Calzone, Pizza Stone and Parchment Paper
I did a little experiment for dinner the other day. I wanted to bake some calzones using Alton Brown's pizza dough recipe, bake it on my pizza stone, and see if the bottom browns as well using parchment paper instead of being put directly on the stone. The results were faboo.
In short, with olive oil brushed on top and parchment paper beneath, it browned perfectly on the pizza stone. With the parchment paper you don't have to worry about corn meal on your peel or spills on your stone, and it gives you a non-burning object to grab and give a tug to get the food back onto your peel for unloading.
I made the dough as the recipe says, although I halved the salt and added about a half teaspoon of basil. Fridge it overnight, the next day set out about 3 hours before baking. Divide the dough in half, form into a ball and flatten into a disc. Cover and let rest for about 10 minutes for the dough to relax a bit, then roll out the dough into a disc about 1/4 inch thick (or as flat as possible, I couldn't get it any flatter). Add sauce and toppings on one half, wet the edge with water and fold over, pressing the seam with your fingertips. Gently slash the top a couple of times (I did 3 for pepperoni and 5 for veggie just to tell them apart), bake at 425 for 15 minutes (the recipe calls for a really high temp, but I think 400-450 is usually a good default temp for most bread baking, including pizza). Let cool on counter for a few minutes before slicing.
The exterior was nicely browned, top and bottom, chewy and flavorful.
And right now I have a regular loaf in the oven, on parchment and on the pizza stone, to see how well it works with regular bread.
I use parchment paper all the time on my stone when baking free-form loaves. I have never noticed that the bottoms brown any differently than they did when I didn't use the paper. The paper also withstands very high temps and it doesn't burn either.
I accidently thought I was all set up and bought cooking paper instead. The first bake stuck. Stuck so well that my rolls had complementary roughage. I have only three pieces of the old baking parchment and pray they last. I had bought a sheet of permanent parchment but didn't bring it. (darn) Cost about 3 Euros and claims 1000 times usage. I don't know. I'd rather throw it away when it gets messy. Will fetch it and try out end of July. Mini Oven
There are a couple of things I wanted to add re the oil on the stone and parchment paper. I made semolina bread a few times and let the olive oil I brushed on top drip onto the stone...BIG mistake! I ruined my stones in no time flat. Anytime I have to brush a loaf with a glaze, it goes into the oven on parchment. Secondly, I tried to be thrifty and reuse my parchment, and I believe it was on the parchment's third go-round that although it did not catch on fire, it did darken a bunch and the bottom of my loaves were burned as a result. Just a few thoughts.
Since I woke up to not needing a stone for most breads, I have placing a sheet of parchment paper on my cookie sheet. I don't usually bother with cornmeal or semolina since the parchment releases so well. I have frequently used a single 2 times and now and then 3 times depending on condition. If prior bakes were at a lower temp (WW breads I cooked on 350 F) the paper doesn't brown up much.
I also cook chicken and other meats on parchment in a sheet pan. It makes clean up a breeze.
Eric
Love parchment...HATE to wash dishes! It was a good day when God made Parchment paper! The first time we used our pizza stone, we thought we could do it like they do on TV and just quickly slide and pop that rascal on the stone! Boy was I wrong! We really had that pizza loaded up with toppings and the whole thing wrinkled up and ended up in a big clump, sauce was all over the hot stone, cheese all in the bottom of the oven! I hope none of you have ever done that. It was a mess!
Audra