Value: ★★★★★
Compared to other stones on the market, I believe this one currently holds the best quality-to-price ratio. Yes, there are better, nicer stones out there, but not in this price range. And yes, there are similar ones for less, but from my experience they don't have the same quality ceramic as this has"”it retains more heat and is nice and thick.

Quality: ★★★★☆
The reason I knock off a star is because the little stopper lip in the back that prevents you from throwing your pizza off, has developed a crack. I generally never touch the back lip, but have hit it a few times. I really hope it does not break off. Thus far, that's my only quality concern. That being said, I thought the stopper was a gimmick, oh boy was I wrong. When you're frantically trying to slide a pizza off your peel, it really down help!

Pizza Cookery: ★★★★★
I've made my pizzas roughly a dozen times already. I use my oven at 500ºF and pizzas are delicious, scrumptious, light, crispy, and amazing. I've attached the recipe I use below, trust me when I say it's the best pizza dough I've tried and I've made loads. The stone should be left to reheat for a few minutes"”I wait 10"”between pizzas, so if cooking for a crowd, you may need two. If you just chain bake the pizzas, the stone won't remain hot enough to crisp the underside of the crust.

Overall Rating:★★★★★
It's an awesome stone, I would give it 4.5 stars since I think it's a tad on the expensive side and because the little back tooth is beginning to crack. That being said, it works wonderfully and is currently in great condition!

Recommend to a friend?: ✔ Yes
Would buy again?: ✔ Yes
A good gift idea?: ✔ Yes

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Best ArtSHOW Pizza Stone Dough Recipe - Makes 4 small 8-10" pizzas

.3 ounces (about 2 teaspoons) instant yeast
.3 ounces (about 2 teaspoons) sugar or honey
13 ounces water (cool or warm, see instructions)
20 ounces (about 4 cups) flour, (All Purpose, Bread or OO)
.4 ounces kosher salt (about 4 teaspoons)

1. Add water, sugar, and year into a bowl. Allow yeast to dissolve & active (around 5 minutes). (f using right away use warm, but not hot, water; if you'll let it ferment in the fridge you may use cool water.

2. Pour flour and salt directly into year mixture. Bring mixture together. Knead with a stand mixer or by hand for 3 minutes for a tender dough, or up to 10 minutes for more chewy dough.

3. If using right away, allow to double in size (around 45 mins) then portion into 4 balls and allow to rise once again before using. If you'll allow it to ferment (preferred) place into a lightly oiled container loosely covered with plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 3 days, portion, allow to proof at room temperature. Roll, and use.

With our first of these stones, we experienced unbearable odor problems. LoveThisKitchen was quick to stand behind their satisfaction guarantee and they replaced that stone. The new stone has been awesome! I have three hypotheses on what may have been the problem with the first stone.

1. It may have been some quality control problem in manufacturing, as the three reviews about a smell problem are all recent. However, if there was a bad batch, that's evidently been resolved as the new stone is fine. And the guarantee is solid.

2. With the original stone, after washing and drying the stone, we stored it in its box again, which means that it was in contact with styrofoam. If microscopic styrofoam particles were ground into the stone's pores, heating may have cooked them into the stone and emitted the odors. Our new stone is stored in a cabinet, not in the box. If we needed to store it in the box for some reason, we would be sure to thoroughly wash and dry it again before use.

3. With the original stone, when we were trying to wash burnt cheese off the stone, we may have used a plastic scrub brush or a plastic scratch pad. If this action ground tiny plastic particles into the stone, heating the stone may have cooked these into the stone and emitted the odors. With our new stone, we have only used a metal spatula and a cotton cloth.

So there is no need to be concerned about a stone arriving with an odor issue, but I'd still keep the stone from ongoing contact with styrofoam or with plastic cleaning tools, as a precautionary measure.

As for the stone itself, I love it!
- It holds a lot of heat, and that makes all the difference in getting the crust to come out perfect, even cycling multiple pizzas/calzones over it in sequence.
- I love how the stopper on the back end keeps the pizza from sliding off the back of the stone as I try to slide the peel under it.

The only downside I can think of is that being so thick, it's heavier than my 80-year-old mother wants to handle.

Bottom line: Because LoveThisKitchen stands behind their satisfaction guarantee, you can't go wrong with this stone. Even though this stone is not cheap like the thin ones, it's worth every penny.

Pros:
Heavy - This pizza stone is heavy. It's dense and retains heat really well.
Pizza-stop - the little nub helps keep the pizza from sliding off the stone by mistake.
Size - At 16" it's a challenge to make a pizza that's too large for this stone.
Baking - IT does wonders for helping get crust to the right consistency.

Cons:
Weight - It can be a little bit unwieldy because of the weight, but I think the trade-off is well worth it.
Care - Cleaning pizza stones is kind of a pain in general, not really a specific fault of this particular stone.

Closing thoughts:
This stone makes making pizzas at home much easier and improves the crusts a lot. I recommend it highly and would not hesitate to buy it again if I lost or broke mine somehow. It makes me want to get a bigger grill so that I can start making pizzas on the grill with this.

I chose this pizza stone because I had tried the brand's silicone pot holders and they turned out to feel really sturdy and long-lasting. Now I couldn't be happier with it: the stone is thick, resistant to changes from hot to cold and large enouThe Ultimate Aluminum Pizza Peel. 14" Paddle with Non Stick Ceramic Coating, 10" Wood Handle. Large & Lightweight, Use this Metal Spatula for Baking Pizzas and Breads on Oven & Grill. Indoor / Outdoorgh for family pizzas, so I just have to make one for everybody and it always turns out the crunchiest we've tried. (I bought the entire combo by LTK: this stone with the Ultimate Pizza Peel as they had a nice discount when getting them together).The Ultimate Aluminum Pizza Peel. 14" Paddle with Non Stick Ceramic Coating, 10" Wood Handle. Large & Lightweight, Use this Metal Spatula for Baking Pizzas and Breads on Oven & Grill. Indoor / Outdoor

Replaced another stone with this one. Much better. Heavy, heats uniformly, browns crust evenly, can get a nice size pizza on it without it hanging over the edge, clean-up is a breeze and really like the handle/stop in the back as it really does stop toppings from sliding off when you are putting the pizza on it from a peel. Highly recommend this quality pizza stone.