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.
I know this is an older blog but people are reading it for the first time now (just like me). Some of the commentators wondered about the “safe to 450°” from Pampered Chef. Stoneware is fired in the kiln between 2,100° – 2,400°. I seriously doubt a home oven gets remotely close to that temp in a cleaning cycle ; ) Some stoneware may crack in the oven but the culprit was more than likely a fine hairline crack that was there before it was put in the oven and the heat just finished the job. If your stoneware is so nasty looking you won’t even use anymore or you got it for a song at a flea market, etc you might as well give it a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Thanks for your input Tina!
Yes, people are still reading my older content. The google machine helps send new visitors every day!
gail
Just picked up a Pampered Chef pizza stone for $2.50 at the thrift shop! So excited! I have the cookie pan and love it. Thank you so much for writing this article and sharing the good stuff. I’m so glad I can get it clean and feel good about using it in our home safely! Cheers!
Yay! So happy you found this article. Good luck, I hope it works.
gail
I wish I could post a picture of my before/aftet Pampered Chef I found at goodwill. Thank you for this post!!
Yay! I’m so happy this tutorial helped you Angelina!
gail
I just got 2 different pc gingerbread house molds. They look like they haven’t been used. I was worried about what may have been on them though. I dont know if my oven is self cleaning, but even if it isn’t a hit oven would kill anything in the pores of the stone. Thank you! I don’t feel like the bk soda would disinfect them.
Gail,
You are THE Goddess of all things wonderful! I have read and tried so many different ways to clean Pampered Chef pizza/baking stones, some sort of ok and some mostly VERY VERY BAD! Though I am a pretty darn good cook (I have been a BBQ and baking competitor with a few ribbons and trophies to show for it , I am not the cleaner of the kitchen. I do all the cooking and she does the kitchen cleanup, thats the deal we made when we got married and of course I do clean when she cooks but she adores my cooking therefore I don’t really have to clean all that much in the kitchen, but, I digress. We picked up a couple of stones at a local Salvation Army store for next to nothing about 6 months ago that had maybe been used 3 or 4 times. Since then I have only actually taken them out of the oven once or twice, we have a double oven so its rare when I need both ovens at the same time for things other than pizza or biscuit types of baking. I have been putting off the cleaning of the stone just because we didn’t want to ruin it by doing something wrong and I had heard horror stories from friends about destroying them during the cleaning process, even from folks who were Pampered Chef party pro’s. Ours were looking quite disgusting, I cant tell you how much grease had created a sticky tacky patina that refused to harden up completely. But after reading this and putting the stone in the oven for about 90 minutes of the cleaning cycle the results were exactly as you described. After informing my friends of your technique and showing off the results there has been many a “DUH” blurted out after everyone realized the common sense logic of it all and I can honestly say that your name is now used when many a baker says a little prayer in hope of happy eaters when they make something wonderful on their stones!
Kind Regards,
a devoted follower of your immense wisdom,
Morty F.
Morty,
Thank you soooo very much for your wonderful comment. I’m so happy you found my little corner of the world. I hope you enjoy repurposed projects and find some of those articles just as helpful!
My stone is getting pretty bad–I think I need to do the cleaning technique on it as well. 🙂
gail
I just got a bunch of stoneware given to me and it is dirty. My oven does not have self clening. Is there another way to clean them?
Not that I know of.
I tried the self-clean setting, and my muffin pan is black. Waiting got it to cool to see how much I can scrub off….is it a total loss? It was given to me by so,some who didn’t want it, so at least no ,obey down the drain…
Hmmm this is interesting! I would have never thought to do this as I know stoneware can break at higher temps. On their website it says “Stoneware is heat-resistant to 450°F ” Doesn’t the clean cycle get hotter than that?
I would say, “yes” it probably does get hotter. It worked for me, and it was a “found” piece. Use this method with caution. 🙂
gail
Gail, thank you for the tip. my muffin pan was sooo dark and grungy. I put it the self cleaning oven and it came out like new . Thank you !
Hanna,
I’m so happy that this tip worked for you! Thank you for letting me know you stopped by.
gail
Mine was given to me in a greasy state! I decided to try this self-clean oven technique! Yikes, our house filled with smoke and we had to open all the windows and doors AND it is cold outside. When I opened my oven, the stone
was covered with black soot on both sides that is not coming off! I would post a picture if I knew how. PLUS my less than a year old oven seems to now have the big glass ruined with streaks that appear to be on the inside of the glass. I feel I made a big mistake cleaning it in the oven! :((
Janie
How awful! Have you ever used your self cleaning cycle before? I see no reason why the stone would cause streaks on the inside of the glass. I’m no expert, but if it were my oven, I’d run the self clean cycle again. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you like it did for me. 🙁
gail
I have used the self-cleaning oven before. I DID run it again after taking out the stone. The oven door was still streaked with grease from the smoke from the pizza stone, when I opened the door after the cycle. HOWEVER, much to my pleasant surprise, when I wiped the hot glass with a damp cloth, it came right off. HOORAY. The stone is a loss, black and sooty, I even ran it through the dishwasher by itself. Didn’t help. I noticed on the back of the stone it says TAIWAN. So apparently it is NOT a Pampered Chef stone. (My daughter used to sell PC.) So maybe it was not high quality. Hope the intense smoke from this off-brand stone didn’t let off some dangerous chemical into our lungs!
