The Types of Pizza Steel Explained, and How to Pick the Right One for Your Oven
Written by the Doppio Living team, home baking enthusiasts who've been firing up pizza in our own wood-fired oven for over 10 years. We've baked on all four standard steel thicknesses, from 3/16 to 1/2 inch, and we make two steels ourselves, a 1/4 inch Classic and a 0.12 inch Lightweight.
Search "pizza steel" and see what comes back. A 15 lb slab of carbon steel. A "steel pizza stone." A cast iron pan with loop handles. A 4.5 lb nonstick tray that swears you can skip the preheat.
They all wear the same name, and only some of them are actually a solid steel plate. We've spent 10+ years baking pizza at home and we make two steels of our own, so we sorted the different types of pizza steel into six plain categories, then matched each one to the cook it suits.
Types of Pizza Steel Explained, the Short Version
Pizza steels differ in six ways (shape, material, thickness, format, size, and finish), and most home cooks do best with a pre-seasoned 1/4 inch carbon steel rectangle around 16 x 14 inches.
- Choose a shape for where you cook. Rectangles and squares suit a home oven rack, round steels sit on kamado and kettle grills, and octagonal steels are rare enough that you can skip them.
- Pick carbon steel unless you never want to season anything. Carbon steel (usually A36) moves heat at about 50 W/m-K and needs an oil coat, while stainless (304 or 430) conducts a third to half as well, browns slower, and needs no seasoning.
- Match the thickness to your pizza count. Ultra-thin plates (about 1/8 inch) and 3/16 inch plates stay light, 1/4 inch runs 14 to 16 lb and handles 2 to 3 pies in a row, and 3/8 or 1/2 inch recovers faster for bigger batches.
- Decide on a format. A flat plate only bakes, a reversible griddle-style steel also covers two stovetop burners, and most "perforated pizza steels" turn out to be thin pans with holes punched in them.
- Size it to your oven, not your wish list. Small steels (about 12 inches or less) fit countertop ovens, the 16 inch class fits most full-size ovens, and XL steels (20 inches plus) need a wide rack and about 1 inch of clearance on every side.
- Pick a finish. A pre-seasoned steel can go into the oven after a quick rinse, while a raw steel needs degreasing, mill scale removal, and a few coats of seasoning before it ever touches dough.
How to Know What's the Best Type of Pizza Steel for You
| If you... | Then choose | Brand and model |
|---|---|---|
| Bake 1 to 3 pizzas a night in a standard oven, plus the odd loaf | A pre-seasoned 1/4" carbon steel rectangle | Doppio Living Chef-Grade Classic, 16" x 14.25" x 1/4" |
| Run 4 or more pies back to back, or bake full 16" New York pies | A 3/8" square (check for 18"+ of rack depth first) | Baking Steel Pro, 16" x 16" x 3/8" |
| Lift the steel in and out often, or mostly bake 12" pies | An ultra-thin carbon steel around 1/8" | Doppio Living Lightweight, 16" x 13.5" x 0.12" |
| Bake more bread than pizza | A thin bread steel that heats with the oven | Brod & Taylor Bread Steel, 14" x 14" x 0.1" |
| Cook on a kamado or kettle grill | A round steel, set over a heat deflector with an air gap | Baking Steel Kamado 16" Round, 1/4" (kamado); KettlePizza Pizza & Grilling Steel 15", 5/32" stainless (kettle) |
| Never want to season anything | A stainless steel plate | Gi.Metal (Amica), 16" x 13.5" x 0.157", 304 stainless |
| Want to griddle burgers and pancakes on the stovetop too | A reversible griddle-style steel | The Baking Steel Griddle, 14" x 18" x 3/8" |
| Want airflow under a thin crust | A perforated round (really a thin dished pan) | Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Pizza Steel, 12.6" round, 2 mm |
| Cook in a countertop or toaster oven | A small steel, about 12" or less | The Mini Griddle from Baking Steel, 11.5" x 11.5" x 3/8" |
| Have a wide oven and bake big batches of bread | An XL steel (measure your rack width first) | Cooking Steels / ThermiChef Cooking Steel XXL 16"x 22", 1/4" |
| Don't mind seasoning a steel yourself | A raw, unseasoned plate | Cooking Steels / ThermiChef Cooking Steel 16"x16", 1/4", raw |
Prices in this post are as listed in September 2026.
