Who doesnt love pizza, its portable, delicious and good to eat hot or cold. However, going to a pizza place all the time can get expensive. Besides, sometimes we just want to have our own customized pizza. But the one thing that sets us apart from the pizza shop is the heat. They can flash cook pizza in minutes. We on the other hand need to use special pan to bake our pizza. They hold heat and turn the crust crispy. The Best Cast Iron Pizza Pan has easy to carry handle with a weight that can carry heat.

What does a Pizza Pan Do?

As stated before, our oven does not get hot enough. Pizza Shops can bake pizza in mere minutes. They melt the cheese and flash cook the bread. Unless you have your own wooden pizza stove, the best alternative is a pizza stone. It helps mimic the cooking property of the professional stove. But in order to do that, it has to be able to carry enough heat. Which is why cast iron is so great. Not only is it heavy, it can develop a nonstick coating. This prevents pizza from sticking and tearing.

Handles

One Key characteristic of pizza pans are the weight. The drawback to this is that its very difficult to maneuver. Most pizza stones and pans has no handles. All they are is a piece of stone. Try moving a hot pizza stone with no handle, you will soon see how difficult it is. For this reason, a pan with a handle is the ideal pizza pan.

How to Use a Cast Iron Pizza Pan

To use a Cast Iron Pizza Pan, begin by preheating the oven to 500 degree with pan in it. After 15 minutes the pan should be fully heated. Place the pizza on the stone and bake. The exact baking time will vary depending on your pizza size and type. Stuff like Deep Dish Pizza will take longer.

Deep Dish Pizza Pan

Deep Dish Pizza are a little different. While its still necessary to have a heavy pan. It benefits less from its heavy weight. You still want to have a crispy crust. But preheating it too much can result in a over baked crust. Cooking time is usually around half an hour for deep dish pizza. Not preheating can also result in the crust being soggy. One way to get around this is to buy pizza pan with holes on the bottom. The other is to get a smaller deep dish pan for shorter cooking time.

One bad thing about cast iron pans is that there are very few pans like this. The type of cast iron pan you need is the straight sided one. Dont get those one with a slight slant.

A good alternative are those wh

Best Cast Iron Pizza Pan List

Below, you will find a list of some of the Best Cast Iron Pizza Pan. While there are a few models on the market, there really is only one that is the best.

Lodge Cast Iron Pizza Pan (Best Overall)

Lodge is one of America oldest manufacturer of cast iron product. Their product withstood the test of time. You can even find some that are over a hundred year old. This model is 14 inch in diameter and it has easy to carry handle. This model is over 9 lb and should hold enough heat to give your pizza the perfect crust.

Double Handled Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Round (Best Deep Dish Cast Iron Pizza Pan)

This generic brand the best pan for making deep dish pizza. Its 9.5 inch in diameter so that it can cook the pizza without sogging the crust. Getting bigger pizza pan is a bit impractical. This smaller pan should still be enough to cook for a family of 2-4. It also has a compact handle for easy maneuverability.

Thoughts

Making pizza at home is a great way to customize your pizza. No more going to subpar pizza place. However, you do need the proper tools to get a great pie. Lodge makes one of the best Cast Iron Pizza Pan. The handle, weight and size makes it the ideal pan for pizza. However, for deep dish, not a lot of option exist. Just look for one that is relatively small with straight side for good pizza. Dont get one thats too big or it will become soggy.

Looking for more baking gear? Check out our article on the Best 9 x 13 Baking Pan.