Baking stones…

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi,

I was in a bread baking class yesterday and the instructor said only to have a baking stone in the oven when making bread. This is the first time I have ever heard this. He said it would dry out things like cakes.

I've had a stone in my oven for as long as I've had an oven. I've baked many cakes including some delicate ones like angel food and RLB's white cake and with pretty consistent success (yes I've had some crashing flops and I only wish I could blame them on the stone). When I shared a house with a pastry chef she used to make wedding cakes in our oven with the stone in it.

I did not want to argue with the teacher in the class but I wondered what you all do here.

Thanks

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[BakerAunt]

I only use my stone (Emile Henry rectangular glazed one) when I make pizza. I actually use it on the middle rack, which I know is not what is suggested, but it works for me. I do not leave it in the oven. I thought that the oven might use more heat as it would be heating up the stone as well as the oven.

I also wouldn't trust my husband--who roasts the chickens and turkeys--not to muck up my stone.

[Mike Nolan]

I use 6" unglazed quarry tiles (as first suggested by Alton Brown.) I got a box of 20 or 24 for around $10 at Home Depot, but that was some years ago and I haven't seen unglazed quarry tiles at the local Home Depot in a while, though a tile dealer should still be able to get them. Glazed tiles can contain chemicals that you don't want on your food, though as I understand it lead has not been used as a glaze on tiles made in the USA since the 60's if not earlier. (Concerns about lead are why some ceramic cooking items cannot be brought in through customs.)

I only use them when baking something that can benefit from the heat sink, like bread or pizza, never a cake. I tried it with a pot roast once, it actually slowed down the cooking time because the air couldn't circulate under the roasting pan.

I keep looking at the baking steel, but at 15 pounds (for the regular one) and about $90, it's not something I'd use often enough to justify the cost.

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by Mike Nolan.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks. Maybe I'll try some baking with it out of the oven. And, like you Mike, I am very curious about the baking steels but I am not sure why it is better and as you point out it is expensive and heavy.

In my last oven the door had no window and no insulation so the stone actually helped keep the temperature consistent. When our youngest started moving about we decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and splurge for a new oven that was significantly less dangerous to kids (although our first two survived with no burns and without setting anything on fire from the pilot lights).

But even before that oven I never took it out. Mine is some unglazed ceramic rectangle. And I used to have it on the bottom but I recently moved it to the middle shelf (our old oven only had two shelves).
And, again, it helps regulate the oven temp. The people who installed the oven never tested the temperature and so there can be big variances in different parts of the oven. The stone helps mitigate that some. Some day I'll have someone service the oven and adjust.

That is the one thing I miss about our old oven - it was dead simple and I could do most repairs and maintenance myself and I am not a handy person. I also made some insulators for the door but it was ugly so it was banished from the kitchen.

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[RiversideLen]

I use the baking stone only for pizza. A stone is supposed to pull moisture out of the dough which makes for a crisper crust. Plus, I have never been satisfied with the pale crust bottoms I get when I use a pan. I only put it in the oven when I am going to use it. For a stone to work it has to be properly preheated. So if you would to put a cake pan on the stone and it hasn't been properly preheated I can understand how that would lead to a longer bake time and thus a drier cake. Also, the stone has a lot of mass which means it is robbing heat from the oven until it is thoroughly preheated. That contributes to longer preheating time and uses more energy.

[cwcdesign]

I have a baking steel (it was a gift - a very nice one I might add) and have only used it once. You put it in the top third of the oven for pizza. While it was heavy, it wasn't too hard for me to use. And we liked the crust.

If you go to baking steel.com they have a blog and recipes so you can see what people are doing - they have a Challah recipe for the pan de mine pan I plan on trying at some point.

[Mike Nolan]

Challah in a pain de mie pan sounds like a contrast in terms, Challah is an open, often braided, loaf that rises a lot both during final proof and in the oven, the finished loaf is somewhere around 3X the size it is right after shaping. I'd be curious to know how that one turns out.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I've baked challah in a pan. I braided it then put the braided challah in a loaf pan. It give it a regular shape but it's still braided and it makes it easier to use for sandwiches.

My mom did this too.

[Mike Nolan]

A pain de mie pan (also know as a Pullman loaf pan) usually has a lid on it, wouldn't that mess up the braiding?

I find the two-layer Challah make good sized sandwiches, but I was never one that had to have rectangular bread.

The two-layer celebration Challah I made for my wife's department chair a few weeks back (the one that I posted the gorgeous picture of) got rave reviews, Roch said he hadn't eaten that much bread in a week. They did freeze what was left over for the next time their kids are over for breakfast, for French toast.

He's got another dinner coming up in two weeks (this time for us, these dinners were auction item at the Agronomy club fundraiser earlier this year, we bought one of two dinner packages), and I assume I'll make another Challah for that one. It might be difficult to top that last one for appearance, though.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Yup. The pain de mie pans I've seen did have lids but you don't need to use them I don't think.

I just used regular loaf pans. I haven't done it in a while. All the loaves I've made recently were for bar or bat mitzvahs so those were braided loaves.

At my bread class this weekend there was a woman who made challahs in all shapes and sizes. Her phone was loaded with pictures. And a fellow I used to bake bread considered challah a real good bread for toast and French toast and didn't care what shape it was in. So while there are some traditional shapes it seems like anything goes these days.

Good luck with your next challah.

[cwcdesign]

Oops, I'm an idiot - the recipe is for brioche. I guess I was remembering that they are both rich doughs. I think a brioche in the pan de mie on the baking steel would be great. They do have a photo of a challah that was baked on a steel - it's beautiful

[Mike Nolan]

Brioche would make more sense in a pain de mie (with lid), sizing the quantity of dough to the pan might take some experimenting, as I recall brioche is another bread that rises a lot.

I don't have a pain de mie pan, but as I understand it you can be off by a moderate amount, but if you overfill it by too much the dough can rise enough to warp the lid or pop it off completely. I think a few years back KAF posted an example of that in their annual April Fools blog post.

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