A hot stone is a cooking experience and offers the possibility to sit together with friends or family and grill and enjoy the food at the same time. The food is prepared in a healthy and gentle way, which is child’s play.
Whether meat, fish, vegetables or other food, with the hot stone you can fry and grill in excellent quality. In addition, the hot stone is a real eye-catcher. Who can claim to be able to prepare their food on a hot stone?
With our big hot stone test 2023 we want to help you find the best hot stone for you. Whether in a raclette combination or as a single hot stone, you can decide according to your personal preferences. We have compared both and listed the respective advantages and disadvantages. We would like to make your purchase decision easier and help you find the best hot stone for you.
Contents
- 1 Summary
- 2 The Best Hot Stone: Our Picks
- 3 Guide: Questions you should ask yourself before buying a hot stone
- 4 Decision: What types of hot stones are there and which one is right for you?
- 5 Buying criteria: You can compare and evaluate hot stones based on these factors
- 6 Facts worth knowing about the topic of the hot stone
Summary
- A hot stone offers a healthy alternative to grilling and frying. The process is simple and requires little preparation. The stone only needs to be heated up and can then be brought to the guests’ table to prepare food according to their own taste.
- Barbecuing with the hot stone is not dependent on the weather. You can also use the hot stone indoors. The smoke development is very low, so you can barbecue on the balcony, in the garden but also indoors. Even if the typical barbecue aroma is missing, the hot stone impresses with its gentle cooking process and as a visual eye-catcher.
- The hot stone is versatile and perfect for gourmets. Whether meat, fish, vegetables, cheese or fruit, the hot stone is suitable for just about any grilled food. You can even cut on the stone.
The Best Hot Stone: Our Picks
Guide: Questions you should ask yourself before buying a hot stone
Who is a hot stone suitable for?
All you have to do is put the ingredients and the hot stone on the table and the meal can be prepared together. Your guests can compose their meal individually according to their taste.
(Image source: unsplash.com / James Sutton)
What’s so special about a hot stone?
In addition, grilling and roasting on the hot stone is healthier than on a usual grill. The food can be grilled without fat and oil. Another advantage is the even heat development, which enables even grilling. The meat is grilled on the outside and juicy on the inside.
It’s especially great that you can even grill whole steaks or a whole fish on the hot stone.
What alternatives are there to a hot stone?
The advantages are that the heat-up time is usually faster and so is the grilling process. However, with the exception of a table grill, it is difficult to sit together with guests or the family while preparing the food.
There are also combination grills, where an electric grill has a metal grill plate on one half and a hot stone on the other.
(Image source: pixabay.com / veve)
Decision: What types of hot stones are there and which one is right for you?
The hot stone comes in different types with certain advantages and disadvantages. Two subdivisions are the hot stone without a heat source and an electric hot stone. With the variant without a heat source, you have different ways of heating the stone, with the electric hot stone you are dependent on a power source.
- Electric hot stone
- Hot stone without its own heat source
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a hot stone without its own heat source and what distinguishes it?
In the case of the hot stone without its own heat source, the grill, oven, fireplace, open fireplace or hotplate serve as the heat source. This means that you can use the hot stone anywhere without restrictions as long as you can find a heat source.
Further advantages and disadvantages are listed below.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of an electric hot stone and what distinguishes it?
Table-top grills are now very often used that work like an electric grill, but instead of a metal grill plate, the appliance carries a hot stone.
There are also advantages and disadvantages to this type of hot stone.
Buying criteria: You can compare and evaluate hot stones based on these factors
Size of the stone
You can buy a hot stone in different sizes. The decision is entirely up to you and depends on the number of people. If each person is to have their own hot stone for cooking, small hot stones for each place are the best option as a substitute for plates.
However, if you want to prepare all the food on one stone, a large hot stone is the solution. This is especially suitable if there are fewer people.
The hot stone should not be loaded too much with cold meat, otherwise the stone will cool down too quickly.
