February 4, 2011 - 12:25am
Baking stone cracked, don't do this!
I placed my very hot baking stone to cool on a coaster (room temperature, 30 degrees celsius) that is about 20 cm/8 inches across and 1 cm/half an inch thick made of cork with a plastic centre. Half an hr later, it broke into half - a very neat but sad line across diagonally.
My brother-in-law says it should have been placed on a flat surface. The fact that its weight was not evenly supported as it cooled caused it to crack. Even though the coaster was very thin and quite wide.
has this ever happened to anyone?? if nothing else, don't do what i did!
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Stones broken in half are also easier to store!
Mary Clare in MO
the problem, it insulated one portion of the stone and the bottom surface while the rest was cooling. It might have done better on a rack where heat can leave on all sides or left in the oven to cool slowly and evenly.
On the positive side, your stone cracked on one line and you can probably fit the pieces together in the oven and use the stone for future bakes. No problem. Just let the stone cool pretty much completely in the oven in the future. And be careful if you make pizza directly on the stone that toppings such as melted cheese or oils do not drip off the pizza onto the stone. They can cause uneven temperatures on the stone and can cause more cracks in the future as the stone cools, even in the oven. Best of luck.
Do you know the makeup of your stone? Brand/origin?
I'm convinced that depending on how it's used, some stones just cannot withstand the rigors of bread baking, over time.
Also, some stones are "really not as thick" as claimed. Does your stone have "feet". Some stones listed dimensions, thickness in this instance, is really the "height" of the stone standing on it's feet.
Before I got into baking bread-or serious pizza making-for years, I used an apparently nice little pizza stone for an occasional pizza, quite happily. When I got into this bread baking, within a couple of months, like the op, it split almost perfectly in two, "ying yang style". Within a few more months it was a 5 piece jigsaw puzzle. The last "precipitating event" was merely preheating the oven with the stone(s) already contained therein. Just heard loud "plink" from the as yet to be opened oven.
I suspect, over time, you will probably experience more of these precipitating events under various circumstances, foreseen or not so much. Anyway, leave the stone in the oven, at least until it's cooled.
This last little shot shows my puzzle on top of a newer 5/8" cordierite stone. Highly recommended.
I've had stones crack over time as well, round ones as well as rectangular ones. I've used them like puzzle pieces to cover more oven grate and, thereby, bake more loaves at a time.
ah, mini oven, you are always so wise. I think that must have been it! i must say, even if i hadnt been rushing, it's not sth i would have thought abt.
thanks for all your suggestions. I am going to try to use it as it anyhow. I do love pizza though so will have to think of how to get round the problem.
anyone of you uses unglazed tiles? Is it terracotta or clay or quarry tiles that pp use? Should i ever find myself in the vicinity of some workshop or a nursery.
I have heard of people using quarry tiles before (one of those being Julia Childs) although I am not sure where they can be bought.