clean stoneware pan Pampered Chef Pizza Stone

This subject may seem a little odd for my blog, because I rarely never discuss cooking. However, I want to make sure that when you are thrifting, that you don’t pass up something like this:

This is a Pampered Chef Pizza Stoneware. I agree, it has seen better days! Some of you know that I do odd jobs, one of those includes cleaning vacant houses occasionally. I “curbed” this stoneware last week at a house that had been vacant for 3 years. The former tenants apparently “stored” it in the bottom of the oven. I’m supposing that the dark spots on the sides may have been “spillage”? It appeared to have never been used for it’s purpose-pizza. It seemed like a hopeless case. I showed it to a friend and she insisted that I not “wash” it. Well, too late! While I was at that house, I scrubbed it with a green scrubby. (that’s what Cathy calls it)  It really didn’t do much good. This is what it looked like when I brought it home.

This is what it looks like now! Can you believe this is the SAME stoneware? I promise you it is! I talked to a very wise woman (whoa that sounds weird)  Woman-jamie! She’s my go-to girl on so many things. She sold Pampered Chef for a while, and I asked her if she wanted this. She said “yes”, but then I told her that it was in bad shape, and I would probably put it in the oven many times to try to kill anything that might be on it. Her advice? “clean my oven”
huh? clean my oven? “yep, clean your oven and put it in there. That’s what they told us at Pampered Chef”  Then she went on to explain that she had a pan that is stinking and that she might want to put hers in her oven during the self clean cycle. I told her to wait and let me put this one in my oven to see what happens. (since it didn’t cost me anything)
I fired up the oven, placing this stoneware right in the middle. Setting it to the self clean cycle the timer automatically came on for 4:20. My oven was not that dirty, and I rarely let it finish the cycle. I didn’t know how long it might take for this stoneware to “redeem itself”. However this time was no exception. I stopped the cycle after about 2 hours 30 minutes. It looked like the stoneware was coming clean, but it was hard to see through the door. I was so anxious for it to cool down enough to open the door.
I was amazed! Oh, and very pleased! These things are not cheap! I teased jamie that I was going to keep it after all.
So, long story short—if you are thrifting and see one of these Pampered Chef pieces, get it! You can give it new life!
Oh, you say you’ve never used one? I have two, the large bar pan (cookie sheet) and the small bar pan (sort of like brownie pan size) and I love them both! Once they are seasoned, they cook breads and cookies perfectly!
Have YOU thrifted any stoneware? If so, now you know how to revive it!
gail

Edited to add: I got an email from someone who had experienced a fire in their oven with their pizza stone. Please check out this link: https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Pizza-Stone It states that ovens are built to withstand a fire, and it says DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR, as the oxygen could make the fire worse.

Do not leave your oven unattended during a cleaning cycle. The article also recommends that you heat your oven to 500 degrees (to make the stone hot) before starting the cleaning cycle.