After having two round pizza stones crack, we did more research about how to avoid that issue and landed on this product to try next. Our first two oven pizzas were fabulous! The crust cooked perfectly both times. We've never used a paddle before and it made the transfer process SO MUCH EASIER! As others have noted, a slightly larger paddle would be even better, but this one got the job done. The stone does get discolored after use, but that did not affect its effectiveness on the next pizza.