On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 03:36:17 -0400, TFM® >
wrote:

> Put it in the oven and forget it's there. Scrape it with a steel spatula
> and wash it like you would a cutting board when you feel the need, then
> return it to it's home in the oven where it should stay no matter what
> you're baking.

My gut reaction would be to compare it to cast iron, because I use
soap on both (well, I use soap on my cutting boards too). With
cutting boards, it's a long dip in a hot soapy pool that ruins them.
A quick pass through doesn't bother them. In fact, it's the finish on
those wooden salad bowls you get from Hawaii that are more sensitive
to soap & water.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:25:40 -0400, TFM® >
wrote:
>
>
> http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/c...a-stone-052351
> Mine looks just like this one, stains and all. Soap has never hurt it and
> is recommended on this page.
>
> It's just a big unglazed tile. More importantly, it's thermal mass.
>
I agree with that article, except what part of the oven to store it in
and constantly placing things on it. I keep my quarry tiles on the
bottom rack and never put anything directly on them unless it's
something that I want to give a definite blast of bottom heat, like a
souffle.


--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:03:12 +0100, "Ophelia" >
wrote:

> I have never seasoned mine. As with others, mine lives in the oven. When
> I am not using it in particular, it gives mass to heat up the oven and keeps
> the heat.
>

My quarry tiles stay in the oven too, not because they serve any
purpose but because it's the easiest place to keep them.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:26:20 -0700 (PDT), Kalmia
> wrote:

> On Sep 12, 10:03*am, "Ophelia" > wrote:
> >
> > I have never seasoned mine. *As with others, *mine lives in the oven. *When
> > I am not using it in particular, it gives mass to heat up the oven and keeps
> > the heat.
> >
>
> Plus, where would there be a better place to store it? I don't want
> to put my back moving the thing in and out - I make pizza often.

Snap!

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:28:20 -0700 (PDT), Kalmia
> wrote:

> On Sep 12, 10:16*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> > On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:03:12 +0100, "Ophelia" >
> > wrote:
> >
> >
> > Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
> > and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
> > than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
> > retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. *Only the
> > imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza stones
> > do something, well they separate the dollars from those with more
> > dollars than brain cells.
>
>
> (lip quivering) Now you've got frugally oriented me wondering about
> this. I hope some others weigh in on this.

I don't worry about it or try to justify what I do.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:17:29 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

>Kalmia wrote:
>> On Sep 12, 10:16 am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>>> On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:03:12 +0100, "Ophelia"
>>> > wrote:
>>>> "Cheryl" > wrote in message
>>>> .com...
>>>>> On 9/11/2011 8:56 PM, wrote:
>>>
>>>>>> You don't season a baking stone -- the pores must be open to cook
>>>>>> things properly.
>>>
>>>>>> You dont clean a baking stone, other than to scrape off any
>>>>>> obvious burned-on
>>>>>> black stuff. The heat of the oven does short-term cleaning under
>>>>>> normal conditions.
>>>
>>>>>> The stone will be cleaned ultimately during the oven's
>>>>>> self-cleaning cycle --
>>>>>> after which you just wipe off any grey power with a damp sponge.
>>>
>>>>> First, I don't have a self cleaning oven. Second, the instructions
>>>>> said to season it. I'm a little surprised everyone is saying not
>>>>> to when the instructions say to do so.
>>>
>>>> I have never seasoned mine. As with others, mine lives in the oven.
>>>> When
>>>> I am not using it in particular, it gives mass to heat up the oven
>>>> and keeps the heat.
>>>
>>> Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
>>> and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
>>> than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
>>> retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. Only the
>>> imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza
>>> stones do something, well they separate the dollars from those with
>>> more dollars than brain cells.
>>
>>
>> (lip quivering) Now you've got frugally oriented me wondering about
>> this. I hope some others weigh in on this.
>
>Eh... I have no stone and am not going to get one. I still make pizza. No
>problems with it.
>
Get a perforated pizza pan, works wonderfully well and can be used for
many baking chores. I have the Chicago Metallic deep dish pizza pan
set, got it more than 30 years ago, but I can't seem to find it as a
set anymore, and their pan now has much smaller and fewer holes, so
this:
http://tinyurl.com/656wjx7
http://www.zappos.com/breville-bov80...crisper-black?
channel=126&mr:referralID=NA&mr:trackingCode=E677E 70F-0241-DF11-9DA0-002219319097

Works well with from scratch as well as frozen pizza... btw, frozen
pizza is raw, exudes as much water as any raw bread dough. Pizza
slices easily on a perforated pan and clean up is a breeze... I use
the flattened frozen pizza box as a trivet for the hot perforated pan
(the uneveness of the cardboard allows steam to escape). Modern
frozen pizza is better than todays artificial ingredient pizzaria pies
assembled with ingredients from a filthy dago kitchen, even better
than most homemade from scratch, and it's easy to add your own extra
toppings (I enjoy planning and adding toppings). I love having pizza
at my fingertips at all times right in my freezer, ready to eat in 30
minutes even when I decide at midnight, no driving to some chain joint
or waiting for delivery of cold pizza, and expensive. Frozen pies are
very reasonably priced, and they're clean, they are made totally by
automation, no human hands ever touches it... no pimply faced pizza
joint guido prepares it with dirty doodoo fingers and spits on it. ALL
human food handlers spit on the food, all fast food joints, all
delis... I see it... they continue to BS with each other while
handling food, I see the spittle spewing from their yaps... food
handlers today are disgusting. The ONLY well trained deli clerks
nowadays are at Walmart, they are properly attired and they don't talk
while they work with food... the Walmart delis are spotless, even
their slicing machines are now automated. The Walmart deli I
patronize has had the same clerk for three years, it's easy to tell he
knows proper food handling technique, he's very pleasant, he knows his
job, he loves his job... he's about 30 years old, he says he would
never go back to working at a private deli, Walmart treats him very
well. I talk to a lot of Walmart employees, they are all very
thankful to have their job. The economy is sick, very sick, stores
are practically empty, all stores... often I find I'm the only shopper
at the check out. Good employees are being laid off in droves,
businesses can't make their payroll. The last few times I was at
Lowe's only three registers were manned, there were very few shoppers
and not buying much. Be prepared to tighten your belts, this is only
the beginning.

In order to clean my cast iron pan I use vegetable oil and salt. I know it sounds crazy but my uncle is a cook and he told me to do it and it really works. Try that if the other methods people have offered don't work.

On Sep 10, 10:14*pm, Cheryl > wrote:
> I bought a Pampered Chef baking stone, first stone I've ever owned. *I
> only bought it to support a sales drive my niece was doing for a party
> otherwise I wouldn't have bought one so expensive. *But it sure is nice..
> Much bigger than I expected at 15". *Nice handles for lifting. *Is there
> any reading for how to use these things? *The only instructions I got
> with it said to season it with cooking spray or cook things like high
> fat refrigerator biscuits for the first few uses. Not to use soap or
> dishwashing liquid, and of course, not dishwasher safe. *Other than that
> it just says to scrape off any food but how do you clean it? *I don't
> even own any cast iron so I don't get the concept of how to clean
> something that you can't use liquid detergent on.
>
> I also noticed the instructions said to use it only if you can cover
> most of the surface with food. *Are there any good tips out there for
> what you can use a 15" baking stone for other than a large pizza? *Thanks.

Cheryl,

My baking stone is about the same size as yours. It's ugly with black
stains from cheese that fell off pizzas and burnt on. It'd smooth and
works just fine. I clean the surface with a dough scraper until it
feels even when I pass my palm over it. You can't feel the stains, and
what they look like doesn't matter. The stone is porous and will
absorb whatever it's washed with. If that were soap, I can only guess
how to fix that. Water is easy, if any gets on by accident.I suppose
letting the stone sit around long enough to completely dry out would
be good enough, but when it happened to me, I dried it in the oven set
at the lowest temperature. The important thing is not to heat it to
baking temperature while there's still enough water inside for
expanding steam to crack it of affect the food. Like a baby, you
shouldn't abuse it, but it's tougher than one might think. Seasoning a
new ceramic baking "stone" consists of wiping it clean od dust,
bringing it to about 350 -400 F long for a few minutes to volitalize
any absorbed crap you wouldn't want flavoring what you'll bake, and
letting it cool.

