Why Does My Baking Steel Rust in a Gas Oven?
I get this email a lot, and for a long time I only had half an answer. People with gas ovens were seeing rust on their Baking Steel and people with electric ovens mostly weren't. Same steel, same care, different result.
If you're still deciding between the two, we broke down gas versus electric here.
Here's what's going on.
Your gas oven makes water
When natural gas burns, it produces water. Not a little, roughly two pounds of water vapor for every pound of gas burned. It's not a leak or a defect. It's what combustion does.
An electric oven produces none of it. The element just gets hot.
So in a gas oven, every time those burners fire, water vapor goes into the cavity with your steel.
When the rust actually happens
Not during the bake. At 500 degrees nothing stays wet.
Preheat. The burner is running hard and the oven is still cold. Your steel is the coldest, densest thing in there, so vapor condenses on its surface. Same as a cold glass on a summer day.
Cooldown. This is the worse one. Burners off, oven cooling, humid air still trapped inside. Your steel sits in that box for hours, slightly damp. That's where rust forms.
What to do about it
Build up your seasoning. More layers, more often. A well-seasoned steel has a barrier between the iron and the moisture, and that barrier is the whole defense.
Get it out of the oven while it's still warm. This is the one people skip. Pull the steel once it's cool enough to handle, or crack the oven door so the humid air can escape. Don't let it sit overnight in a closed cooling oven.
Dry it fully, every time. After any wash, dry it right away.
Micro layer of oil. Dab a little canola on, wipe it across the whole surface, then wipe it back off. If it looks wet or shiny, keep wiping.
If it already rusted
Nothing is ruined. Light surface rust comes off.
Scrub it with soap and water and real pressure until the orange is gone and you're back to grey steel. Dry it immediately. Wipe on that micro layer of oil while it's still a bit warm.
Then cook on it. The surface will darken and blend back in over the next few bakes.
These are my favorite tool for cleaing the Baking Steel surface Shop Cleaning Bricks →
Gas ovens are still great for pizza
None of this means you have the wrong oven. Gas ovens make excellent pizza and plenty of the best pies I've seen came out of one.
It just means your steel needs a slightly better habit than your friend's does. Season it more, dry it faster, and get it out of the oven when you're done.
FAQ: Baking Steel Rust in Gas Ovens
Why does my Baking Steel rust in a gas oven?
Burning natural gas produces water, roughly two pounds of vapor for every pound of gas burned. That moisture condenses on your steel during preheat and again while the oven cools. Electric ovens produce no water vapor, which is why steel rusts less in them.
When does the rust actually form?
Not during the bake. Most of it happens during cooldown, when the burners are off but humid air is still trapped in the oven and the steel sits damp for hours.
How do I stop my Baking Steel from rusting in a gas oven?
Build up more layers of seasoning than you would on electric, pull the steel out while it is still warm instead of leaving it overnight, dry it fully after every wash, and keep a micro layer of oil on the surface.
Can I fix a Baking Steel that already rusted?
Yes. Light surface rust comes off with soap, water, and real pressure. Scrub until you are back to grey steel, dry it immediately, and wipe on a micro layer of oil while it is still warm.
Does cast iron rust in a gas oven too?
Yes. Any bare iron or carbon steel stored in a gas oven is exposed to the same combustion moisture, and the same habits apply.
Questions about your steel? Just email me. I answer them all.
About the Author
Andris Lagsdin invented the Baking Steel in 2012 using steel from his family's Stoughton Steel Company in Hanover, MA. a shop his family has run since the 1970s. What started as a Kickstarter project (backed after an endorsement from Kenji López-Alt on Serious Eats) has grown into the go-to tool for hundreds of thousands of home pizza makers. Every Baking Steel is still made at the family shop.
Before launching Baking Steel, Andris trained under renowned chef Todd English and spent 15 years in the family steel business. He's the co-author of Baking with Steel with Jesse Olson Moore.
Today he teaches thousands of students how to make pizzeria-quality pizza at home through his free online classes and recipes.
In 2026, Andris launched the 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix the same recipe he's been teaching for over a decade, now in a bag. Just add water.
