"Ham Sulu" > wrote in message
...
> I've been reading that unglazed quarry tiles are a good cheap substitute
> for a pizza stone. I was going to try baking a pie using a technique
> which says to put the tiles/stone right on the bottom of the oven and bake
> the pie on top. However, I'm worried the tiles will scratch the interior
> of my oven. This is probably a stupid question, but can I put something
> less abrasive under them in the oven (and what would that be?) or does
> that basically defeat the point as they have to be directly on the surface
> of the oven? OR, will it work just fine if I put the tiles on the lowest
> rack?

Where your tiles/baking stone will serve you best depends upon how your oven
heats and where it's hot/cold spots are. I've seen many recommendations for
putting the baking stone on the floor of the oven and leaving it there.
I've never done this as I have an electric oven with a coil on the oven
floor. I've found, however, for my oven, that I must use the baking stone
on the second rack position from the bottom (5 rack positions) to avoid
burned bottom bread crusts and also to avoid interfering with the oven heat
circulation. Others are successful with a bottom rack position and still
others have to go a little higher. If you go higher, you may find that the
top of whatever you are baking may become too brown . You are going to have
to experiment with placement to see where it works best for you. Unglazed
quarry tiles are fine. It makes sense to me to place them in a pan for
convenience. Remember to pre-heat the tiles. That means to heat them for
at least a half hour -- maybe 45 minutes. The pre-heat setting on your oven
only heats the air in the oven. With the tiles you need to heat the stone
all the way through. Hope this helps
Janet