You mentioned cast iron pans as a species that shouldn't touch water.
They are actually pretty tough. You can look at my letter on how to
maintain and restore them (http://users.erols.com/jyavins/season.htm),
but remember, Ronald Reagan's doctrine of benign neglect works pretty
well. I use water, dish detergent, stainless pads, and steel wool when
needed, and the pans are smooth, rust-free, and as non-stick as
Teflon. The coating that seasoning provides is mostly carbonized oil,
applied and maintained in such a way that it is hard and smooth. Think
"varnish".

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:28:20 -0700 (PDT), Kalmia wrote:

> On Sep 12, 10:16*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>>
>> Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
>> and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
>> than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
>> retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. *Only the
>> imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza stones
>> do something, well they separate the dollars from those with more
>> dollars than brain cells.
>
> (lip quivering) Now you've got frugally oriented me wondering about
> this. I hope some others weigh in on this.

you can safely assume that 95% of anything sheldon writes is wrong.

your pal,
blake

On Sep 12, 10:16*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:03:12 +0100, "Ophelia" >
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >"Cheryl" > wrote in message
> s.com...
> >> On 9/11/2011 8:56 PM, wrote:
>
> >>> You don't season a baking stone -- the pores must be open to cook things
> >>> properly.
>
> >>> You dont clean a baking stone, other than *to scrape off any obvious
> >>> burned-on
> >>> black stuff. The heat of the oven does short-term cleaning under normal
> >>> conditions.
>
> >>> The stone will be cleaned ultimately during the oven's self-cleaning
> >>> cycle --
> >>> after which you just wipe off any grey power with a damp sponge.
>
> >> First, I don't have a self cleaning oven. *Second, the instructions said
> >> to season it. *I'm a little surprised everyone is saying not to when the
> >> instructions say to do so.
>
> >I have never seasoned mine. *As with others, *mine lives in the oven.. *When
> >I am not using it in particular, it gives mass to heat up the oven and keeps
> >the heat.
>
> Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
> and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
> than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
> retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. *Only the
> imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza stones
> do something, well they separate the dollars from those with more
> dollars than brain cells.

Half right -- sort of. The stone saves no energy because, as you
pointed out, it has to be heated. It doesn't waste much, because it
holds the temperature up when the flame (or element) turns off, so
it's pretty much a wash. It does store energy because of the
thermostat's hysteresis.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.

On Sep 12, 10:26*am, Kalmia > wrote:
> On Sep 12, 10:03*am, "Ophelia" > wrote:
>
>
>
> > I have never seasoned mine. *As with others, *mine lives in the oven. *When
> > I am not using it in particular, it gives mass to heat up the oven and keeps
> > the heat.
>
> Plus, where would there be a better place to store it? *I don't want
> to put my back moving the thing in and out - I make pizza often.

I leave mine in the oven unless there's a reason to remove it, like
needing all the racks or using a large pot and not wanting to chance
cracking the stone. Then I leave it out until I need it in for
something (pizza, rolls, whatever. I store it standing up between the
clothes dryer and the wall, along with my big bread board.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:53:59 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Avins >
wrote:

>On Sep 12, 10:16*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>> On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:03:12 +0100, "Ophelia" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> >"Cheryl" > wrote in message
>> s.com...
>> >> On 9/11/2011 8:56 PM, wrote:
>>
>> >>> You don't season a baking stone -- the pores must be open to cook things
>> >>> properly.
>>
>> >>> You dont clean a baking stone, other than *to scrape off any obvious
>> >>> burned-on
>> >>> black stuff. The heat of the oven does short-term cleaning under normal
>> >>> conditions.
>>
>> >>> The stone will be cleaned ultimately during the oven's self-cleaning
>> >>> cycle --
>> >>> after which you just wipe off any grey power with a damp sponge.
>>
>> >> First, I don't have a self cleaning oven. *Second, the instructions said
>> >> to season it. *I'm a little surprised everyone is saying not to when the
>> >> instructions say to do so.
>>
>> >I have never seasoned mine. *As with others, *mine lives in the oven. *When
>> >I am not using it in particular, it gives mass to heat up the oven and keeps
>> >the heat.
>>
>> Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
>> and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
>> than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
>> retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. *Only the
>> imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza stones
>> do something, well they separate the dollars from those with more
>> dollars than brain cells.
>
>Half right -- sort of. The stone saves no energy because, as you
>pointed out, it has to be heated. It doesn't waste much, because it
>holds the temperature up when the flame (or element) turns off, so
>it's pretty much a wash. It does store energy because of the
>thermostat's hysteresis.

