What To Cook On Your Pizza Steel Besides Making Pizza
So you’ve gotten your hands on a HexClad Hybrid Pizza Steel or have been eyeing one up, wondering whether you’re really going to make that much pizza. It’s true, the pizza steel is the best way to make restaurant-quality pizzas at home. But there is so much you can do with a pizza steel beyond making pizza. We’re talking crisp roasted veggies, melty sandwiches, finishing off perfectly cooked steaks, and more. If you’ve ever loved the wood-fired vegetables from your favorite Italian restaurant or wondered why your peach pie came out soggy on the bottom, you’ll love the way a pizza stone both makes your oven more reliable and ensures even cooking and good browning on many foods. That’s because its surface is great at retaining heat, providing more even cooking than a regular baking sheet.
If you’re wondering what to make on your pizza stone, the pizza steel can be used for all the same things.
WHAT TO COOK ON YOUR HEXCLAD HYBRID PIZZA STEEL BESIDES MAKING PIZZA
PIES AND GALETTES
No one loves a soggy bottom and yet they are all-too-common in pies and galettes. No more with the pizza steel, which is an ideal surface for baking desserts made with pie dough. The evenly heated surface of the pizza steel allows the bottom crust to get evenly baked without compromising the juicy interiors. So whether you’re making pumpkin pie or peach pie, opt for the pizza steel year-round.
ROASTED VEGETABLES
It’s safe to say that a well-browned vegetable is more delicious than a pale, limp one (we have the Maillard reaction to thank for that). To get the perfect, umami-rich caramelized crust on your favorite vegetables–whether potatoes, zucchini, onions, or carrots–roast them on your pizza steel. Start by preheating the pizza steel in the oven, toss your veggies with oil and your favorite seasonings (don’t forget salt and pepper), and then add them to the hot steel. They’ll get crispy and golden without as much oil and have all the rich, roasty flavor of wood-fired vegetables from a restaurant.
EASY GRILLED CHEESE AND OTHER MELTY SANDWICHES
Yes, you can make an epic grilled cheese in your everyday frying pan, and we recommend it. But for an even more hands-off approach, why not use the pizza steel instead? Assemble your grilled cheese and place it on a heated pizza steel for a laid-back grilled cheese that basically cooks itself. Flip it halfway through cooking, and if you want a crispy exterior, brush the outside of the slices of bread with butter or mayonnaise before putting them in the oven. Use the pizza steel to bake other melty sandwiches like tuna melts, croque monsieurs, or chicken parm sandwiches
PERFECTLY COOKED STEAKS
When you cook a steak in the oven using the reverse-sear method, it cooks more evenly, you get a better crust, and it’s harder to overcook it. This is a great method for thicker steaks over 1½ inches. Start by preheating the steel in a 250ºF oven. Then add your seasoned steak to the steel and cook until it hits 105°F (41°C) for rare, 115°F (46°C) for medium-rare, 125°F (52°C) for medium, or 135°F (57°C) for medium-well. Then, finish it off in your 12" Hybrid Fry Pan to get a gorgeously browned crust. Of course, if you want to start by searing the steak in your skillet and then transferring it to a hot oven to finish cooking, you’ll still want to slide the skillet onto the preheated steel for the best outcome.
AND OF COURSE, PIZZA
While you might not need to be convinced to use your pizza steel to make pizza, we want to shout out some of the best things about making pizza on this helpful tool. For instance, a pizza steel traps heat, which means when pizza dough hits the heated steel, the water in the dough boils more rapidly, allowing the dough to rise faster to make a puffier crust, while also contributing to a browner, burnished crust.
Want to get started with some pizzas of your own? Here’s everything you need to get started with making homemade pizza on your pizza steel:
