April 9, 2015 - 2:56pm
oven stone ?
can I just go to a counter top maker and buy a piece of scrap granite , to use as a oven stone , or some other type of stone , like porcelain
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can I just go to a counter top maker and buy a piece of scrap granite , to use as a oven stone , or some other type of stone , like porcelain
Soapstone appears to be liked by many, according to a quick search. Soapstone used in some wood fired ovens.
There is also the option of unglazed quarry tiles.
My personal favorite is 1/4" thick sheet steel, cut to the dimensions of your oven rack. Won't crack like a stone will, heats up more quickly and still does an amazing job of holding heat in.
I had some 10mm steel plates made up to fit the slides in my oven - works a treat! Stays warm all day too - which is a pain when wanting the oven to cool down to bake some cakes, etc. right after bread...
See them here:
-Gordon
the steel would have been great when I worked for a steel fab place I could have cut a piece of scrap to any size , up to 1 " think
I can use the top of my cast iron griddle dutch oven combo that can with my camp stove from Costco , with it was deeper ity is only 4 " deep and the lid is 2 " maybe that is enough to bake bread in I don't know how high the loaf will get ?
I put the dough in the skillet part and cover it with the deep pot piece. I heat both pieces in the oven before placing the dough in.
If you have a local stone cutter who is knowledgable, tell him/her what you plan to do with your scrap piece of granite. He will give you the best information on which of his granites would hold up to the repeated heating and cooling. Since granite is a composite stone, there could be uneven heating within the slab which would cause it to crack.
the cost was just as good
nodda, zilch ( free)
it is 16" x 231/2 " x 1 1/4 " and must weigh around 40 lb there is about 1 " clearance all around the stone in the oven (electric )
this will work right if not I can use it for kneading bread on
For whatever reason, your photo does not show on my computer….but I bet you have a beautiful piece of granite. Of course, I have not "met" many granites that I did not like. : ) I am not surprised that you were given the stone. I have seen the scrap piles of granite counter top makers, full of gorgeous pieces of granite that are too small to be useful for counter tops. Always seemed like a terrible waste. I hope this granite works well for you, You may start a trend that would reduce those piles of wasted granite! As you said, it will be a great surface for kneading dough or rolling out pie crusts. Happy baking!
I added it to the top of the thread for some reason id would not add it to a reply
It will be interesting to see how long it takes your stone to heat up to baking temperature and then to see how long it holds heat. A laser thermometer would be a good tool for you. You just point the laser at the stone and you'll get a reading in seconds.
the stone I got had a mesh on the back that I needed to remove I it would no peel of so I put it on the camp stove , at 200f I was able to scape it off , I raised the temp to 500f it took 1/2 hour to get that hot , maybe it is a little to thick and will take a long time to get hot in the oven , hopefully not more than 1 hour , don't want to waste power
I raised it that hot to burn off any glue that might not have been scraped off
now I need to see how long it takes to cool down
was down to 400f in a 1/2 hour , 200f in an our and 125 in 11/2 hour
I was mucking around and found your post... I had a similar idea to use some left over granite tiles that I had from a renovation for some pizza i was going to cook. I emailed my wife's uncle as he's in the tile business.. here's his reply.. suffice to say I didn't use them..
Be careful with using the granite tiles in your possession to place the pizza
on when cooking. Granite is an igneous granular speckled stone containing
several different components of which quartz is one. Often you will notice
granite is used for exterior cladding on vertical surfaces which is highly
polished. Often, designers and architects will also specify the same colour
of granite on exterior flooring. When this application is specified, the
architect will specify a "flamed" non-slip surface of a coefficient of
friction of .05 which is the "standard" for non-slip surfaces. This process
is produced by literally flaming the surface of the granite to an extremely
high degree. This high level 750 to 1100 degrees F = 389C and 593 C will
allow the Quartz in the granite to explode from the surface and will create
a very non-slip surface. The "minor explosion" will NOT be dangerous if the
appliance door is closed. However, before eating the pizza, check to see if
the surface of the granite is intact before eating. Granite chips can be
very chewy! I'm sure using the granite you have should work well. Before
using, I suggest washing the granite with vinegar. Enjoy.
Why not use it? Your wifes uncle suggests it would be fine though.. And very few ovens can reach 300C let alone the 390 to 600C needed for flaming granite. (which is usually dove by an oxyacetylene torch)
I'd not clean granite with vinegar though - it'll etch and dull the surface.
I'm sticking to my steel plates though :-)
-Gordon