I'm not interested in hearing about your hysterectomy, people are
eating here.

The stone wastes all the energy used to heat it and it wastes all the
energy retained after the cooking is completed as it dissapates for no
use other than to warm the space. But more importantly those stones
do absolutely nothing to improve pizza baking... so it's a lose/lose
all around including the cost of the stone.

On Sep 12, 4:36*pm, blake murphy > wrote:
> On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:28:20 -0700 (PDT), Kalmia wrote:
> > On Sep 12, 10:16 am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>
> >> Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
> >> and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
> >> than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
> >> retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. Only the
> >> imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza stones
> >> do something, well they separate the dollars from those with more
> >> dollars than brain cells.
>
> > (lip quivering) *Now you've got frugally oriented me wondering about
> > this. * *I hope some others weigh in on this.
>
> you can safely assume that 95% of anything sheldon writes is wrong.
>
> your pal,
> blake

Aww - I was just feigning fear. Actually, me elec. bl. is pretty low
compared to most households in my area.

On Sep 12, 11:14*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> The pinheads who are already invested will say anything to rationalize
> against how they've wasted their money.

You can't be that dumb. You must be a misanthrope purposely trying to
ruin people's day.

> And how many times do I need to explain how when a raw pizza is placed
> directly on a heated stone the temperature at the stone's surface
> immediately drops to less than that of boiling water by the steam
> produced, and stays that way because a conventional oven's source of
> heat is not inside the stone (as with a brick oven) so the stone

Where can I buy brick with an internal source of heat? Maybe you are
that dumb.

> temperature never recovers until after the pizza is removed.

What matters is the temperature of the dough. That is higher with a
stone for the first several minutes, then it drops to about what it
would be without the stone.*

> Using a
> pizza stone is exactly/precisely the same as filling your bath with
> hot water and getting in with a block of ice. *Even pizzarias with
> real brick ovens are using pizza screens nowadays to create an air
> space under the pizza, prevents condensation onto the oven surface so
> the crust cooks crisper and saves a business quite a bit of money by
> lowering energy bills.

I doubt that. Can you cite a source?

> *Pizza screens make placing and removing pizza
> from an oven much easier/faster too... even better for a home oven
> with wire racks is a perforated pizza pan, it's even more rigid, works
> very well for grilled pizza also... serve from the perforated pan too,
> a solid pizza pan immediately makes crust soggy by collecting
> condensation. There is no way to convert the standard oven into a
> brick oven, pizza stones are all about fantasy. *And a pizza stone can
> damage your oven, by hindering convection componants can be
> damaged.... most oven manufacturer's owner's manuals warn against the
> use of pizza stones, their use will void the warranty.

That depends on the type of oven and the clearance around the sides of
the stone. If you need more to worry about, you can block convection
just as well with a cookie sheet.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can
get.