Pizza Steel Types by Shape
There are four pizza steel types by shape: rectangular, square, round, and octagonal. In more than 10 years of baking at home, our oven rack has only ever held rectangles and squares, and the reasons come down to launch room and fit.
Rectangular Pizza Steel
Examples: Doppio Living Classic, 16" x 14.25" x 1/4", about 15 lb; Baking Steel Original, 16" x 14" x 1/4", 15 to 16 lb, $139; NerdChef Steel Stone line, 16" x 14.25", in 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2".
A rectangular pizza steel is what most people end up with, and 16 x 14 is the footprint almost everybody copies. Baking Steel sizes its Original for 12 to 14 inch pizzas and says it fits most standard ovens with room around the edges for air to move.
America's Test Kitchen's testers lean the same way. They prefer larger rectangles because the extra length gives your pizza a bigger landing zone, plus room for an oblong loaf when you're baking bread.
Square Pizza Steel
Examples: Baking Steel Pro, 16" x 16" x 3/8", 27 lb, $189; Cooking Steels / ThermiChef Cooking Steel 16"x16", 1/4" or 3/8", 17.6 or 27.5 lb, from $71.99; Chef Pomodoro Pizza Steel for Oven or BBQ Grill, 13" x 13" x 1/4", $49.99.
A square pizza steel buys you width. Anyone who's muttered about "14 x 16 silliness" while trying to land a big pie on a plate barely wider than the dough already knows the fix, and our rule of thumb is simple: get the biggest square your oven can handle.
The 16 inch pizza steel squares are built for full 16 inch New York pies. Baking Steel says its Pro needs at least 18 inches of rack depth and a 16 inch peel to go with it, so measure before you fall in love. Chef Pomodoro's 13 inch square goes the other way, sized for smaller ovens and grills.
Round Pizza Steel
Examples: Baking Steel Kamado 16" Round, 16" diameter x 1/4", 16 lb; KettlePizza Pizza & Grilling Steel 15", 15" diameter x 5/32", stainless, Made in USA; Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Pizza Steel, 12.6" round, 2 mm, $69.
A round pizza steel earns its keep outdoors. If you cook on a kamado or kettle grill, a round steel fits the grate, and Baking Steel cuts its Kamado model for most 18 inch and larger kamados, including the Big Green Egg Large and Kamado Joe Classic.
Don't set it straight over the coals, though. Steel moves heat fast, and right above a charcoal fire the crust burns long before the cheese melts. Our advice to friends is always the same: use the deflectors, then air gap it.
- Put the heat deflector in first (on a Big Green Egg, that's the plate setter).
- Lift the steel off the deflector with spacers. Big hardware-store nuts, brass pipe caps, or small ceramic tiles all do the job.
- Launching on parchment? Trim it to the shape of the pie so the loose edges don't burn to ash.
Octagonal Pizza Steel
Octagonal steels exist, but barely. We found exactly one on the US market, a 16 x 15 inch plate that's 3/16 inch thick and weighs about 11 lb, and its maker says the clipped corners help air move around the edges.
We couldn't confirm it's still selling, so treat the octagon as a curiosity rather than a category you need to shop.
Round vs Rectangular in One Line
With the shapes compared side by side, round vs rectangular comes down to launch margin: a round steel the same size as your pie leaves you none, and a rectangle gives you room to miss.
The Best Type of Steel for a Pizza Steel
The best type of steel for a pizza steel is carbon steel, and nearly every pizza steel sold in the US is cut from one specific grade of it, called A36. It's what we make both of ours from, too.
