Vindicator
New member
I searched and found discusssions of using baking steels (aka pizza steels) as a cooking surface - for pizza, or as a griddle - but not just leaving them in. As discussed at the link below, leaving one in an indoor oven means it will take longer to preheat the oven and to cook the food, moreso the more you are relying on exposure to the heating elements themselves to cook the food rather than just the temperature (e.g., using the broiler to brown poultry skin or melted cheese).
www.myhouseofpizza.com
But the steel also provides more even temperature distribution (once the steel itself is preheated). Presumably all that thermal mass also helps hold the temp, once achieved, longer than without it. Given the issues Traegers can have (or so I read) with temperature swings, it seems like leaving one of these on the top shelf (if not needed for food) might help smooth things out during a low and slow cook. It won't block the food from the heat source, since the heat is indirect anyway, and taking longer to preheat shouldn't be an issue when you're not in a hurry anyway.
On the other hand, the controller is programmed to feed more pellets in a certain way based on temperature readings, and maybe doing this will interfere with that by creating an environment that isn't consistent with the programming that went into the controller - I assume the controller interprets a certain drop in temperature as requiring a certain amount of pellets, for example, and maybe this would screw that up. Or maybe it would interfere with airflow inside the cooker, or create other issues I'm not thinking of.
Curious if anyone has tried it - I may try it myself at some point if no one has.
Should You Leave A Pizza Steel In The Oven? Why I Wouldn't Recommend It - My House Of Pizza
A pizza steel is an essential part of making truly authentic pizza in a home oven, but they’re also quite big and heavy. As a result, many want to know if they can leave it in the oven when cooking other things. In the following post, I’ll explain why you may or may not want...
www.myhouseofpizza.com
But the steel also provides more even temperature distribution (once the steel itself is preheated). Presumably all that thermal mass also helps hold the temp, once achieved, longer than without it. Given the issues Traegers can have (or so I read) with temperature swings, it seems like leaving one of these on the top shelf (if not needed for food) might help smooth things out during a low and slow cook. It won't block the food from the heat source, since the heat is indirect anyway, and taking longer to preheat shouldn't be an issue when you're not in a hurry anyway.
On the other hand, the controller is programmed to feed more pellets in a certain way based on temperature readings, and maybe doing this will interfere with that by creating an environment that isn't consistent with the programming that went into the controller - I assume the controller interprets a certain drop in temperature as requiring a certain amount of pellets, for example, and maybe this would screw that up. Or maybe it would interfere with airflow inside the cooker, or create other issues I'm not thinking of.
Curious if anyone has tried it - I may try it myself at some point if no one has.
