Bob (this one) wrote:

>
> I can't imagine doing a pie on a stone or tiles. Too hot against the
> bottom of the plate. Air moving against it will transfer only a limited
> amount of heat to the plate. Tiles and stones will transfer a great deal
> more heat in the same time and I'd be afraid of burning it. I've never
> heard of anything like that, but it's not the first thing I didn't know
> about.

Here are a couple of links. I did some searching around and I think the
recipe that was sent to me was a bit off about where to put the
stones/tiles as these links say to put them on the bottom rack. Should
have done some research first and even the experts and experimenters differ.

http://www.usaweekend.com/01_issues/...cooksmart.html

"Baking on the bottom oven rack just wasn't enough to brown the pie
bottom. I also tried baking it directly on the oven floor, but browning
was uneven and part of the pie was borderline burned in just 20 minutes.

Ever since testing bread and pizza for my book The Perfect Recipe, I've
lined my oven rack with unglazed quarry tiles. In The Pastry Bible,
baking expert Rose Levy Beranbaum suggests cooking pies on a pizza stone
to improve the bottom crust. Because I don't own a pizza stone, I tried
four 9-inch unglazed quarry tiles (purchased at Home Depot for about 55
cents apiece), preheated on the bottom rack for about 30 minutes. It
worked. The bottom crust browned beautifully."


--
Original citation from Rose Levy Beranbaum author of the The Pie &
Pastry Bible:
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/20...own_botto.html

"i bake the pie directly on the floor of the oven for the first 20
minutes of baking and then raise it to the bottom shelf. different ovens
bake differently so you may need to leave it on the floor of the oven
for a longer time. the best way to find out is to use a pyrex plate the
first time you do this so you can see through it and gauge when
sufficient browning has taken place. if your oven is electric and has
coils on the bottom, the best alternative is to use a baking stone on
the lowest shelf and preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes to ensure
that it is heated fully."