Carbon Steel (A36)
A36 is a US structural steel standard written by ASTM (the organization that sets material specs) and first published in 1960. When a listing calls itself an A36 pizza steel, that's the grade it's naming.
| What you're looking at | A36 carbon steel | What it means for your pizza |
|---|---|---|
| Makeup | About 98% iron | Rusts if left bare, which is why it gets an oil coat |
| Strength limit | Full strength to about 650°F | Well past the 500 to 550°F a home oven tops out at |
| Thermal conductivity | About 50 W/m-K | Heat moves into the dough fast, so the bottom browns quickly |
| Versus a cordierite stone (the ceramic in most pizza stones) | Conducts roughly 15 to 18 times faster, with about twice the heat capacity per volume | A same-size slab holds about twice the heat and hands it over faster |
| Import equivalent | Q235, a Chinese grade roughly equal to A36 | A carbon steel pizza steel labeled Q235 (VEVOR's 20 x 14 inch plate is one) is the same kind of plate |
Thermal conductivity is just how fast heat moves through a material, and W/m-K is the standard scale for it, where a higher number means faster heat. We walk through the stone matchup in how steel compares to a stone, and the A36 steel entry on Wikipedia has the full spec sheet.
Stainless Steel Pizza Steel
Yes, you can use stainless steel as a pizza steel, and a few makers sell one, sometimes listed as a stainless steel pizza stone. You give up some browning speed and get a plate you never have to season.
Examples: Gi.Metal Pizza baking steel (Amica by Gi.Metal), 16" x 13.5" x 0.157", 304 stainless, about 9.2 lb, $88.20; KettlePizza Pizza & Grilling Steel 15", round, Made in USA.
On carbon vs stainless, the numbers explain the trade:
| Carbon steel (A36) | 304 stainless | 430 stainless | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal conductivity | About 50 W/m-K | About 16 W/m-K | About 26 W/m-K |
| Heat speed vs carbon steel | Baseline | About a third as fast | About half as fast |
| Bottom browning | Fastest | Slower | Slower |
| Seasoning | Needed | None | None |
| Induction cooktop | Works | Won't heat (essentially nonmagnetic) | Works |
- Ooni's Pizza Steel 13 (430 stainless) still turns up at a few retailers, though it seems to be gone from Ooni's own US store, and Ooni says it's for home ovens only, not its own pizza ovens.
- A lot of the stainless bashing you'll read comes from people who've never baked on one, usually some version of "I don't think you want stainless steel as it doesn't conduct heat well at all."
- The physics does back up slower browning. Whether that matters depends on how hot your oven runs and whether you'd trade some color for zero upkeep.
- Aluminum isn't sold as a retail pizza plate in the US, so it gets a short answer in the FAQ at the bottom.
Pizza Steel Thickness Types and the Minimum Thickness
Pizza steel thickness types start at about 0.1 inch, and there's no official minimum thickness; the thinnest steels sold simply heat up along with your oven. We've baked on all four standard thicknesses, 3/16 to 1/2 inch, and the ladder below is how they stack up.
America's Test Kitchen's September 2026 update is the most useful outside data we've found on thickness:
- Steels beat every stone in the test.
- The co-winners were both 1/4 inch plates.
- The 3/8 inch Baking Steel Pro held heat and recovered faster between bakes, but its pizzas came out no better, and testers called it "a true pain to wrangle."
- So thicker recovers faster, and 1/4 inch matched it on the pizza itself. Our pizza steel thickness guide goes deep on that trade.
Ultra-Thin Steels Around 1/8 Inch
Examples: Brod & Taylor Bread Steel, 14" x 14" x 0.1", 5.6 lb, $79; Brod & Taylor Bread Steel Max, 14" x 14" x 0.15", 8.6 lb, $89; Doppio Living Lightweight, 16" x 13.5" x 0.12", about 7 lb.
Thin steels come up to temperature as the oven preheats and weigh about half as much as a 1/4 inch plate. Brod & Taylor sells its bread steel for loaves on purpose, arguing that heavy pizza steels can scorch the bottom of bread on a long bake.
