Pizza

How To Clean Ooni Pizza Stone 

Pizza enthusiasts are most likely already familiar with Ooni, a highly-rated pizza oven company that produces ovens perfect for fire and stone-baked pizzas at high temperatures that ensure your pizza’s crust has a nice crunch while staying cheesy and gooey in the middle. 

All of these pizza ovens come with an Ooni baking stone made of strong cordierite stone that serves as your base for baking delicious pizzas. When investing in an Ooni pizza oven, you want to make sure you are properly taking care of your oven to make sure you can continue making perfect pizzas for years to come. This simple step-by-step guide will help you properly clean your Ooni baking stone. 

What Is an Ooni Pizza Stone?

Before we get into the cleaning process, let’s take a step back and examine what an Ooni baking stone is and what function it serves. According to Ooni’s website, the key features of the Ooni baking stone include a 336 x 342 x 10-millimeter solide cordierite stone that’s built to last. 

This particular baking stone matches many different Ooni pizza ovens, but can also be used on its own in most standard ovens, so you can still bake an excellent pizza without having to purchase an entire pizza oven. 

How to Clean an Ooni Pizza Stone

Now that you know exactly what to expect from your Ooni pizza stone, let’s get into the process of keeping it clean. Pizza, while tasty, is a messy endeavor to make. Bubbling cheese, tomato sauce stains, and dust from the pizza crust can build up to threaten the integrity of your Ooni pizza stone. 

You’ll want to read these instructions carefully, as Ooni pizza stones can’t be cleaned with soap and water the same way metal pizza trays are cleaned. 

The most important tip to keep in mind when cleaning your Ooni pizza stone is to keep it as dry as possible throughout the cleaning process and do not use soap or other standard cleaning products, which may seem strange. However, submerging your pizza stone in water can make a huge difference in your next pizza and compromise the integrity of your pizza crusts moving forward. 

So, if you can’t get your pizza stone wet, what supplies should you use to clean it? Pizzaholic recommends having the following on hand as helpful tools while cleaning: 

  • Blunt table knife
  • Plastic spatula
  • Dough scraper
  • Stone brush
  • Scouring pads
  • Toothbrush

In general, you probably won’t need all of these tools, but they may come in handy when facing tougher stains (more on that later), and it’s better to be over-prepared than underprepared. 

As you can see, cleaning your Ooni pizza stone is less about scrubbing and more about scraping. Here is a step-by-step guide to getting your pizza stone good as new after use: 

  1. Allow your pizza stone to cool down completely, which is a crucial step that cannot be skipped, so be patient and wait a few hours before washing it. 
  2. If there are bits of pizza that are very stuck to the surface of your pizza stone, you can use a tiny bit of water on the top of your pizza stone to make removal easier. Again, be sure not to go overboard on the water. 
  3. Next, pick up your stone brush and gently brush the surface of your pizza stone to remove any cheese or sauce. 
  4. Once you’re satisfied with how clean the surface is, use a damp (not wet) rag and run it over the entire pizza stone. 
  5. Let your stone dry completely before storing it in your oven to ensure it doesn’t crack. 

While this might seem like a long process, it will certainly be worth it to properly maintain your stone so you can support your love of pizza for a long time. 

Removing Tough Stains

This point is where your spatula comes into play. If a particularly stubborn spot on your pizza stone is giving you trouble, use your spatula to gently remove any caked-on food. If that does not remove the stain, combine equal parts water and baking soda (less is more in this case) and very carefully use a damp rag to spread this solution all over your stone. 

Don’t be afraid to scrub for a long time, as this can take a while to fully lift the stain. Once you’re satisfied with the cleanliness of your stone, wipe the solution away with a different damp cloth. As noted above, be sure you let your stone dry one hundred percent before storing it in your oven. 

Recipe Ideas for Your Ooni Pizza Stone

Now that you know how to properly clean your Ooni pizza stone, it’s time to get cooking! Here are a couple of recipe ideas pulled directly from Ooni’s website, so you know they will be suited to cooking on a wood-burning pizza stove or pizza stone: 

  • Classic Ooni Pizza Dough Recipe: This is a great starting point for newer pizza chefs. Once you master making dough, you’ll be ready to experiment with more topping combinations and construct your ideal pizza. 
  • Classic Ooni Pizza Sauce: Arguably just as important as a good dough base, finding an easy pizza sauce to top your dough is your next step. 

Once you’re comfortable making sauce and dough for your pizza, it’s time to get wild with it! Here are some fun recipes from Ooni, ranging from classic to adventurous: 

Pizza Doesn’t Stop with Dinner!

Here are a couple of dessert pizza recipes that are sure to wow your guests in an easily shareable sweet dish: 

Final Thoughts

Time to fire up the oven! Pizza is an easy but delicious meal that appeals to almost everyone, and being able to make it at home is a nice benefit. Just don’t forget to follow the steps above to keep your Ooni pizza stone nice and clean when you’re done.