November 20th, 2008

all about baking stones

baking stones 2

when i eventually buy my own house, an in-house brick oven is at the top of my wish list. i’d also love an outdoor earth oven (susan has been building one over at wild yeast; i’m jealous). while in the meantime (and realistically, forever), i’m not going to have one at my fingertips, there’s no reason i can’t simulate a hearth oven in my own kitchen using baking stones.

what’s the point of baking on a hot stone? stones retain heat much better than metal baking sheets, giving your bread a better crust (like putting a good steak on an extremely hot cast iron pan). waiting for cold sheet pan to heat up can cause the bread to bake unevenly. the stones work best when you heat them up as you preheat the oven. i usually heat the stones up about 100 degrees hotter than the recipe temperature, then turn it down to the appropriate temp just before putting in the bread, making up for some of the heat lost when you open the oven door.

baking stones 3

i used to have a pizza stone (an awesome gift!) that worked very well for about a year. however, some kind of oil must have seeped into the stone because it began dripping and smoking profusely whenever i turned on the oven. more than once the apartment filled with smoke and eventually i had to trash it. the problem with pizza stones is that they can be incredibly expensive ($40-$100!) to replace.

i decided to do a little research and found a great alternative in unglazed quarry tiles. you can find them at any hardware/home store (my dad and i hit up home depot). these are 6″ x 6″ and about 1/2″-3/4″ thick, though 1″ thick is probably ideal. the best part? 12 of them cost me less than $5, so it’s definitely not just for die-hard bakers. since i started baking on these tiles, my bread has looked and tasted better than ever - and the crust is incomparable to older loaves. i have them arranged on a middle rack as in the above picture. a few quick tips:

  • make sure they are unglazed! glazed tiles can contain harmful chemicals and metals like lead in them. if you aren’t sure, ask someone at the store or contact the manufacturer. liquid should be absorbed by the tiles, not roll off of them.
  • cleaning: when you first bring the tiles home, wipe them with a solution of water and baking soda. you can do this if they get pieces of crust stuck on them as well. do not use soap, as it will seep into the stones and then get into any food you put on them.
  • transferring bread to the tiles: you might be asking, “if i’m not using a baking sheet, how do i get my dough onto a 500 degree stone without burning off my fingertips?” with smaller loaves, you can pull out the shelf a little bit and literally toss the bread onto the tiles. with anything larger, a cornmeal covered pizza peel is your friend. i recently invested in one (less than $10) and it’s made getting the bread into the oven a cinch.
  • care: these tiles require very little care. they may darken from use, but should be fine. you can also leave them in the oven even if you aren’t baking on them. if i need to bake on a sheet, i just move one of the empty shelves above the one with the stones. it won’t hurt them to heat up over and over. if your tiles ever do break from use, you can replace them for mere pennies!

baking stones 1


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30 comments so far ↓

  1. Sue | Nov 20, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    what a terrific idea, for pennies! great for bread, pizzas, etc….what about cookies? would you still used a cookie sheet (certainly easier than placing individual cookies on hot tiles) or could you set the cookie sheet directly on the tiles, do you think? since the hot air needs to circulate, do the tiles interfere with that, whether the cookie sheet is on another rack or not? (I make more cookies than bread, obviously, but what love to try these tiles!) Thanks!

  2. Teri | Nov 20, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    I love this idea! How would you do a pizza? I’ve never done one on a pizza stone before. Do you heat the stones first? I just envision a big mess trying to get the dough with all the sauce and cheese sliding all over the place… with the tiles would you put it on first and then place it in the oven? Maybe this would be a good next blog??? My kids and I love rustic style pizzas! This is a great idea, thanks!

  3. Donna | Nov 20, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    I love baking but have never tried bread. Your recipes have me so intrigued that I will bake my first bread for Thanksgiving. Wish me luck!

