Just like my ID showing, I am a real rookie of artisan bread baking. Recently I am getting interesed in sourdough bread and started to feed my own starter. But when I tried to prepare for my first bread, I realized I do not have a baking stone which is essential for artisan bread  based on expert advise.

Before this I have no idea about baking stone, I googled it online and found some online shop. But the thing is quite confusing out  there. Most of these baking stone's description are about pizza baking. I am wondering is it appropriate to buy one of these stone to bake artisan bread? Since it is quite fragile and easily to be broken during shipping ,is there any local store I can get one?

Thanks a lot for your guys help !!

Hi! 

I know this has been discussed to death but as time passes more people with more collective experience appear so I am bringing up this topic again:)

I have scoured this site and the internet trying to determine what I want in a baking stone and which I should buy.  Somebody always has something to say that makes me unable to decide what I want to get.  (I do realize that this is my partly my personality getting in the way!)

Anyway in the next few days I will decide on a stone, hopefully with a little bit of further input from you.

I have sort listed myself to the following (not necessarily in any order):

1)      Cordierite, http://www.sheffield-pottery.com/Square-Cordierite-Kiln-Shelves-s/320.htm

2)      Fibrament, http://www.bakingstone.com/order.php

3)      Something from fantes.com http://fantes.com/pizza.html which is actually this one from Dacor http://www.dacor.com/Our-Products/Accessories/In-the-Oven/Baking-Stone.aspx  (I have some misgivings about the lip at the back, maybe this won’t matter? Otherwise I like this one quite a bit)  

4)      There is also these two from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-Oven-Pizza-Rectangular/dp/B000QJDBRY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1257962485&sr=1-4 and  http://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-Oven-14-Inch-16-Inch/dp/B0000E1FDA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1257962485&sr=1-5

5)      And this from William Sonoma http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku1242981/?pkey=x|4|1||4|baking%20stone||0&cm_src=SCH

Money is always an issue but if it lasts and gives me years of convenience and joy then it’s always worth it. 

Then the thickness issue….thicker retains a lot of heat a lot longer but takes a lot of energy consumption to get hot (I am thinking green here).  Since I will probably baking only one or two pizza or ciabatta etc or few naan at a time what is the best thickness for me,  ½ inch?

I greatly appreciate any comments!

Thank you so much.

K.

What rack does everyone place their baking stone on.

I have an electric oven and I usually place mine on the bottom rack. However, lately my Pain au Levain have been getting burned on the bottom. I'm doing 475 initial preheat then turning down to 450 after loading my loaves. 

Hi everyone, 

    I'm fairly new at this, and don't have many recipes to share as yet.  I'm still working through the basics- I'm one of those ppl who like to master the foundations before getting fancy.

So currently I'm working on mastering pizza crust... like this guy :Jeff Varasano's NY Pizza Recipe  .  Although I'm not brave enough to cut the safety interlock off my oven's cleaning cycle lol. 

    I rather think I'm going to go with the dual baking stone concept to make a mini intense convection oven inside my conventional electric oven.  Looking on craigslist, I was able to spot some Pampered C's baking stones for sale cheap... though I have not gotten them yet. And I need a pizza peel... ah, the challenge of low-to-no budget baking...

    One thing I found very interesting is Mr. Varasano's description of what he terms "poolish"... he reccomends starting with a commercial (mail-order) sourdough Italian culture.  Has anyone here had experience in this area?  Has anyone in my area come up with a sourdough culture they would share a cup of?  I'm not sure of what would germinate in my kitchen, but pretty sure it woud be something odd.  I'm in Baltimore, MD btw.

thanks in advance!

Which baking stone is the best? My pizza stone broke after a couple of months. Thanks! Jean-Paul

I was telling a friend of mine about Eric's observations (now, mine too) about how much heat baking stones lose as soon as you put dough on them. She remarked:

I think thermal conductivity may come into play. Some materials transfer heat more easily than others -- You can put your hand into a 500˚ oven without much pain, but if you touch a 500˚ pizza stone, you'll burn yourself, because stone conducts heat differently than does air. So although the stone may lose heat, perhaps (and I'm just guessing) it transfers its remaining heat faster than would a baking sheet, etc.

What do you think? Is it worth it to use a baking stone or not? Does a baking stone transfer heat faster than a baking sheet?

--Pamela

For over 3 years I've been baking artisan style breads in my (really lousy) gas oven without a baking stone but was never quite satisfied with the result. I finally purchased a good baking stone. This is my first effort with the baking stone...

Sourdough Sesame Seed Batards with Spelt Flour

The height of each of these batards is about 4 inches (compared to the 3-1/4 inch height I got without a stone) for a similar type of dough and prebaking dough weight.

The recipe (one of my own devising) uses a white flour 100% hydration sourdough starter. About 20% of the total flour weight is spelt flour (home milled from organic spelt). In an attempt to add sesame flavor to the bread without compromising rising, I use 8% sesame seed meal, which is ground from whole sesame seeds using a small electric coffee mill. Additional sesame seeds are on the outside of the dough. Dough hydration is 68%

I am pleased with this first effort using my new baking stone, although I obviously need to become familiar with this newest addition to my bread baking equipment arsenal.

Onwards and upwards - SF

==========================

For those who are interested, this stone is a Dacor baking stone. It is 1/2 inch thick and measures 15" x 20". This was a good size for my oven, as my oven rack measures 17" x 25". I believe that smaller size baking stones from Dacor are marketed under the brand name Old Stone Oven; these smaller stones are widely available.

The stone was purchased from fantes.com for $50 USD plus shipping. The packaging was excellent and shipping was prompt.

I am including two images of this baking stone from the fantes.com site in this post to give an idea of what the baking stone looks like...

Two simple questions regarding my new FibraMent baking stone:

Does one place a La Cloche or other bread pan on top of this baking stone? 

Will steam crack a FibraMent stone?

Many thanks!

Miz

I decided after a few sensible, somewhat alarmist, posts here on TFL that i would not buy unglazed flooring tiles (terracotta, saltillo, etc) for use in my oven. There are too many health concerns involved with the manufacturing and raw material differences between flooring tiles and bakeware. Any cause for concern should not be ignored. It's likely that flooring tiles could be perfectly fine to bake with. On the other hand, maybe not.

It helps that I'm getting a good amount of money back after taxes, which I decided to spend on a baking stone and other baking equipment. And to keep track of what I could get, I'm putting together this list:

Sur La Table, (Best Manufacturers) $42, 14x16x5/8

Old Stone, (via Amazon) firebrick, $29.95, 14x16x?

Breadtopia, Fibrament, $51, 13x17.5x3/4, $69, 15x20x3/4

Ace Mart, American Metalcraft, Corderite, $44, 14x16x1/2

Central Restaurant, Fibrament, $58.49, 15x20x3/4

i never thought i'd see the day that sur la table looked like an economic option!

Anyone have experience  using a second baking stone above the bread? I think Reinhart suggested it might be a good way to try and replicate aspects of a commercial oven: more stone might help stabilize the temperature in the oven especially after the oven door is opned. It might increase the intensity of radiant, as opposed to convective heat, might help eliminate hot spots or uneven baking.... ?