Will this break my baking stone?
I was planning on making pizza for dinner tonight, and something occurred to me. I already put my stone on the lowest shelf of my electric oven in order to get it as close as possible to the heating coil. But I could put the stone directly on the coil, instead of on a rack just above it. The only potential problem I can foresee is that this might heat the stone unevenly, causing it to break. Since I use it for baking bread and pizza multiple times per week, I would prefer to avoid this. So I'm looking for advice - do the potential benefits outweigh the risks, or is this fairly certain to break the stone? If it makes any difference, this is a pampered chef model given to me several years ago, and is about 1/3" thick.
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17 Comments:
I would not do it. It is to be used as a heated stone not a heating stone.
JerzeeTomato at 11:02AM on 08/05/09
Keep it on the rack. I'd worry as much about breaking the oven as the stone if you put the stone directly on the coil. Plus ditto on what JerzeeTomato said.
AliceBlue at 11:21AM on 08/05/09
Don't do it. Once I set a stone on top of the stove on an electric burner (shut off) that I didn't realize was still hot from cooking. The stone broke right in half. It was my favorite, well-seasoned Pampered Chef stone. ;(
deetroitMI at 12:28PM on 08/05/09
Don't do it. I had a gas oven at my last place and the flames are covered by a shield, I placed the stone on that instead of the rack. It worked twice, the third time I fired up the oven I heard a small boom and my stone was cracked into 3 pieces.
Yeah, keep it on the rack.
wookie at 12:35PM on 08/05/09
Don't do it. It might not break the stone, but could damage the heating element-- a bigger problem.
CJ McD at 1:35PM on 08/05/09
okay, thanks for the input all. The coil does look like it could support the stone, but I suppose I'm better safe than sorry.
Nicholas H at 1:52PM on 08/05/09
Leave on rack...preheat longer
derosa at 2:09PM on 08/05/09
I usually preheat for at least 1 hour at 550 F, so I'm not sure how much a longer preheat time would help.
Nicholas H at 2:13PM on 08/05/09
Ditto the advice here. The issue is uneven and intense heating, not whether the coil could support the weight.
lemonfair at 4:08PM on 08/05/09
I think you'd break the coil AND the stone.
therealchiffonade at 5:37PM on 08/05/09
If your stone has lasted several years, consider yourself very lucky. And don't risk breakage by putting it on the coil. A trick you can try to get your oven and stone a little hotter, is to cycle the broiler on for a few minutes at a time during the preheating process.
dmcavanagh at 6:46PM on 08/05/09
Okay, taking the advice here I did not put my stone directly on top of the coil. What I did instead was use a couple of loaf pans sitting on the bottom of the oven to elevate the rack slightly, then put the stone on top of that. The resulting configuration had the baking stone just 1 1/2 or 2 inches from the coil. After an hour preheat at 550 F, the pizza was done in only 7 minutes instead of my usual 10, and I finally achieved the texture and slight char that I was looking for in the crust. This was, by far, the best pizza I've made yet. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
Nicholas H at 9:16PM on 08/05/09
What a great question! Sounds like something I would do. Glad I read this.
yayfood at 10:11PM on 08/05/09
I recommended this site already in another thread but it sounds like you are ready to take your pizza cooking to the next level.
Proceed reading past this sentence at your own risk.
Cut off the lock on your oven door. You know, the one that locks your oven door during the cleaning cycle. Then run a short sheet metal screw into the door light switch. So that it thinks the door is always closed. Cover the door glass with at least two layers of aluminum foil.
Now you can run your oven on the self cleaning cycle and still be able to open the door. It should reach temps of 800-900F depending on your oven and your pre-heat time. Pizzas done in 2-3 minutes with perfect char.
I will warn you that I have broken 2 cheap stones. The last one broke when I cracked an egg on the pizza and some of the egg white ran onto the stone. CRACK.
Here is the holy grail of how to do pizza at home. Not my blog either.
Varasano’s Pizza Recipe
climbhighak at 1:47AM on 08/06/09
Yeah, I've heard about cutting off the lock before. Two problems. One, I don't have a self cleaning oven. Even if I could, I wouldn't, just because I'm renting, and as a student I could really afford to pay for a new oven when I move out in six months or so. Cool idea though.
Nicholas H at 7:49AM on 08/06/09
check Alton Brown's site on Food Network about this. I remember he took a quarry tile and put it on the bottom of his oven (although I'm fairly certain his oven is gas).
colordiva02 at 11:11AM on 08/06/09
That was supposed to read *couldn't* afford to pay for a new oven.
Nicholas H at 6:21PM on 08/06/09