I needed a larger baking /pizza stone. I couldn't find a larger size needed, and what i did see was pretty expensive.What i did was go to my local cement block & brick outlet and bought about 12-15 firebricks.They have regular brick size any thinner ones, like the ones they use to line the inside of woodstoves.They were not very expensive and work very well.Now i have a large baking surface for a large pizza or a few loafs of bread The way bluestone breaks up from winter freezes and thaws, i can just imagine what would happen under high heat..!
baking stone substitute
- Thread starter Garp94
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #12
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
It's easier to have a one-piece thing than a bunch of individual firebricks, if you are not going to be leaving it in the oven semi-permanently.
The reason for using *any* of that is that you get better baking and better crust, b/c you are putting the dough directly onto the real hot high-thermal-inertia stone rather than just on a rack or metal pan (which rely on *air* to heat the dough)
Pat
The reason for using *any* of that is that you get better baking and better crust, b/c you are putting the dough directly onto the real hot high-thermal-inertia stone rather than just on a rack or metal pan (which rely on *air* to heat the dough)
Pat
The reason I ask is this; Why not get a 1/2" or 3/4" steel plate and weld some handles on the side? Polish the steel with a sander and then cure it like you would cast iron. You could have the thermals of a stone and would be cheap to make.
You could make it any size you wanted including big enough to fin right into your oven to fit in it in place of a rack.
You could make it any size you wanted including big enough to fin right into your oven to fit in it in place of a rack.
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
I don't know for sure, but since the technology to use heavy metal plates instead of stone/tile has existed for many many generations of bakers and yet in reality nobody does it, I suspect there is probably a good reason?
Dunno, though, you could certainly try it.
Pat
Dunno, though, you could certainly try it.
Pat
Yes,it easier to use a one piece stone.It really doesn't take very long to place or remove the dozen firebricks.I have a one peice baking stone, for some things its just to small.Thats why the firebrick works well for my use, i can put together a large baking surface, fast and cheap.It only takes a minute to place the bricks on the oven rack.
The reason they use stones for baking, is because it simply makes the best crusty breads, the best Artisn bread bakers around the world bake in woodfired ,stone baking surfaced ovens..
The reason they use stones for baking, is because it simply makes the best crusty breads, the best Artisn bread bakers around the world bake in woodfired ,stone baking surfaced ovens..
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
I really, really really don't think it's just stuck-in-the-mud.Wallybear said:
There has been *so* much experimentation with these sorts of things, both industrially and (especially) over the past decade or two in foodie home kitchens.
It is *not* a realm of lets-not-try-anything-different-because-it's-always-been-done-this-way.
A quick google (I don't own any serious baking books) suggests that a significant part of the merit of a baking stone is that it produces a crisper bottom crust by absorbing a lot of the water that comes off the bottom crust, as opposed to the way a metal baking sheet does not absorb moisture.
Insofar as that's important (you'd have to ask real baking geeks, which I am sort of the opposite of
) then clearly a thick metal plate would not work. I suppose a heavily-drilled one might *sorta* work, kind of alike a very thick heavy version of the perforated pizza pans, but truly if you are going to go to that much trouble for a very likely second-rate result (certainly perforated pizza pans give a second-rate result, tho better than solid ones) it seems like it'd be better to just GET a stone thing and be done with it.I mean, you can certainly try, but this is a pretty heavily-researched field (in the sense of commercial and home cooks having experimented extensively with alternatives) so I am skeptical that such an obvious-yet-not-used alternative is likely to actually be a good bet.
Pat
Wifezilla
Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
The way pizza cooks on a stone is unmatched. The texture is amazing. The pizza cooks through without burning. I am a pizza restaurant vet. While the pizzas in the stone bottomed ovens were the best, USING those stone bottom ovens was a pain. They are not very tall and it is easy to burn your hand
