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ceramic tile/pizza stone advice?

#1
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6/22/04 at 3:34am
  • Joined: May 2003
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
  • Post Count: 127
In the midst of a bakeware specials bonanza (it's sale time down here), I bought a pizza stone for a very bargain-priced A$11 (USD 7). 33cm (13") x 1cm (2/5") disc.

Now, I've never played around with pizza stones or ceramic tiles or any of that, though I largely understand their benefits. Assuming this sort of ceramic disc is worth its while, I began wondering if it might be worth buying a second one, so I could use them to increase the heat above and below various dishes I bake which prefer good constant and sometimes high heat.

So you oven stone afficionados out there, any comments?
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#2
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6/22/04 at 5:12am
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: NYC, NY USA
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It seems to me that this is one case where more is better. The benefits of using a stone include both radiant and retained heat. If heat radiated from one direction is good, heat radiated from two directions is better. Also, because stones retain a great deal of heat, your oven is less subject to heat loss when you open it to check on something.

I use a HearthKit oven insert It's basically a 3 sided stone, lacking only the top. I never take it out of my oven.
At weddings, my Aunts would poke me in the ribs and cackle "You're next!". They stopped when I started doing the same to them at funerals.
www.kyleskitchen.net
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#3
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6/22/04 at 5:17pm
  • Joined: December 2001
  • Location: San Francisco
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About 15 years ago when I started making Pizza at home on a regular basis I bought 6, 6" x 6" x 1/2" thick, unglazed quarry tiles. They cost about $1.50 at the time (probably as much as $2 by now) and I have been using them ever since. They are cheaper than a bread stone and they cover a greater area in the oven allowing you to bake multiple loaves of bread at a time. Also the rectangular shape is more efficient than the round.
I agree with Kyle that more is better and closer replicates and heat from the bricks in a commercial deck oven.
If you are going to use tile, avoid the thin ones which break easily and make sure they are unglazed.

Jock
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#4
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6/22/04 at 6:53pm
  • Joined: October 2001
  • Location: Eugene, Oregon U.S.A.
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I totally agree with what has been posted!I live in an apartment with an old electric range and I only have one cheap ceramic stone in it but the difference has been phenomanol. When using the oven stable heat(which even this cheap stone helps with) and a hot surface for your breads and pizzas realy makes the difference.More should be better in this circumstance as far as I am concerned.Doug.................

The two most common things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity !

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#5
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10/27/09 at 8:14am
  • Joined: October 2009
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Wow nice post and thread I like eating alot
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#6
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10/28/09 at 9:34pm
  • Joined: October 2005
  • Location: Vancouver, Canada
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I just use the tiles you buy at hardware stores for lining your BBQ (Barbie in OZ...)

Whatever you use, make sure its unglazed. Many glazed floor tiles have lead and other nastys in the glaze....
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#7
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10/30/09 at 9:42am
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: This 'n that galaxy.
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Do not purchase a pizza stone; their circular shape makes them too small and thin. Like earlier posters, quarry tile seems to be the preference at this forum. Otherwise get a Fibrament stone like the ones listed here.
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#8
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11/4/09 at 12:08am
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Location: Wilmington, NC
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Unglazed quarry tiles at lowes or the home depot are way cheap, and definitely do the trick.

I make pizza for a living and have used both actual pizza stones made for that specific purpose, and the unglazed quarry tile...the tile is the way to go if you can find it/do a little research and know what you're looking for. I had no idea what to get the first time I hit the hardware store and felt a little lost.

If you haven't before, check out pizzamaking.com, there are a number of threads about stones/tiles and other ways to make a great pie at home.

Best of luck,

Dave

“Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one's life.”


Check my blog and leave comments!
http://prodigalguns.livejournal.com/

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#9
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11/4/09 at 7:24am
  • Joined: February 2008
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If you're going to get an actual made-for-the-purpose one, do yourself a favor and buy a decent stone, not a lousy one with a good marketing department. Fibramanent is a material not well suited for baking use. Get one made of corderite. Better heat capacity, lower heat conductivity, better resistance to thermal shock, working temperature well outside that reached in any pizza oven.
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#10
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11/4/09 at 7:32am
  • Joined: September 2009
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
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Terra Cotta tiles work well. Just get them as thick as you can find and unglazed. They hold heat beautifully and are quite cheap, should you manage to drop one.

Dammi un coltello affilato e vi mostrerò l'arte più belle del mondo.

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#11
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11/6/09 at 4:23am
  • Joined: November 2006
  • Location: Kapolei, Hawaii
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Keep the stone away from water unless it is completely, 100% at room temperature.

I've cracked two that way.

EDIT: Son of a gun the OP hasn't posted in over 3 years!:mad:
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#12
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11/6/09 at 6:07pm
  • Joined: September 2009
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
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We're still getting a good discussion out of this though.

Dammi un coltello affilato e vi mostrerò l'arte più belle del mondo.

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