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posted: Oct. 5, 2008 @ 12:00p
MangoGT said:VampyCakes said:The advantage is that is takes up more space in the kitchen. 
Haha. The built in temperature gauge is a huge plus, as is the high temperature stone. I've been getting my $10 pizza stone up to 800 degrees lately and I'm always worried it is going to crack. (I've done this twice now) It's a nice product but is it really worth 5 or 6x the price of a standalone stone?
Mango, A good quality stone like Old Stone brand won't crap (or should I say crack)out on you at high temps. The cheap stone most likely will. The Amzon link above is for an Old Stone roughly the same size as this Villaware, and it's going for $39.95. I hav one of these and I'm pretty sure I got it on sale and paid some thing less. These definetly take the heat.
When I saw this Villaware my first thought too was $59.95 is pricey even for a good stone, but now I'm thinking there are some elements the stainless steel frame design brings to the table. The elevation for easy peel use, the air pocket likely helps provide more even cooking and the temp gauge which sounds like it's heavy duty and calibrated for hi-temps. All in all if ya got money to burn and you like to make pizza, I do think this has it's place. For $59.95 its OK just not a killer deal.