- Expert testing. Nothing this thin showed up in America's Test Kitchen's lineup; the thinnest steel tested was about 1/6 inch.
- Our own bakes. A thin steel gives us bakes of around 8 minutes with real blistering on the crust.
- The upgrade itch. When a thin steel is already doing that, "if it isn't broke don't fix it" beats shopping for 3/8. You'd trade a slightly faster bake for longer preheats every time.
3/16 Inch Steels
Example: Cooking Steels / ThermiChef Cooking Steel XL 14"x20" in 3/16", 13.7 lb.
At a standard footprint, a 3/16 inch steel lands around 10 to 13 lb. Cooking Steels pitches the thickness at casual bakers and small batches, and honestly, the first pie off ours felt a little magical for something so easy to carry. It's a solid middle step between a 1/8 plate and a 1/4.
1/4 Inch Pizza Steel
Examples: Baking Steel Original, 16" x 14" x 1/4", 15 to 16 lb, $139; NerdChef Steel Stone Standard, 16" x 14.25" x 0.25", 16 lb.
A 1/4 inch pizza steel is the middle of the market for good reason. It weighs 14 to 16 lb at the usual size, wants 45 to 60 minutes of preheat (we list preheat times by thickness separately), and keeps up with 2 to 3 pies back to back.
Launch them right on top of each other and the second pizza browns less. Give the plate a few minutes of empty oven time between pies and it keeps up fine. For a lot of kitchens, "I bake at most three, so the 1/4 inch has been fine" is the whole buying decision.
3/8 Inch Steels
Examples: Baking Steel Pro, 16" x 16" x 3/8", 27 lb, $189; NerdChef Steel Stone Pro, 16" x 14.25" x 0.375", 23 lb.
A 3/8 pizza steel carries 50% more metal than a 1/4, so it runs 22 to 24 lb at a 16 x 14 footprint and hits 27 lb as a 16 x 16 square. That extra mass is why it recovers faster and can run 3 to 5 pies back to back. Baking Steel recommends 60 to 75 minutes of preheat for the Pro.
On pizza steel 1/4 vs 3/8, the difference is pace between pies, not the quality of the pie, which lines up with the America's Test Kitchen results above. If your oven has no broiler, don't go thicker than 1/4 inch; the thickness guide explains why.
1/2 Inch Steels
Example: NerdChef Steel Stone Ultimate, 16" x 14.25" x 0.50", 32 lb.
A thick pizza steel at 1/2 inch weighs 30 to 35 lb, and the NerdChef Ultimate is the only current one we found. It stores a ton of heat, but a plate that heavy tends to live in the oven full time.
Try to wash a 32 pound slab of steel in the kitchen without wiping anything out and you'll see why we'd only buy one for an oven where it never has to move.
The Two Thicknesses We Make
We make two thicknesses ourselves: the Doppio Living Chef-Grade Pizza Steel Classic (16" x 14.25" x 1/4", about 15 lb) and the Lightweight (16" x 13.5" x 0.12", about 7 lb).
Both are A36 carbon steel, pre-seasoned with organic flaxseed oil, Made in USA, and $99.97 on Amazon, with finger holes for carrying. There's more on the thin one in the post about our 7 pound steel.
Pizza Steel Formats: Flat Plates, Griddle-Style Steels, and Perforated Steels
Pizza steel formats come down to three: flat plates, griddle-style steels, and perforated steels. A finned design with a backstop sits out on the fringe.
Flat Plates
A flat pizza steel plate is the default: one slab, both faces flat, nothing milled into it. Almost everything in this post is one, whether the listing calls it a pizza steel plate, a steel pizza plate, or something fancier. For oven-only baking, it's all you need.
Reversible Griddle-Style Steels
Examples: The Baking Steel Griddle, 14" x 18" x 3/8", 25 lb; The Mini Griddle from Baking Steel, 11.5" x 11.5" x 3/8", about 12 lb.
A baking steel griddle is reversible, with a textured side for pizza and bread in the oven and a smooth side for the stovetop. The big one spans two burners on gas, electric, or induction, and on the stove it works like a diner flat top for smash burgers, pancakes, and bacon.
