Here's a revoltin' development
I made pizza last night -- the usual tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, some browned Italian sauage, and a few mushrooms. As I usually do, I left my baking stone in the oven overnight. Today I took it out before I heated the oven again, this time for an Easter ham (I know some people recommend leaving a stone in the oven all the time, but I don't do that). I carried the stone over to the kitchen trash to brush off some left-over burnt corn flour before I put it away, and just as I reached the trash can, the stone broke in my hands! Actually, a good-size piece separated from a corner and the bulk of the stone crashed onto the floor.
This is the first stone I've owned and so I'm not sure what happened to precipitate the crack. My wife suggests the stone had burned through -- it was looking pretty black and ratty. I got it about two years ago, at Target, I think. Should I just expect that stuff is going to break? At any rate, I'll be shopping soon for a new stone; any recommendations? What about unglazed quarry tile, say from Home Depot?
Ken
l would definitely go for a quarry tile, the thickest one you can get that your oven will happily bear. A thick, strong one should withstand the heat better (and hopefully not crack as soon) although it will of course take longer to heat through, so you will need to make sure to preheat your oven (and the stone in it) for longer.
that's a big bummer, when you lose something you aren't expecting to. Did it go through any temperature fluctuations rapidly, that may have contributed to this happening?
Hi Ken, I have used the same baking stone from Pampered Chef for the past 10+ years, I leave it in the oven all of the time mostly, even while cleaning. The only time I had one break was when I put a frozen lasagna on top of it after it was already pre-heated, they replaced it, no questions asked. They are a bit pricey and thicker than the ones at Target etc, but well worth it. They have a web site. (no I don't sell the stuff, lol so this is not a plug for business) The Large round stone is perfect for pizza.
I went to our local Menard's store and bought 2 concrete stepping stones for a buck each and I have been using them now for several years.
Phil
I don't remember any extreme temperature fluctuations -- I put the stone in a cold oven and pre-heated it for about 40 minutes at 500F, just as I usually do. Sometimes the preheat is shorter (say, 30 minutes), sometimes it's longer (maybe an hour), but it didn't break those times. Just one of those things this time, I guess.
Anyway, thanks to those who offered advice on replacing it. I'll see what's available locally soon (and see what the checkbook can bear).
Ken
I had a pizza stone from WalMart break after about 6 months of use. I now use quarry stone and leave it in all the time. Plus if you have one break you can replace just that tile. The whole box ran just a little more than the small pizza stone.
I've used my stone that's 3/4 inch thick from Williams Sonoma since 2000 without any problems although a week ago I've noticed a long crack in the surface of it - probably resulting from throwing hot water into the oven bottom with a bit landing onto the stone itself. Although that stone has been a good friend for all of these years of bread baking, I plan to replace it with a Fibramint stone in the future.
Pizza stones aren't made to be strong like tile (at least quarry tile).
I have a funny story about a pizza stone. We would leave it in the oven all the time, including oven cleanings to clean the stone. Well, one particular oven cleaning, there was a lot of soaked in oils in the stone from use. During the oven cleaning cycle, the stone ignited, filling the house with smoke. It broke at that time too.
We started using quarry tile after that. Some of the reason was that we had just done a floor in quarry tile and had some extra.
I understand that this gets discussed here a lot, but please bear with me. I am new here and have not been successful with trying to search the forum archives (do they exist?).
Why not use a slab of granite in the oven? Stone shops sell odd pieces relatively cheap. It is a natural stone and with the thickness, would have great thermal mass. It would probably take a while to get the stone up to temperature.
But I'd want to check it first for radioactivity/radon. And make sure the oven rack could handle the weight.
Richard Bertinent uses one:
Thank you for the reply. I figured out the search function (who know putting words in a box was so difficult). Truth is I did not see the search box before.
I will investigate the radon/radioactivity issue some more. I am not sure if I believe it.
Your welcome, Troy.
Not all granite is dangerous, but after reading this info from WebMD, I'm happy to continue using my food-safe stone which was made for the sole purpose of baking.