Pale Bread with Baking Stone?
Hello,
I received an Old Stone Oven baking stone for Christmas. The pamphlet that came with it says its made from heat retaining clays. I have used the stone periodically and every time I've used it my loaves seem to be lighter in color than expected, even when I bake to to fullest time given and check temp. They are baked through, its just the color that seems off and sometimes the crust is a bit soft. I've baked a few breads from Rose B's Bread Bible where the breads are in the loaf pan, baked on the stone. Then last night I tried the Rosemary bread from Local Breads book, the loaves are baked directly on the stone with parchment and should be a "dark caramel" color...well, they are pale gold, and soft outer crust (which I think is okay for these, its just they are so light in color).
I am confused because I thought a baking stone would help the crust brown and bake evenly on the outside too, is this not the case? Am I doing something wrong? Are there better types of stones than others for bread? The pamphlet with my stone says that it can be used for "restaurant style" pizza, foccaccia and bread.I use this mainly for bread.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Marci