  4. Christina | Nov 20, 2008 at 4:53 pm

    I eventually need to buy these. I have a pizza stone, but it cracked, although how it cracked leaves it usable and the cracked piece looks like a large talon. Where did you get your bread peel?

  5. Jess | Nov 20, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    What a great idea. And if you had to store them, they wouldn’t take up much space! Fantastic!

  6. Teri | Nov 20, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    Whoops, I just looked up what a pizza peel is… guess who’s not a gourmet??? Now I guess I’ll have to get one of those too and try out these tiles with my kids!!! Fun!

  7. Ali | Nov 20, 2008 at 8:28 pm

    Hi Pete,

    Another Mainer sent me your way to check out your blog, and I just had to comment since I’ve been using these tiles for years. They are terrific, washable, and when too gunked up from pizza spills, replaceable. Just a tip, HD will give you two free cuts on a tile saw, so folks can get them custom sized for their ovens.

    Ali in Maine

  8. Ansa | Nov 20, 2008 at 11:28 pm

    Genius! I have been procrastinating this purchase for months…and now I know why.

  9. jo | Nov 21, 2008 at 12:35 am

    hi pete, great idea and i would never have thought of using quarry tiles. hmm weekend secret mission is to scout out a nearby construction site. thanks.

  10. Y | Nov 21, 2008 at 3:26 am

    Great tips! I have yet to use a baking stone, but would like to try one day.

  11. petebakes | Nov 21, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    @Sue - as far as baking cookies, i would put the cookie sheet on a separate shelf than the tiles. i wouldn’t put the sheet directly on the tiles or bake the cookies directly on the tiles either. in my experience, having the tiles in the oven hasn’t affected how the cookies bake.

    @Christina - i got my pizza peel at bed bath and beyond for around $10 but you should be able to find one at any home goods store (and online for cheap as well).

  12. Amy | Nov 22, 2008 at 8:46 am

    This is a really great idea! I use a baking stone all the time, but I’m on my third one now (they eventually crack from so much use, because they’re only about 1/2″ thick.) I’m definitely going to go down the unglazed quarry tile route in the future - much more economical. Thanks for the tip! :)

  13. Gabrielle | Nov 22, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    Thank YOU!!!!

  14. sweetbird | Nov 22, 2008 at 12:56 pm

    I’ve been using an old stoneware baking sheet I bought at a Pampered Chef party like 8 years ago - it’s seen better days.

    I think I just might be making a trip to Home Depot today…

  15. Candice | Nov 22, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    I went to my Home Depot this afternoon here in Atlanta and they don’t carry quarry tile, glazed or unglazed. I checked Lowes too and nothing. I’m pretty sad about this. I was looking forward to diving headfirst into Zoe’s book.

  16. Bryan | Nov 23, 2008 at 8:54 am

    I’ve had these for a couple of years, and they work great.
    Even though I originally tried them just for pizza making, they now stay in the oven all the time - This requires a little more energy usage to get the oven up to baking temperature,but I’ve decided that it’s worth the cost since they make the oven have a more consistent temperature regardless of what I’m cooking. When cooking using any pans or dishes, I just put them on a second rack above the rack with the tiles.

    I also have a set of four tiles that I cut one corner on each so that they would fit in my round Weber grill which allows me to “grill” pizzas outside in the summer.

    As for where to get them (mine came in a green and white box that said ‘VersaTILE’ on it), our Home Depot never had them, and as of two days ago, it appears that the Lowes where I bought mine from no longer has them. For anyone who can’t find them, another “frugal alternative” to a “real” pizza stone is to use a large terra cotta flower pot saucer put in the oven upside down before preheating.

  17. Bryan | Nov 23, 2008 at 9:17 am

    I forgot to mention…..
    Some “pizza geeks” that use these tiles build their own temporary “brick oven” by using a second oven rack to:

    1) Hold additional tiles vertically (for walls) and,
    2) To put another layer of tiles for a “ceiling” to radiate heat down on the pizza toppings more directly.

