Cookware & bakeware · Bakeware
Baking steel
A thick sheet of solid steel that holds intense heat to bake pizza and bread with a very crisp base.
Specialist · No power needed · 1 recipe
What it is
A heavy, flat plate of steel, usually 6–10 mm thick, placed on an oven shelf. Steel conducts heat faster than stone, so pizzas cook more quickly and brown more on the bottom. It does not crack like a stone, but needs seasoning like cast iron.
What it’s for: Delivering strong bottom heat for pizza, flatbreads and bread in a home oven.
How to use it
- Place the steel on a high shelf and preheat at the top temperature for about 45 minutes.
- Slide the pizza on from a peel.
- Optionally switch to the overhead grill to brown the top at the same time.
- Remove food with a peel and let the steel cool in the oven.
Good to know
- Tasks
- baking pizza, baking bread and flatbreads, searing on the hob as a griddle
- Cooking methods
- Oven-baked, Broiled / grilled under heat, Pan-fried
- Materials
- carbon steel
- Care and cleaning
- Scrape clean, wipe with a damp cloth, dry and rub with a little oil to prevent rust.
- Limitations
- Heavy and costly; bases can burn if the dough is thin and the steel too hot.
Safety
- Very heavy; lift with care and support the oven shelf.
- Stays hot for a long time.
If you don’t have one
- Baking stone / pizza stone — Lighter and cheaper; give it a longer preheat.
- Cast-iron skillet — Bake a small pizza directly in the pan.
Equipment guide
How it works: Steel conducts heat many times faster than stone, so a preheated steel slab dumps heat into pizza or bread dough more quickly. This gives a crisper, more blistered base at normal home-oven temperatures. Mass matters: thicker steel stores more heat for several pizzas in a row.
| Material | Good | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon steel plate | Fast heat transfer; almost unbreakable; can double as a griddle. | Very heavy; rusts unless kept seasoned. |
- 6 mm steel
- Lighter, still good.
- 10 mm or thicker steel
- Most stored heat; very heavy.
- Steel griddle plate
- Reversible, used on the hob as well.
Buying guidance
Starting out: A 6 mm steel sized to your oven; very heavy steels are hard to lift in and out.
- Thickness: 6–10 mm
- Weight you can lift safely
- Pre-seasoned surface
- Leaves space around the edges for airflow
No brands or prices — check current reviews before buying.
Techniques:BakingSearingTandoor cooking
Related tools
Recipes that use it
Pita (pocket bread)
Middle Eastern · 2 h 15 min · 246 kcal · Vegan