January 29, 2009 - 11:56am
Marble slab
I found a broken and discarded real marble tabletop that we were able to cut to the proper dimensions for a baking stone for my oven. It is one inch thick and weighs a whopping 22 pounds. Other than allowing it lots of time to heat up, are there any other considerations? Does anyone else use a slab like this?
My oven is gas, and I will be baking for the first time to sell at Farmer's Market this year. I was thinking about baking the quick breads earlier in the day and then moving on to the yeast loaf breads. Finally finishing with the artisan breads on the slab. Any advice is appreciated.
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I have been thinking about buying a marble slab - So I am very curious to see how it works for you. Do make sure there are no coatings or strange chemicals on your marble. I would certainly heat it up once just to "clean" it up a bit (and to see if it explodes :) )
Sounds huge. Will you use it on the bottom of the oven or the lowest rack?
Please let us know how you like baking on it.
I use a large piece of 1/2'' thick, unsealed granite in my oven. With all natural stone, heat it slowly the first few times. If there is any trapped water/moisture it will crack/chip.
I use the rough, nonfinished side of my pastry slab for baking my breads. I give it the requisite 30 minutes only because I have never bothered to check what the appropriate preheating time is. I have not had any under or overbaking problems. And it stays heated for a long time.
Has anyone know if soapstone would tolerate the high heat?
I assume it would. Has anyone tried it?
My slab worked beautifully, hundreds and hundreds of loaves of bread. When I was baking for market the oven was going all day, so no problems as the slab was always hot. I still have the slab and it is fine but discolored. I am no longer baking for market as some of the laws have changed.
We took the plunge and installed a total solar photovoltaic system, so my gas oven has to go and I am looking for an electric to replace it with. No more paying for propane, electricity is now FREE!