Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This steel plate is 16"W x 14"D x .25" thick. You could probably buy a sheet of steel from a metal shop for less money; however, it would be nothing more than a scrap steel slab, with no finishing. This piece has nicely rounded corners, with a beautiful matte finish. The matte finish holds seasoning oil better. One minor inconvenience, you will need to clean it after every use. You don't want to accumulate flour, cornmeal or semolina on it, as it turns to black soot after only one bake. Let it cool down for a couple hours before attempting to clean. Another consideration: there is a bit of a learning curve when using this heavy steel plate, vs. pizza pans or the 10" Lodge griddle. You need to find an effective method to get your pizza onto the steel plate. I put the plate on the rack closest to the lower heating element. I know a few folks recommend the next shelf position up. However, you want to heat this plate to the max (remember, the floor of a restaurant size brick pizza oven is 900+ degrees F. That is why it takes only a minute or less to cook a thin crust pizza. Don't worry that the cheese on your pizza won't melt before the crust burns. In a 500+ degree F oven a reasonable amount of shredded, solid mozzarella will melt fine. Don't use store bought shredded cheese. It's laden with additives which keep it from clumping and it doesn't have the same taste or texture, and won’t melt as quickly. When my plate is finished pre-heating, and my pizza sits on a peel, ready to load, I quickly open the oven door, pull the bottom rack out with a pair of plyers, load the pizza onto the steel, and quickly shut the oven door. My goal is not to dump any ingredients onto the stone, so I limit my pizza size to about 12-13” diameter. This steel will stain if tomato or cheese is cooked onto it. The stains are cosmetic only and will not affect the matte finish. My steel turned a darker color after the first use. The steel weighs about 15 lbs, and the edges are not rounded, so be careful of pinch points. To make best use of electric power, cook several pizzas once the steel is heated to desire. Use a laser gun to gage temperature. An alternative to this steel plate, which I used before purchasing it, is the previously mentioned Lodge 10” iron griddle. They are easy to lift but they are less than .25” thick. You can pre-heat them for 30 min. at 500 degrees, remove them from the oven quickly, slide your 10” pizza onto them, and quickly put them back into the oven for about 5-8 minutes. The downside is your pizzas are limited in size, and the Lodge griddle doesn’t get as hot as the steel. However, I produced some fine crusts on these griddles. Just be careful handling them. I would not recommend steel any thicker than quarter inch. It may stay hotter longer, but you have to consider air temperature in the oven as well. When you open the door you lose a lot of heat. An overly hot plate and a cooler oven will create an imbalance in your pizza baking. Thicker steel is a bugger to lift, is stressful on your flimsy oven rack, and takes forever to cool down. You won’t gain a noticeably better crust.