Our professional-grade carbon baking steel is designed specifically for serious home pizza and bread baking. It is precision made in the UK and provides excellent thermal mass and the ability to transfer intense heat directly into your dough - fast. Unlike a pizza stone that can lose temperature quickly, our baking steel charges quickly - and stores a significant amount of heat to deliver it as soon as your dough hits the surface. The result is faster cooking, even browning, better oven spring and a crisp, well-developed base. We make every steel by hand, using innovative finishing techniques and every steel comes pre-seasoned with protective beeswax and VCI anti-rust paper.

Carbon steel is an excellent material for baking because it combines high thermal conductivity with substantial heat capacity. It charges up quickly, stores a large amount of energy and transfers that heat much more efficiently into the dough that other materials. For example it has nearly 3x the performance of materials such as stainless steel - and unlike traditional ceramic, cordierite or stone surfaces, carbon steel conducts and delivers heat much more rapidly and consistently. This makes it particularly well suited to high-temperature pizza and bread baking. Carbon steel also develops a natural seasoned surface over time.

No - your baking steel arrives pre-seasoned and ready to use.It has been treated with a protective coating of bespoke UK beeswax, so there’s no need to season it before your first bake. Simply place it in your oven, let it pre-heat for around 30 to 45 minutes and you’re ready to start baking. For the best results, we recommend giving your steel a quick clean and re-seasoning it periodically as part of its normal care.

Preheating is one of the most important parts of getting great results. Place the steel in your oven and allow it to heat thoroughly at maximum temperature before cooking. We generally recommend allowing plenty of time (30 minutes or more) for the entire thickness of the steel to become fully charged with heat, rather than relying only on the oven's air temperature. You can even pick up an infrared thermometer for even more reliable and consistent heat monitoring.

As hot as your domestic oven will safely go. Pizza benefits from intense heat and a short cooking time. Higher temperatures generally mean better oven spring, faster cooking and a more developed crust. Your steel will help maximise the heat your oven can deliver to the base of the pizza. I use the grill for the first part of baking to ensure maximum top-down and bottom-up heat during the initial oven-spring stage.

Yes - absolutely. I recommend moving it to the bottom rack for storage - which also provides extra thermal mass during regular cooking.

Because it is made from 6mm carbon steel, it has some serious weight to it - 6.1kg to be exact. That's intentional. The weight is a result of the steel's thickness and thermal mass, which are key parts of its performance. A substantial steel can absorb and store much more heat than a thinner plate. Think of the weight as part of what makes the steel work. There are thicker baking steels on the market, but I believe 6mm to be the perfect balance between practicality and performance.

This is completely normal. Carbon steel naturally changes colour as it is heated and seasoned. Over time you may see darker areas, patches, marks and changes in colour across the surface.This is the development of the steel's patina and is a normal part of using baking steel.Don't worry about keeping it looking perfectly uniform - a well-used steel isn't supposed to look brand new. Think of it as 'battle scars' from exceptional home baking.

Your baking steel retains a substantial amount of heat, so once it’s fully preheated, you can cook pizza after pizza without needing to wait for it to heat back up between bakes. For an even more efficient setup, you can use two baking steels - one positioned towards the top of the oven and one towards the bottom. Launch your first pizza onto the top steel. Once it’s ready, move it to the bottom steel to finish cooking while you launch your next pizza onto the top steel. Then simply repeat the process: top → bottom → top → bottom. This creates a continuous baking cycle, allowing you to cook multiple pizzas efficiently without waiting between pizzas for your steel to recover its heat.

Absolutely - and many people use one solely for this purpose.The stored heat provides a strong burst of energy when the dough first hits the surface, helping with oven spring and crust development. It's particularly useful for sourdough, baguettes, rolls and other breads where strong initial heat is important.

Start with a clean, dry steel and apply a very thin layer of neutral cooking oil such as sunflower to both sides. The key here is thin. You don't want a thick layer of oil sitting on the surface.Heat the steel according to our seasoning instructions, allowing the oil to polymerise and form a protective layer.

Allow the steel to cool first. For regular use, simply brush the surface clean with your hand or a dry cloth to remove burned-on flour or semolina. For more stubborn residue, spills or splats, use a suitable scraper, then a small amount of mild washing-up liquid and warm water along with a soft scourer. Avoid soaking the steel or putting it in a dishwasher. Once cleaned, dry it thoroughly and apply a very light coating of oil, then bake at 200°c for one hour to maintain protection. You can read a comprehensive guide over in the blog.

This is usually because too much oil was applied. Seasoning works best with an extremely thin layer of oil. If the surface feels sticky or tacky, don’t worry. Place the steel back in a hot oven and heat it thoroughly. The additional heat will help the remaining oil continue to polymerise and form a harder, more durable seasoning layer.

Don't panic - surface rust can usually be removed easily. Use an abrasive scourer or chain-mail glove to remove the rust, then clean and dry the steel thoroughly before applying a very thin layer of high-smoke-point oil and re-seasoning it. The most important thing is to keep the steel dry after cleaning and maintain its protective seasoning. See our How-To guide for full instructions.