I have one already, but I'm shopping around for a second pizza steel. I'm looking at mostly bang for buck. Right now this thing is $38 after tax. I see an identical looking Lodge doubled handed 17" cast iron pan for twice the price as this and it's actually lighter by a whole pound. Coming in at 13.53lbs vs my 16" OG weighing 14.52lbs. Also, lodge's outer bottom (the surface I'll be cooking on) is 13.625". The Outdoor Gourmet is 15". So the edges are far more tapered on the Lodge. I see lodge has a 15" pizza pan for $40, but it's roughly 9.63lbs. 5lbs lighter. Even though all that extra weight on the 16" is on the edges am I still much better off with it than without? Or is the lodge pizza pan the smarter choice? Pizza is the main use of this pan, so versatility isn't a concern.
I'm also looking at steel on ebay and amazon. 3/8", 1/4" and 1/2" but they're all more expensive. Right now it takes me about 7 minutes max, sometimes 6, for a really nice pizza in a 550 oven preheated for an hour. I can actually bang out 2 - 3 pizzas after each other no problem. Haven't tried making more than that. I'm ok with 7 minutes, and don't really want anything too heavy for fear of breaking one of my racks. So is this my best option? Or is there something I'm not seeing?
What exactly are you hoping to improve on? It sounds like you're already quite satisfied with the pan you've been using (if it is a pan; I'm not sure if you're saying you're using a steel or a pan), so what is the objective?
If you're considering buying a cast iron pan for pizza, my first thought is that those are really more well suited for a thicker crust pizza style, or even deep dish. You didn't say exactly what kind of pizza you like to make, but judging by the bake times you specified, I'm assuming you're making more a thin crust/NY style. If that's the case, I'm not sure that a cast iron pan would do any better than a steel, and I don't think that a pan with high sides would really work, unless you want to make your pizzas smaller than the diameter of the pan and try to maneuver them into the pan. Also, I'd say that unless you use oil in the pan, and plenty of it, your dough is going to stick, so I wouldn't even consider the idea of making NY style pizzas in it, because that would make them completely different.
Having said that, there's absolutely nothing wrong with "winging it" and just tailoring your pizzas to your pan and not worrying about hitting any certain kind of stylistic guideline. I'd say you could probably try to make some kind of bar pie in a cast iron pan, if that's your thing. Do whatever you like. Just consider all the dynamics that a pan will present you with.