Ive washed my stoneware with dish soap & have not had an issue! I thrifted a few pieces, a square stone & something else, can’t remember!
I just purchased my first Pampered Chef stone pizza pan. Who knew you could find them “used.” Haha.
I would have NEVER in a million years thought you coud put stoneware that you can’t use soap on, in an oven while it self cleaned!! WOW! What a difference it made! I will surely be on the lookout for Pampered Chef stoneware that needs a little TLC from now on!! I am just amazed!
Hey Gail, thanks soooo much for posting this. I have the same piece and mine looks HORRIBLE. I will be putting it in the next time I clean my oven. You’re he best : )
~ Deanna
Unbelievable! I’ve never heard of that! Thanks for the tip! I have several PC stoneware pans (6 to be exact) and love them all!
Did you know I had a Pampered chef stoneware bundt pan thing that needs that same treatment – my mom said – oh there is something the pampered chef people tell you to do…I’ll try to find out…now I know. Do I dare tell I bought it for $1 (it was new) at a garage sale and I was going to craft with it
Wow, that’s a pretty extreme before and after. I definitely would have looked it over initially. I’ve never ordered anything from Pampered Chef before but it’s nice to know that if I do it’s durable!
Thanks for watching the show yesterday and for the support. I really appreciate it 🙂
wish i had a self cleaning oven :(—my pizza stone looks a bit like the before photo. thanks for sharing this great trick..i will be sure to pass it on!
that’s AWESOME!!!! I have one of those (wedding gift) and I absolutely LOVE it!
I was told when I got mine that I should cook those really buttery/greasy canned biscuits to ‘properly’ oil it! 🙂 Hope this tip helps you!
Lauren @ tickled.
Wow! It looks brand spanking new! And that is without any chemicals?
I don’t have a self cleaning oven. I have to use oven spray and clean it that way. Yucky chemicals.
But I will file this solution away for just in case. 😉
That’s incredible! What a great tip!
Awesome tip! Thanks for sharing it.
what a great find!!
I LOVE you! No,really! My pizza stone is DI-GUS-TING! I cant wait to try this. Thank you!
Wow, that was smart! It looks brand new!
I can’t imagine that a person would toss such wonderful stoneware.
Love the clean it with your oven idea.
Your friend was right on! I was a consultant for 2 years and its true…keeping it in there during the self clean will refresh a stone every time.
And dont ever use soap to clean your stones! Stoneware is porous and will actually soak in the soap and then release it into your food the next time you cook with it. Use a Pampered Chef stoneware scraper or the Easy Clean kitchen brush to scrub off “baked on goo” as you run it under VERY HOT WATER. But NO SOAP!!!
XO,
Sarah
That is amazing! Thanks for the tip!!
I love my stoneware.. I have a bunch of it… It’s the best… however, i don’t think i could take it from a vacant place.
you are a brave woman!
I never knew you could clean it like that. interesting.
I almost exclusively use stone ware, I think it cooks wonderfully and have many pieces. (a few found at tag sales) woohoo
Thanks Gail! I did forget to take the racks out the first time, it took the shine/finish partially off of them…the smell was HORRENDOUS & they would no longer slide in & out easily. 🙁 I had to buy new ones. Expensive mistake on a brand-new oven. Thanks for thinking of me & my rebellious side though! Haha. 🙂
wow,, thats a great find Gail.. i cant believe how clean it came.
Genius! I never use soap on my to keep it “seasoned” but can never get all of the crusty stuff off. I’ll have to try this!
I have always wanted one of those pizza stones…alas, Pampered Chef is not in the budget just yet
My stone needs to be cleaned too but here’s my dilemma: the racks in my double ovens have to be removed during the self-cleaning cycle. Any suggestions?
Wow Gail I am amazed that is the same piece. I have one of those but don’t use it much… Dennis has tried it out a few times but didn’t like it. Never thought to use it for cookies, that is not likely to happen anytime soon either though… lol… I will definitely keep this in mind if I ever have the need to clean it. Thanks for sharing.
Have a great day.
Hugs, Deb
I’m shocked. That looks better than mine, and I thought I took care of things. Those aren’t cheap either; we need to use the usable. I’m looking forward to warmer weather to open up my house and clean my winter mess from my self-cleaning stove. Otherwise can’t stand the smell! I love stoneware. I’ve never seen any in Goodwill or I’d grab it. Who gives that stuff away! HAHA! When I lived in Texas (a long time ago) a friend and I cleaned empty houses for realy companies. We’d do it late in the evenings when our hubbies could watch the kids. It was a great money making project and we enjoyed the visiting. I’m thinking of doing it again!
Deb
@Debbie I know this is a couple of years late, but today at a Goodwill Outlet (the last stop before the dump) I found the large pan and the muffin pan for $1 each. The flat pan looks rough. I’m trying the baking soda method first… Then maybe the oven thing, but I’m a bit scared to do so!
Who knew. I have to tell my friend who has some very old Pampered Chef stoneware. She’ll be amazed.
I will often use hot water and baking soda. Works well and doesn’t damage the “seasoning”.
That’s very interesting! I’ll be forwarding your blog to my mom. I have a stone but have never used it since I don’t know how to get started. -sigh-