If you have purchased a Pampered Chef pizza stone, knowing how to clean and care for it, it will extend its lifespan.
However, we must give you a warning here, you cannot simply presume that cleaning this stone is the same as any other pizza stone.
But thankfully, you will find that cleaning a Pampered Chef pizza stone should not prove difficult. We think it’s exceptionally easy, which means the stone will continue to provide you with some amazing pizza for years to come.
You only have a few simple steps to go through to get the nice and clean pizza stone.
How Often Should You Clean the Stone?
While thoughts on how often you should clean the stone vary, we feel this is a task you must carry out after each use. While it may not always prove an essential thing to do, we feel it stops mess and grease from building up on the stone.
Ultimately, the intention here is to make life much easier for the future.
Items You Will Need
To clean the stone, you will need several items. However, there’s no guarantee you will end up using each item on this list every time you seek to clean the stone.
So, you need the following.
- A damp rag
- A dough scraper
- A plastic spatula
- A toothbrush
- Potentially some gentle sandpaper
- A scouring pad
- Baking soda
As you can see, this is not exactly an extensive list. However, each item has a role to play when cleaning your Pampered Chef pizza stone.
Step 1: Cooling the Stone
Considering the heat the stone retains, you don’t want to start cleaning it as soon as you have removed the pizza. Instead, you must allow the stone to cool.
Admittedly, this part of the process can take a few hours. Keep in mind the stone has been sitting in temperatures of 425F, so it will take some time for that heat to vanish.
Leave it somewhere for it to cool, and then get on with other things in life as there’s not a lot you can do at this point.
Step 2: Dealing with Food Particles
Once the stone has cooled to the point where you can pick it up without burning your hands, you need to move on to the next part. This next step involves dealing with any food particles left on the stone.
For this, you can brush the stone lightly or use a damp rag to wipe over the surface. However, that will only deal with particles not stuck to the stone.
If you notice food particles adhering to the surface, don’t worry. You need to get your dough scraper or even a plastic spatula and gently scrape away at those parts stuck on the surface.
We must stress you should not use any metal implements or utensils here. It would then prove far too easy for you to damage the stone’s surface, and we don’t want to weaken it in any way.
Step 3: Making a Paste
The next step is to make a paste, and that’s where the baking soda comes into play.
Add three tablespoons of water to one cup of baking soda. Those quantities will be very important as it means you can get the correct consistency with the paste.
Step 4: Using the Paste
Spread the paste over the surface of the Pampered Chef pizza stone. Focus on areas where you see significant stains or even flaking.
Flaking happens to the surface of this stone when it has been used for several years. Don’t worry, though, the stone is still capable of producing a fantastic pizza.
Once you are happy with the coverage of the paste, you simply leave it on the surface for between 15 and 20 minutes.
Step 5: Rinsing
Once that time has passed, you can wipe the paste away using a damp rag. Once you have removed the excess, rinse the stone under water and then give it time to dry on its own.
You should know that air-drying the stone is the safest approach. However, it can take a couple of hours to dry completely, so place it to one side and allow the drying process to take its time.
And that should result in your pizza stone looking nice and clean. Yes, there may be a time when some stains or food particles just won’t go, but generally speaking, your pizza stone should be ready for you to use again.
A Warning About Water
If you have used other pizza stones, you may already know that the general advice is to avoid soaking the stone. Well, while the Pampered Chef pizza stone does follow the same advice, there is one slight difference.
A Pampered Chef pizza stone is not stone, but rather it’s made of clay. You should know that clay does not absorb as much water as stone, so the potential for water getting into the inner core of the stone and damaging it remains low.
But even though that’s the case, we do not suggest you soak the stone. Use as little water as possible, which will speed up the drying time at the end of the cleaning process.
Additional Tips
While cleaning your Pampered Chef pizza stone should not prove difficult, we have several tips designed to make life easier. Also, we want you to avoid making a common mistake people make when washing their pizza stone.
Tip 1: Avoid Soap
The first tip is to avoid using soap. You don’t want the soap getting into the clay, and there’s also no need for it if you follow the cleaning steps.
In addition, removing soap suds involves using a lot of water. While we just said that water would not negatively affect the stone as it does with other models, it’s still something you need to avoid.
Tip 2: Always Avoid Harsh Items
It’s common to want to go ahead and use brute force at times to remove those tough particles, but that’s not the correct approach. Instead, we must stress you need to put those harsh implements and utensils to one side.
You have limits on what you can and cannot use to clean your Pampered Chef pizza stone. Metal utensils will scratch and damage the surface, so use either plastic or nylon kitchen utensils mixed in with some real patience on your part.
Tip 3: A Toothbrush
If you find some particles just do not want to budge, then that’s where the toothbrush comes into its own. Circularly use the toothbrush, and you may be surprised at how effective this is at removing those stubborn pieces of burnt cheese.
But allow the bristles of the toothbrush to do most of the work. There’s no need to apply a lot of force. Also, consider combining the baking soda paste with the toothbrush to get the maximum impact.
Tip 4: A Scouring Pad?
We included a scouring pad in the items you may need to clean your Pampered Chef pizza stone. However, we never mentioned how to use it, and this is not something you want just to jump in and use.
Once again, this concept of using a scouring pad is to help the removal of the tougher stains and remnants of pizza. However, it must be quite a gentle scouring pad, so do remember that.
You can still use it in combination with baking soda paste, and we see this generating some effective results. But applying too much pressure and the scouring part could damage the stone, so using it in combination with the paste is a good idea.
Overall Conclusion
Cleaning a Pampered Chef pizza stone remains one of the easiest things you can do. It simply involves you waiting for it to cool, and then use some simple items to remove those food particles and stains.
But there’s something quite pleasant about a pizza stone that has signs of being used. So don’t stress too much if you cannot remove every single mark there.
As long as you clean that old food off, you have nothing to worry about regarding safely using the stone again.
Do just remember that cleaning this stone takes time. But consider this for a moment. It’s better to do it correctly and take your time to ensure you can continue using the stone for years.
The other alternative is just too costly thanks to over-enthusiastic and damaging the stone during the cleaning process.
