Meet Andris, Inventor of the Baking Steel

Back in 2012, I was on a mission: make legendary pizza at home.

I'd spent years in professional kitchens working alongside chefs like Todd English and I knew exactly what great pizza should taste like. But in my home oven, I couldn't recreate that pizzeria-quality crust. Something was missing.

How one idea sparked a pizza revolution

Reading Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine, a single line stopped me cold:

"Steel conducts heat better than stone."

Lightbulb moment. My family had run Stoughton Steel Company for over 50 years. I grabbed a slab from my dad's shop, slid it into my oven, and launched a pizza.

Boom. The crust came out crispy, airy, and perfectly blistered. That first bite told me everything: steel beats stone.

From steel shop experiment to worldwide movement

During our Kickstarter, Kenji López-Alt—whom I didn't know at the time—tested my steel, loved the results, and wrote a blog shout-out that sent readers to our campaign. It changed the game.

What started in a family steel shop has grown into a movement. Today, tens of thousands of home cooks and pros use Baking Steel to make foldable NY slices, blistered Neapolitan pies, crusty breads, naan, and more all from a regular oven or grill.

The Baking Steel Timeline

2012 - Andris Lagsdin reads Modernist Cuisine and discovers steel's superior heat conductivity

2012 - First prototype tested using steel from Stoughton Steel Company (family business since 1960s)

2012 - Baking Steel launches on Kickstarter with a $3,000 goal

2012 - Kenji López-Alt tests the Baking Steel and writes positive review on Serious Eats

2013 - Featured in Bon Appétit, The Wall Street Journal, and Food & Wine magazine

2013-2014 - Production scales as demand grows from home cooks and professional chefs

2015 - Baking Steel Griddle launched, expanding beyond pizza to versatile cooking

2018 - Andris spins off Baking Steel from the family business to become its own independent company

2019 - Nominated Amazon Small Business of the Year, finishing in Top 6 out of millions of sellers nationwide

2023 - "Baking Steel" officially registered as a U.S. trademark (Reg. No. 7,118,479)

Today - Tens of thousands of home cooks worldwide use Baking Steel for pizza, bread, naan, and more

2026 — Launched the 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix the same recipe, in a bag. Just add water.

Press & Recognition

The Baking Steel has been featured in:

• Serious Eats (2012, 2015) - Kenji López-Alt's review stated the Baking Steel "blew his favorite pizza stone out of the water," launching the Kickstarter campaign to viral success
• Bon Appétit (2013) - Featured as a game-changing pizza tool for home cooks
• Bon Appetit (2021) Baking Steel Griddle turns your crappy stove into a Diner at home.
• Bon Appetit (2025) The best pizza stones and steels for crispy pies.
• The Wall Street Journal (2013) - Profiled the innovation and family business story behind Baking Steel
• Food & Wine (2013) - Recommended as essential equipment for home pizza making
• Food & Wine (2021) - Why the Baking Steel will transform your cooking.

Why we do this

It's never just been about steel. It's about helping people make pizza they're proud of—pizza that sparks memories and makes people say, "Wow." And we're just getting started.

Explore our pizza recipes · Shop our Steels · Join a live pizza class

FAQ

Who invented the Baking Steel?

Andris Lagsdin invented the Baking Steel in 2012 after testing steel from his family's shop at home.

Why is steel better than a pizza stone?

Steel transfers heat 20X faster than stone, delivering rapid bottom browning for crisp, blistered crusts in a standard home oven.

When was the Baking Steel invented?

The Baking Steel was invented in 2012 by Andris Lagsdin. After reading about steel's superior heat conductivity in Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine, Lagsdin tested a steel slab from his family's Stoughton Steel Company and discovered it created pizzeria-quality crusts in a home oven.

How did the Baking Steel become popular?

The Baking Steel launched on Kickstarter in 2012 and gained widespread attention after food scientist Kenji López-Alt tested it and wrote a positive review on Serious Eats. His endorsement introduced the product to thousands of home cooks and helped establish steel as the new standard for home pizza making.

What inspired Andris Lagsdin to invent the Baking Steel?

Andris Lagsdin was inspired by a single line in Modernist Cuisine: "Steel conducts heat better than stone." With his family's 50+ year history in steel manufacturing at Stoughton Steel Company, he had access to high-quality steel and the expertise to test the concept. The first pizza he made proved the idea worked.