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Why Use Cordierite for Pizza Stones?
Posted by Tom Evans on August 3, 2022
Our range of refractory ceramics, such as cordierite and silicon carbide, are traditionally used as ‘kiln furniture’ for tableware, sanitaryware and other similar industries. They also turn up in more unexpected places though – from silicon carbide’s use in the electric vehicle battery industry to cordierite’s use for pizza stones.
What is a pizza stone?
A pizza stone is a square, rectangular, or circular plate used to hold a pizza during cooking, essentially acting as a baking tray that’s more conveniently shaped for pizzas. The pizza stone is preheated in the oven before the pizza is placed on it, creating an environment which mimics the behaviour of a traditional pizza oven more accurately. Despite its name, a pizza stone doesn’t have to be made of stone – it can also be made of cordierite ceramic material.
Cordierite is prized for its excellent thermal properties which allow it a range of advantages:
- It’s extremely resistant to thermal shock cracking, meaning it won’t shatter during heating and cooling processes.
- It has low ‘creep’ rates, ensuring a long service life.
- It is highly stable at high temperatures, allowing it to be used many times.
This makes cordierite ceramic material perfect for both kiln furniture (where it’s used to hold products as they’re fired in a kiln) and for baking pizzas.
What are the benefits of cordierite?
Cordierite pizza stones also come with many advantages over other types of ceramic:
- Cordierite can withstand higher temperatures, so it allows you to put your pizzas in hotter ovens and thus cook them faster.
- The material heats evenly, meaning that your finished pizzas won’t have any cold spots.
- It’s a porous material, allowing steam to escape from the bread base and ensuring that your pizza has a crisp, not soggy, bottom.
- Cordierite’s also a very cost-effective material, making for not just a better pizza stone but a relatively cheaper one too.
Cordierite is often used in the baking of bread products for the same reasons.
Interested in our cordierite pizza stones?
IPS Ceramics supplies cordierite pizza stones in bulk to the catering industries. We can offer bespoke pizza stones of all shapes and sizes, both with or without perforations and grooves.
Contact us at enq@ipsceramics.com or call us at +44 (0) 1782 711511 to find out more information or to make an enquiry.