[lamington]

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?

[KyleW]

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.

[Jock]

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

[chefboy2160]

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.................