    I’m waiting until I’m a little better with using my pizza peel before I try this. :-)

  18. Michael | Nov 24, 2008 at 8:43 am

    Nice idea!! Will try this in my quest for the perfect home baked pizza.

  19. Andrea | Nov 24, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    I’ve heard of using these tiles before, but it’s never really been explained to me as you just did. What a great post, and very appreciated! Thanks so much, I’m going to make a trip to some sort of home improvement store very soon!

  20. Nathan Parker | Nov 26, 2008 at 11:54 pm

    Have you considered baking on cast iron? Seems like that would be even better than stone.

  21. Cheryl | Nov 29, 2008 at 9:42 am

    HOW DID YOU KNOW I NEEDED A BAKING STONE?? I AM GOING TO TRY MY HAND AT BREAD…GREAT INFO…OFF TO HOME DEPOT!
    LOVE YOUR SITE!

  22. Tiffany | Nov 29, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    This is a great idea for those of us with tiny ovens and no space for pizza stones! Thanks for sharing. I may have to run out this afternoon to get some baking stones.

  23. Cheryl | Nov 30, 2008 at 8:27 pm

    OOPS HOME DEPOT AND LOEWS DONT CARRY THE TILE IN MY STATE…
    HAVE TO RESEARCH ONLINE…

    CHECKED BED BATH AND BEYOND THEY HAVE THE REGULAR ONES FOR AROUND $20
    COULD USE A COUPON FOR 20% OFF!

  24. John | Dec 1, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Just got back from Home Depot and they looked at me like I was speaking swahili. Any chance that you still have the SKU number associated with these tiles? Tks in advance…

  25. Bryan | Dec 2, 2008 at 7:46 am

    Here’s the info printed on my old box from Lowes -

    Manufactured for VersaTILE by:
    Ironrock Capital, Inc.
    1201 Millerton Street SE
    Canton, Ohio 44707

    I believe the SKU is 744975400181. However, when I googled the number +”tile”, I didn’t too far. One link said that they are manufactured by International Wholesale Tile …so much for my detective work. :-)

    My box refers to them as “Red #DC88 Unglazed Ceramic Quarry Tiles”.

    Finally, I didn’t read all the fine print under the “One Year Limited Warranty” section, but my guess is that it doesn’t apply for “oven use”. ;-)

    Good luck to all

  26. My First Kitchen | Dec 3, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    I cannot even tell you how exciting this is. I just started thinking about getting a really big pizza stone because my pizzas are bigger than the stone. This is PERFECT. And I love cheap. Can’t wait to do it. Thanks for the great tip!

  27. Dee | Dec 4, 2008 at 7:27 pm

    Hi,

    I bought the similar tiles at Home Depot, but something told me to go back and ask if they are safe before using them. On the box, it said that the tiles can emit silica dust, which is a carcinogen. How do you know your tiles are safe? I’d love to use these, as they cost $2.70 altogether and would be easy to replacy.Thanks!

  28. Bryan | Dec 7, 2008 at 9:12 am

    Dee,

    Can’t speak for the others, but I viewed the health warning on the box as something I didn’t have to worry about as long as I was going to use them in my oven - the way I read it, the caution had to do with the dust created when using a tile saw to cut the tiles to size when using them for a floor job.

    Do I know for a fact that they are safe? - No, but I also don’t know for certain what any of my cookware is made of.

    To put it another way, I’d be more worried about the materials used to make my pans “non-stick”, or what the “real” composition (or “purity”)of the metal used in the rest of my pans is.

    Anyway, hope I didn’t sound like I was minimizing your concerns …. just trying to explain my view.

  29. simple pizza dough recipe | pete bakes! | Dec 10, 2008 at 11:42 am

    [...] you can still get a great crust at home. most commercial ovens only reach 500 or 550 F, but using a baking stone or baking tiles definitely [...]

  30. the projectivist | Dec 17, 2008 at 1:30 am

    thanks Pete!

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