How To Keep A Baking Stone Hot In The Oven With Steam
Hello all,
I am trying to make artisan baguettes out of my gas oven. So far the best result has come from using Martin Philip's method of filling a pan of lava rocks and covering with foil leaving a 1 inch opening on the short side. I can transfer 3 baguettes to the stone long ways, cover with a 4 inch chafing dish leaving a 1 inch overhang so the steam from the lava rock pan goes into the chamber so the steam is captured and doesn't release through the vents. I boil some water from a tea kettle we have and I fashioned together a copper pipe with a funnel so I can pour the boiling water into the lava rock pan with ease and get the oven closed as quickly as possible. The only thing though is the stone will be perfectly preheated to 460 degrees Fahrenheit and when I want to put in my next batch of 3 baguettes the stone's temperature drops considerably - 100 degrees Fahrenheit usually. I've done a test with stacking two stones on top of each other. It takes longer to pre-heat of course and my thought was like a brick oven the top stone would maintain it's heat a little better but it still dropped somewhat considerably -- 75 degrees Fahrenheit. My main question does anyone out there have a good way to keep the stone hot with steam so I can load in my next 3 baguettes almost right after I finish the first three?
Thank you,
Tyler Teran
Crustworthy Bread, Akron, OH
I don’t think so, Tyler.
Both the steam and also the cool dough will rob the stone(s) of heat. The same loss of heat retention occurs with cast iron vessels and all other types. When hot and cold meet. The hot gets cooler and the cool gets hotter.
HTH,
Danny
Crank the temperature up to the max and give it 10 minutes. You can probably do it before you first batch is out.
Yeah the max it goes is 500. I think I'll definitely have to do that.
1. I am unfamiliar with gas ovens. Does your gas oven have an electric top/broiler heating element?
If so, two or three minutes with the top broiler element turned on, it might radiate enough heat downward to reheat the stone.
2. If not, then I can only think of turning on the gas burner at its full setting for a few minutes to reheat.
3. Next idea: Use two baking stones, one on top of each other (like you tried before) but for the 2nd bake, swap them, putting the lower one on top of the other one. If they have wire cradles, leave those in, so the hot stone doesn't lose heat to the cooler one.
I'm not sure if all have top heating elements but mind does have a broiler. I'll try that! Good idea.
I'll also try swapping them! Nice thinking. Thank you!
Hi Tyler
I have not made bread yet (no stand mixer, time is precious), but my experience might help point you in the right direction. The gas oven internal temperature and the temperature you set are two different stories. An oven thermometer is required that you use already.
I used 1.5 inch granite stone like a pizza/baking stone, that did not turn out well, the stone was way too heavy and it was impractical to clean. Used it for a month
I switched to a stainless steel slab about 13mm thick, the thickest i could find in the market at the time. Seasoned it once and the surface is good. Have been using it for about 8 months now. The slab is heavy, but can be removed from the oven with a bit of effort. Not recommended for the elderly though. My mom doesn't touch the slab, just an accident waiting to happen in her hands. Mine stays in the oven all the time, mostly bake pizzas directly on its surface. Place another grill right on top for cakes.
When baking pizzas, the first one is done at max heat. The temperature of the oven is 550 degrees Fahrenheit. The internal temperature reads at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't have an infrared thermometer to check the slab temperature. After the pizza goes in, the 500 temperature drops to 475 Fahrenheit. I leave the temperature up at max. Even though the air temperature drops slightly, the surface temperature will still even out quickly. Not sure how quickly the stones will even out temperature if there are multiple rocks??
If i reduce the temperature slightly, when I put my second pizza in the temperature will drop around to 425~450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Since you are cooking the baguettes at near max temperature, might as well leave it at max.
If i use the grill on the top of the oven to brown the pizza, I have to ensure that the oven is not at the max temperature inside, otherwise the grill will not turn on.
I tried steaming the pizzas once. The temperature loss was too great for me, I added a drip pan under the stainless steel slab, added the water in that. While trying to work quickly and save my hands, the temperature dropped to around 400 degrees. By the time the temperature reached a toasty 450 degrees, there was no water in sight that was turning into steam.
If you have a fan in the gas oven (convection), it might be worth a try. You will have to play around with the settings and see if it is worth the trouble.