Material of the stone
Hot stones are made of special types of stone. It is important that they can hold the heat for a long time and that they have a smooth surface that is easy to clean. They should absorb heat and then release it slowly.
- Natural stone (granite; lava stone)
- Artificial stone (fireclay; cordierite; ceramic)
- Bacon or lava stone (cannot withstand heat stress in the long term)
The most suitable material for a hot stone is cordierite and granite.
It stores heat very well and releases it slowly to the outside, so this material meets the requirements of a hot stone exactly. Cordierite is also produced artificially. Granite also offers this ability. If the stone is of high quality, the quality is also correspondingly high.
Factors for tabletop units with hot stone
If you want to buy a tabletop appliance with an integrated hot stone, there are other things that can influence your purchase decision:
Maximum temperature
There are different appliances that include heating elements and a hot stone on top. Most of them are raclettes. In most cases, you can regulate the temperature of such devices. Therefore, you should pay attention to how high the temperature can get and whether this is sufficient for your purposes.
Power consumption
Since you usually have to plug table-top appliances into the mains, you need to consider the power consumption. Some appliances have lower power consumption than others. You should find out about this. This information is usually printed on the product.
Cleaning
Table-top appliances with a hot stone differ in how easy they are to clean. Appliances where the hot stone can be removed after use are easy to clean. The procedure is similar to that for cleaning a pizza stone or a grill grate. However, a raclette where the hot stone cannot be removed causes difficulties.
Facts worth knowing about the topic of the hot stone
How do you heat the stone?
There are many ways to heat up a hot stone. All you have to do is place the hot stone on a rack on a heat source.
Possible heat sources are:
- Electric heating elements
- Fireplace
- Open fireplaces
- Kitchen cooker
- Gas grill
- Electric grill with stone plate
- Oven
Of course, you can also use the oven, heating the hot stone for half an hour to an hour in the oven at 250 degrees.
It is important to heat the stone slowly to avoid damaging the material. With other heat sources, you can also preheat the stone in the oven first to shorten the heating and grilling time. A charcoal grill is not suitable for heating the stone.
Granite slabs are often heated with electric heating rods. Meanwhile, table-top grills that work like an electric grill but have a hot stone on top instead of the typical metal grill plate are usually sold.
What can I cook on a hot stone?
You can prepare almost anything that can be grilled or fried on a hot stone. Whether savoury or sweet, vegetarian or vegan, with the hot stone everyone gets their wish.
Here are a few suggestions:
| Meat | fish | vegetables | fruit and desserts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steak | salmon steak | onion rings | crepes |
| Beef and pork | prawns | mushrooms | pineapple slices |
| Turkey (cooking takes a little longer) | scallops | pre-cooked potatoes | marshmallows |
Meat is particularly suitable for the hot stone, especially steaks can be prepared wonderfully and deliciously on it. You should plan on about 300 to 400 grams of meat for each guest. Of course, this is only a recommendation and you can also plan for more or less.
(Image source: unsplash.com / Jose Ignacio Pompe)
The grilled food must not be too big or too much, otherwise the stone could cool down quickly and the food will not get the heat it needs. Depending on the product, you need to allow more or less time for preparation.
You can also serve dips and different breads with your food from the hot stone.
What do I use to prevent the food from burning?
There are different ways to prevent food from burning or sticking to the hot stone. The healthiest option is sea salt. You simply sprinkle sea salt on the stone before you put the food on.
If you want to use oil, just spread a thin layer of oil on the stone. Another possibility is to fry bacon first and let it drain out and use this fat. When preparing desserts, you can sprinkle the plate with sugar.
How do I clean a hot stone?
- Lightly heat the hot stone with warm water
- Scrape off burnt-in, stubborn residue with a ceramic hob scraper
- Wipe off the rest with a soft brush or damp cloth.
- Polish as desired.
- The hot stone is ready for use again!
The hot stone must not be put in the dishwasher and not in rinsing water when hot, as this can cause cracks and fissures!
Image source: Mukhina1/ 123rf.com
Why you can trust me?
Most popular
Related posts
