How the Five Compare on the Numbers
With one oven and nothing else plugged in, a preheat is the expensive part of the evening, so what matters is how much food goes on the plate each time it is hot. Only two of these five publish that: one states the pizza diameter it will cook, at 15 inches, and one states a loaf count, four sourdough loaves. The other three publish a plate size and leave the arithmetic to you.
Plate sizes here are 16 by 16 inches twice, 16 by 13.25, 13 by 13 and 11.8 by 11.8. Published thicknesses are a quarter inch on three and 0.24 inches on two, which are the same figure written two ways. Published weights are 10.57, 10.78, 14.64, 17.6 and 32.5 lb, and the last of those does not belong to the plate it is printed on.
What the table cannot settle is the Chef Pomodoro 16 by 16 figures. Its published weight is 32.5 lb and its dimension fields read 0.9 by 1.3 by 0.9 inches, which is a placeholder rather than a plate. The same maker’s thicker rival at the same 16 by 16 inches publishes 27.5 lb at three eighths of an inch, so 32.5 lb for a quarter inch plate is not a figure this page will rank on.
What Each Plate Says It Will Hold
Two Listings Publish a Capacity
ThermiChef is the only one of the five to state a pizza diameter: this steel can cook pizzas up to 15 inches, on a 16 by 16 inch plate that it says fits comfortably on most full size oven racks, with an instruction to measure your oven’s interior depth before ordering. That is the sentence a single oven kitchen needs, and four listings here do not write it.
Chef Pomodoro’s 16 by 16 inch plate publishes the other kind of capacity, in bread rather than pizza: the surface holds four sourdough loaves or a massive flatbread. It also publishes its size twice, as 16 by 16 inches and 40.6 by 40.6 cm. Between the two listings, a buyer gets one pizza figure and one loaf figure and no way to convert either into the other.
A Sixteen Inch Steel That Is 13.25 Inches
Chef Pomodoro’s other listing is titled as a 16 inch pizza steel and its size attribute reads 16 by 13.25 inches, with dimension fields of 13.39 by 16.14 by 0.24. Its bullet says a 16 inch steel pizza stone provides a larger surface area, allowing larger pizzas. A 16 inch round pizza laid on it would hang over the short side by most of three inches.
That is not a fault in the plate, which is a sensible rectangular steel at 14.64 lb, but it is a fault in the way the size is published. On a page about getting the most out of one preheat, the honest reading is that this plate is 16 inches in one direction only, and the maker never says which pizza it fits.
Thickness, Weight and What Is Believable
A Quarter Inch, Written Three Ways
Three of these five publish a quarter inch and two publish 0.24 inches, which is the same plate described in fractions and in decimals. The weights that go with them are consistent on four: 10.57 lb at 11.8 by 11.8 inches, 10.78 lb at 13 by 13, 14.64 lb at 16 by 13.25 and 17.6 lb at 16 by 16. Bigger plate, more steel, more pounds.
The fifth does not fit that pattern. Chef Pomodoro publishes 32.5 lb for a quarter inch plate at 16 by 16 inches, while ThermiChef publishes 17.6 lb for the same size and thickness and 27.5 lb for the same size at three eighths of an inch. The listing also carries dimension fields of 0.9 by 1.3 by 0.9 inches, so two of its three published figures describe nothing.
What There Is to Lift It By
Two of the five publish something to hold. Chef Pomodoro’s 16 by 16 inch plate publishes integrated lifting holes, stated to remove the awkward grab and the burned fingers. ROCKSHEAT publishes two sturdy handles and says they suit beginners or smaller hands, on the lightest plate here at 10.57 lb. The other three publish a flat plate and nothing to grip.
That matters more on this pool than it sounds, because the plates are heavy and they come out of the oven hot. ThermiChef at 17.6 lb, Chef Pomodoro at 14.64 lb and Duvecfoi at 10.78 lb all publish polished or laser cut edges and no handle, hole or lip. Nothing here publishes a lifting figure, a rack position or a recommended set of gloves.
Before the First Bake
Seasoned, Shot Blasted, or Silent
The listings split three ways on what happens before you use the plate. ROCKSHEAT publishes the most specific answer of any: pre-coated with vegetable oil and baked at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, ready to use out of the box. Chef Pomodoro’s 16 inch plate states that it arrives pre-seasoned and ready for immediate use, with no method given.
ThermiChef states the opposite and is clear about it: the plate ships shot blasted and not pre-seasoned, and must be seasoned once before first use by washing and applying a thin layer of oil. Chef Pomodoro’s 16 by 16 inch plate states that it develops a seasoned surface over time, like cast iron. Duvecfoi publishes nothing about seasoning at all.
The Preheat, and the One Figure Behind It
Only ThermiChef publishes a preheat temperature, 500 degrees Fahrenheit, alongside a claim of a crispy crust in under 10 minutes and heat conduction up to 20 times a ceramic stone. Duvecfoi publishes the conductivity claim, up to 20 times, and no temperature. ROCKSHEAT publishes the opposite case, stating that it is made for low temperature ovens without saying what low means.
For a kitchen running one oven, those three sentences are the whole decision. A plate that needs 500 degrees Fahrenheit and ten minutes is a different proposition from one sold on improving a low temperature oven, and neither listing publishes a preheat duration. No listing on this page states how long the steel takes to come up to temperature.
Which One Fits Your Kitchen
Knowing the pizza will fit. ThermiChef, a 16 by 16 inch quarter inch plate published at 17.6 lb, the only pick to state a pizza diameter at up to 15 inches, laser cut in Minnesota, shipped shot blasted for you to season once, and stated for an oven, a grill, a stovetop over two burners or a campfire.
Four loaves in one bake. Chef Pomodoro, a 16 by 16 inch quarter inch plate published as 40.6 by 40.6 cm, stated to hold four sourdough loaves or a massive flatbread, with integrated lifting holes and a surface that seasons over time. Its published weight and dimension fields are not figures to trust.
A rectangle that suits a rack. Chef Pomodoro, published as 16 by 13.25 inches at 0.24 inches and 14.64 lb, arriving pre-seasoned and ready to use, with a smooth surface stated to release oils poorly and clean easily, and no pizza diameter published anywhere.
A square for a smaller oven. Duvecfoi, 13 by 13 inches of 0.25 inch carbon steel published at 10.78 lb, stated up to 20 times the thermal conductivity of a ceramic stone, and stated to work on grills and stovetops as well as in the oven.
Lifting it out with two hands. ROCKSHEAT, 11.8 by 11.8 inches at 0.24 inches and 10.57 lb, with two sturdy handles and polished rounded edges, pre-seasoned with vegetable oil at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, and published as an effective baking diameter of 11.8 inches.
What We Could Not Verify
Every figure above is quoted from the listing that published it. These are the things a single oven kitchen would want and no listing here answers.
- Only one of the five states the pizza diameter it will cook.
- Chef Pomodoro’s 32.5 lb is higher than a rival’s three eighths inch plate of the same size, at the same quarter inch thickness.
- That same listing’s dimension fields, 0.9 by 1.3 by 0.9 inches, are a placeholder.
- A steel titled 16 inch publishes a size attribute of 16 by 13.25 inches.
- No listing publishes how long the plate takes to reach temperature.
- Three of the five publish nothing to hold the plate by.
