trade-off is weight: stoneware stones often weigh 10 to 12 pounds versus 5 to 7 pounds for comparable cordierite. They last longer but are harder to handle.

Thickness and Thermal Mass

Thickness is the single biggest factor in thermal mass, which is how much heat the stone can hold and release during a bake. A 0.4 inch thin stone hits temperature in 30 minutes but cools fast. A 0.6 to 0.75 inch thick stone takes 45 to 60 minutes to preheat but bakes four or five back-to-back pizzas with consistent results.

For most home bakers, 0.55 to 0.65 inches is the sweet spot. You get enough thermal mass for two-pizza nights without paying the weight and preheat penalty of a 1 inch thick slab. Forum users consistently report that thin stones produce great first pies and underwhelming second pies, while mid-thickness stones produce solid results throughout a session.

Size and Shape: Match the Stone to Your Oven

Measure your oven’s usable interior before picking a stone size. A 16 inch round stone will not fit on a narrow apartment oven rack, and a 15 by 12 inch rectangle will dangle over the edge of a sloped rack with too much overhang. Measure the flat usable portion, not the full interior width.

Round stones are the classic choice and match the geometry of a stretched pizza dough. Rectangular stones waste less space when baking multiple small flatbreads or Detroit-style pan pizzas. The shape does not affect thermal performance much, so this is purely a kitchen-layout decision.

For dedicated pizza ovens and many outdoor grills, 12 to 14 inch stones fit better than full 16 inch rounds. The Weber Gourmet BBQ system in our test is a 16.7 inch rectangular stone for that exact reason, sized to fit the central grate hole.

Preheat Time and Temperature

Plan on 45 to 60 minutes of preheat at your oven’s maximum temperature, which is typically 500 to 550F in a home range. Skipping the preheat is the single biggest reason home bakers get soggy-bottom pizzas. The dough hits a lukewarm stone, sits there steaming, and never crisps.

For a Neapolitan-style 90 second bake, you need the stone closer to 600F, which means broil preheat or a dedicated pizza oven. For a New York style 6 to 8 minute bake, 500 to 525F is enough. Match your preheat protocol to the style of pizza you bake most often.

How to Clean and Maintain a Pizza Stone

Never submerge a pizza stone in water and never run it through a dishwasher. Water trapped in the pores turns to steam on the next bake and cracks the stone from the inside. For regular cleaning, wait until the stone cools completely, then scrape off debris with a plastic dough scraper and brush loose crumbs away with a dry brush.

Stubborn stuck bits can be removed by heating the stone to 500F for 30 minutes, which burns residue into powder that wipes away easily. Owners who bake weekly report their stones develop a dark patina that actually improves non-stick performance over time.

Store your stone in the oven permanently if you have the space. The thermal mass stabilizes oven temperature every time you open the door, and the stone stays seasoned and ready to bake without a preheat wait. Just avoid storing plastic or flammables on the stone.

For more on pizza night gear, see our roundups of the best air fryers for pizza and the best pizza cutters we have tested.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict: Which Pizza Stone Should You Buy in 2026?

After three months and 200-plus pizzas across eight stones, our top pick remains the KitchenStar 6-Piece Pizza Stone Set. The combination of a 1800F cordierite slab, an actually-usable acacia peel, a proper rocker cutter, and a serving rack makes it the most complete kit in this lineup, and at this price tier nothing else matches the accessory quality.

If you want a budget-first option that still performs on both grill and oven, the Hans Grill Rectangular is the strongest runner-up. It is one of the few stones on this list that we would trust on a charcoal kettle, and the included peel saves you from a separate purchase.

For Weber grill owners who want a stone that drops into the Gourmet BBQ System, the Weber Gourmet BBQ Pizza Stone with its carry rack is the obvious pick. The 2.72 kg weight makes it easy to move, and the integrated rack makes grilling pizzas safer than any other option we tested.

Whatever stone you end up with, the real upgrade happens the day you commit to the 60 minute preheat. A great stone at 350F bakes worse than a mediocre stone at 525F. Use the table at the top of this guide to check current pricing, and pick the stone that fits your oven, your pizza style, and your tolerance for lifting heavy slabs. The best pizza stones are the ones you actually preheat, so choose one and start baking.