December 28, 2014 - 4:14pm
I tried to kill the pizza stone...
Forgot the pizza stone was in the oven when I hit the self-cleaning oven switch. It came out perfectly clean...like new, which of course, is not what you want. Happy to report that after a few months of sitting on the bottom rack of the oven like it always does, a new coating emerged, rending the stone stick-proof once again. I've had the thing a good five years now. Great investment for $20. You can get them in Vancouver at The Gourmet Warehouse on Hastings. For more than just pizza, great for free-form bread.
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round one I keep on the top rack of the oven when she was making X-mas cookies. Alton Brown always said to keep the stone in the oven for everything and never take it out. She takes the stones out, claiming they make for bad cookies. I tried to explain but NO!!!! Now one stone down - wonder if I can epoxy the 2 pieces back together? I got my other one at Goodwill for a buck so now we will be on the lookout for another one there :-)
Ours lives on the bottom rack where it interferes with...nothing. Over the course of time, it builds up a patina that can only be accomplished by things spilling over and boiling off. Sounds gross, but in the end, nothing sticks to the darned thing. Nothing. I throw a little cornmeal on it when I'm baking bread just to be safe, but seriously, it's like Teflon. Bonus: Can't drop it if it stays there. I almost cried when it came out clean due to mon error, but all is well.
I would worry about epoxy... if it was a simple break, just reassemble them on the rack as-is. The mass is virtually unchanged, if less contiguous. When I broke the bottom to my La Cloche, it was just two pieces. I used it a few times until replacing it with a stone.
And yeah, I wonder sometimes about the charred stuff on mine and if I should make an attempt to clean it. Mine lives leaned against the wall next to the oven (it's small, can't give up a rack to it. Tried it on the oven floor for awhile, but my husband doesn't 'get' that you must preheat thoroughly for things to cook properly). I scrape off whatever I can and trust that anything living will perish long before the oven reaches 500 F.
Cathy
so threw it out (was still new to bread making :( ) so bought a couple of unglazed terracotta tiles for only a few dollars and I have been happily using them for a couple of years. broke one again but just sit them together on the oven rack and it all works brilliantly! so dont worry about the epoxy just keep baking. mine lives in the oven most of the time too.