Don’t let the name fool you; a pizza stone is an incredible crisp-ifying tool that is for more than just pizza. From roasting veggies, making crispy French fries and onions rings, and baking some crusty bread, a pizza stone is an all-in-one piece of multipurpose bakeware. Skip the baking sheet; your life will be changed forever. If you don’t have a pizza stone, buy one now. It’s one of the best little investments you can make in the kitchen. Pizza stones are incredible for absorbing moisture from the foods you are cooking on it, leaving you with crispy goodness that doesn’t involve the fryer. The stones are awesome for frozen goods as those ice crystals are no match for what’s to come. Plus, these stones work wonders in keeping your oven at regulated and even temperatures—allowing you to get away with making things crispy at higher temps. There’s a secret though that is quite overlooked, and could solve your problem if you haven’t had luck in the past with this ingenious bakeware…it’s all about the preheating. Preheat your stone in the oven before placing food on its surface. Follow the temperature settings (or experiment and go a little higher) as you usually would for whatever foods you have going on, and allow the stone to get super hot. While your oven is preheating, pop in your pizza stone for 15-20 minutes. Then, slap on your pizza, frozen goods, dough and the likes onto its hot surface. Allow the stone to do its thing, and you will be left with crispy gloriousness you could only dream about. When you toss in your food on room-temp stone, you’re essentially slow-cooking your food, leaving a soggy or rubbery texture that has no business being in your mouth. Ick. It’s all about the hot stone, not a room-temp one. Go ahead and give it a try.
Photo by: Brian Boucheron | Flickr![Preheat Your Pizza Stone for Incredibly Crispy Foods Preheat Your Pizza Stone for Incredibly Crispy Foods](https://www.appliancevideo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/preheat-pizza-stone.jpg)