Two things to know before you buy one:
- Grease has nowhere to go on a flat plate, so it can run off the edge toward the burner. The Mini Griddle has a 1/4 inch deep grease channel milled around its griddle side for exactly that reason.
- You'll probably end up favoring one side over time. That's just how reversible cookware tends to go in a real kitchen, and it doesn't make the griddle style a bad buy.
Perforated Pizza Steel
Example: Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Pizza Steel, 12.6" round, 11.5" cooking surface, 2 mm thick, 2.6 lb, 86 holes, $69.
The only true perforated pizza steel we found is Made In's, and even that one is a shallow dished pan, 2 mm thick. The 0.25 inch figure on some listings is its rim depth, not its thickness. Made In says the 86 holes let air reach the crust and help it brown.
Most other "perforated pizza steels" are thin pizza pans with holes, which crisp a crust nicely but don't store heat the way a plate does. Perforated peels are a separate thing entirely: a launching tool with slots for shaking off flour, not a surface you bake on.
Finned and Backstop Steels
NerdChef's Speed Steel line takes a different route: cast steel with heating fins underneath, built-in handles, and a backstop along one edge so the pie can't slide off the back.
The XL measures 15" x 15" x 0.90", and since we couldn't confirm current pricing or availability, file it under niche designs worth knowing about.
Pizza Steel With Handles vs Finger Holes
A pizza steel with handles or finger holes is a lot easier to wrangle when the plate weighs 15 lb or more and you're wearing oven mitts. Here's what you'll find:
- Finger holes cut near the edge: NerdChef, Chef Pomodoro, VEVOR (a single thumb hole), and Gi.Metal (grip holes).
- Built-in handles plus a backstop: the NerdChef Speed Steel line.
- Grab handles or hand-holds cut into the plate: a few small US shops make these, but stock comes and goes.
- Loop handles: cast iron pizza pans, which aren't steels at all (more on those below).
- Handleless by design: The Baking Steel Griddle, which Baking Steel says makes it easier to store and to run a spatula across.
Knowing the Types of Pizza Steel Makes the Buying Part Easy
Knowing the types of pizza steel turns a confusing store search into a handful of decisions, and most of them settle themselves after a tape measure and an honest count of how many pies you make.
Get the material and thickness right first. Shape, size, format, and finish mostly follow from your oven and your cooktop, and a solid carbon steel plate is a piece of gear you'll likely never need to replace.
FAQs
What should you look for when buying a pizza steel?
Check these six things when buying a pizza steel:
- Solid steel, not a coated multi-ply tray sold under the same name.
- A named grade: A36 (or Q235 on imports) for carbon steel, 304 or 430 for stainless.
- A thickness that fits both your pie count and how often you'll lift it.
- A footprint that leaves about 1 inch of air on each side of your oven rack.
- A finish you're happy to maintain, pre-seasoned or raw.
- Clear specs, with size, thickness, and weight all listed, since some listings contradict themselves.
Can you use a pizza steel on the stovetop or induction?
Yes. A carbon steel pizza steel works on gas, electric, and induction stovetops, because A36 is about 98% iron and iron is magnetic. Only the part sitting over the burner or coil gets fully hot, though, and a flat plate has no grease channel, so fatty foods can run toward the flame.
Baking Steel has also noted that some induction cooktops cap surface temperature at around 260 to 300°F. Stainless is split: 430 works on induction and 304 doesn't. Cast iron pizza pans like Lodge's are oven-only.
Can you use an aluminum plate as a pizza steel?
You can, but only as a DIY project, since we couldn't find an aluminum pizza plate sold at US retail. A 6061 aluminum plate conducts about 150 to 170 W/m-K, roughly three times steel, yet it stores only about two-thirds as much heat per inch, so home builders go much thicker (3/4 inch plates are a common pick).
Aluminum is also softer, so it scratches under a metal peel or pizza cutter, and it starts losing strength at oven temperatures.