Baking With Steel: The Book

Baking with Steel is the definitive guide to cooking with steel in a home oven, written by Andris Lagsdin, founder of Baking Steel, with co-author Jesse Oleson Moore.

Make legendary pizza (and a few breads) at home with confidence.

This is the guide I wish I had years ago.
Simple dough formulas. Clear techniques. No fluff.
Just everything I’ve learned making pizza at home — written down so you can use it.

What’s inside the book

This isn’t a coffee-table book. It’s a working guide.

Inside, you’ll learn:

  • How to make great pizza dough at home (and actually understand why it works)

  • My core dough formulas — including the 72-hour dough

  • How fermentation, time, and temperature really affect flavor and texture

  • How to bake pizza, bread, and flatbreads in a home oven

  • The small details that make a big difference (and the ones you can ignore)

Everything is written for home cooks — no professional kitchen, no special tricks, no gatekeeping.

Why I wrote this

I didn’t set out to write a book.

I was just trying to make better pizza at home — the kind I couldn’t get out of my oven no matter how hard I tried. I kept testing, failing, adjusting, and asking why things worked when they did.

Over time, those notes turned into recipes.
Those recipes turned into methods.
And eventually, this book became a way to share everything I wish I had understood years earlier.

This is the book I wanted when I was starting out.

— andris

What this book is (and isn’t)

This isn’t a glossy coffee-table book.
It’s not restaurant theory.
And it’s definitely not written for professionals with commercial ovens.

This book is for people who want to make great pizza and bread at home, using real methods that actually work in a normal kitchen.

No shortcuts.
No hype.
No mystery steps skipped.

Just the techniques, ratios, and thinking that make the difference — explained simply, clearly, and honestly.

This book is for you if…

  • You’ve tried making pizza at home and felt like something was missing

  • You want consistent results, not random wins

  • You care about dough, heat, and timing — but don’t want things overcomplicated

  • You cook in a home oven and want to push it to its limits

  • You like understanding why something works, not just following steps

If you’ve ever thought,

“I know my oven can do better than this…”

This book was written for you.

Inside the book

You’ll find:

  • Dough fundamentals (hydration, salt, yeast, time)

  • The 72-hour dough and how to adapt it

  • Faster doughs for weeknights

  • Pizza styles that work in a home oven

  • Bread recipes that benefit from steel

  • Heat management, launching, and baking strategies

  • Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)

It’s meant to be read cover to cover — and revisited whenever you need it.

What readers are saying

“This book finally made dough click for me. Clear, practical, and no nonsense.”
★★★★★

“I’ve read a lot of pizza books. This is the one I actually use.”
★★★★★

“If you cook at home and want better pizza, this is the book.”
★★★★★

Get the book

If you’re ready to make better pizza (and bread) at home, this book will get you there.

You can order Baking with Steel: The Book on Amazon below.

→ Order Baking with Steel: The Book on Amazon

ISBN: 978-0316465786
Published: 2017
Format: Hardcover