PS. There are also small-ish wood-fired ovens for those with a bit of backyard. I can't seem to find it now, but these are made by a specialist company that also sells an unbranded version -
Cast iron is better than ceramics (and will never crack!) but the Steel still comes out on top. Wish I'd have known this before buying my Lodge. This article also links to a roundup of all the other types of pans Kenji tried.
Doesn't that link suggest that it's primarily the mass, not the material? Steel is just an iron alloy after all, I don't think its thermal properties are much different (but 15lbs of steel will transfer more heat to your pizza than 10lbs of cast iron). Also cast iron can certainly crack, if it's dropped on a hard surface, or thermally shocked (but it is tougher than most ceramics).
From the article "The idea is that all else being equal—same recipe, same oven temperature—because of its superior thermal qualities (higher volumetric heat capacity, as well as higher conductivity than stone), you can cook pizzas faster than you'd be able to with a regular stone."
So it is thermal capacity plus conductivity together.
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/09/the-pizza-lab-...
Pizza stones or ceramic tiles don't work well in the ovens, even though they are often marketed for oven use. They are great on BBQ grills though.
OTOH, the Fool Proof pan pizza is excellent and works every time -
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/01/foolproof-pan-piz...
PS. There are also small-ish wood-fired ovens for those with a bit of backyard. I can't seem to find it now, but these are made by a specialist company that also sells an unbranded version -
https://www.jamieoliverovens.com/wood-fired-ovens/