On Sep 12, 3:09*pm, monicakendle <monicakendle.
> wrote:
> 'Cheryl[_3_ Wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > ;1659471']I bought a Pampered Chef baking stone, first stone I've ever
> > owned. *I
> > only bought it to support a sales drive my niece was doing for a party
> > otherwise I wouldn't have bought one so expensive. *But it sure is nice.
>
> > Much bigger than I expected at 15". *Nice handles for lifting. *Is there
>
> > any reading for how to use these things? *The only instructions I got
> > with it said to season it with cooking spray or cook things like high
> > fat refrigerator biscuits for the first few uses. Not to use soap or
> > dishwashing liquid, and of course, not dishwasher safe. *Other than that
>
> > it just says to scrape off any food but how do you clean it? *I don't
> > even own any cast iron so I don't get the concept of how to clean
> > something that you can't use liquid detergent on.
>
> > I also noticed the instructions said to use it only if you can cover
> > most of the surface with food. *Are there any good tips out there for
> > what you can use a 15" baking stone for other than a large pizza?
> > Thanks.
>
> In order to clean my cast iron pan I use vegetable oil and salt. I know
> it sounds crazy but my uncle is a cook and he told me to do it and it
> really works. Try that if the other methods people have offered don't
> work.

If course it works. The salt acts as an edible abrasive powder to
remove stuck bits, and most vegetable oils harden after being heated.
I get the strongest skin with flaxseed oil, but most vegetable oils
are good.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:16:01 -0400, Brooklyn1 wrote:


> Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
> and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
> than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
> retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. Only the
> imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza stones
> do something, well they separate the dollars from those with more
> dollars than brain cells.


Wow, never heard of thermal mass, eh?

Put 100 bricks in your oven. Heat (no, not preheat, you ****ing dipwad!)
to 400.

The 'Preheat' setting cranks the oven to max until the desired temp is
reached. This is why Pyrex recommends putting their wares in a
"pre-heated" oven.

Now that you have 100 bricks in your oven and the thermostat set at 350,
just wait.

Yes, you will have wasted a lot of energy in getting those bricks up to
temp, but you can cook pizza all night long! Even into the morning.

Now picture the standard electric oven with a simple baking stone in it.
The electric oven works with a thermostat that lets the temperature fall to
40 degrees below the set temp and rise to 40 degrees above the set temp
before switching on/off.

The stone is nothing more than thermal mass. Please google this if you're
not understanding the concept yet.

For a simplified explanation, it's the reason bottled beer stays cold
longer than canned beer. Thermal mass.

TFM® (Thermal ****ing Mass)

On Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:14:15 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Avins >
wrote:

>On Sep 12, 11:14*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>> The pinheads who are already invested will say anything to rationalize
>> against how they've wasted their money.
>
>You can't be that dumb. You must be a misanthrope purposely trying to
>ruin people's day.
>
>> And how many times do I need to explain how when a raw pizza is placed
>> directly on a heated stone the temperature at the stone's surface
>> immediately drops to less than that of boiling water by the steam
>> produced, and stays that way because a conventional oven's source of
>> heat is not inside the stone (as with a brick oven) so the stone
>
>Where can I buy brick with an internal source of heat? Maybe you are
>that dumb.
>
>> temperature never recovers until after the pizza is removed.
>
>What matters is the temperature of the dough. That is higher with a
>stone for the first several minutes, then it drops to about what it
>would be without the stone.*
>
>> Using a
>> pizza stone is exactly/precisely the same as filling your bath with
>> hot water and getting in with a block of ice. *Even pizzarias with
>> real brick ovens are using pizza screens nowadays to create an air
>> space under the pizza, prevents condensation onto the oven surface so
>> the crust cooks crisper and saves a business quite a bit of money by
>> lowering energy bills.
>
>I doubt that. Can you cite a source?
>
>> *Pizza screens make placing and removing pizza
>> from an oven much easier/faster too... even better for a home oven
>> with wire racks is a perforated pizza pan, it's even more rigid, works
>> very well for grilled pizza also... serve from the perforated pan too,
>> a solid pizza pan immediately makes crust soggy by collecting
>> condensation. There is no way to convert the standard oven into a
>> brick oven, pizza stones are all about fantasy. *And a pizza stone can
>> damage your oven, by hindering convection componants can be
>> damaged.... most oven manufacturer's owner's manuals warn against the
>> use of pizza stones, their use will void the warranty.
>
>That depends on the type of oven and the clearance around the sides of
>the stone. If you need more to worry about, you can block convection
>just as well with a cookie sheet.
>
>Jerry

Electric pizza ovens have elements embeded in their stone floors,
pinhead... look it up yourself.

On 9/12/2011 3:28 PM, Jerry Avins wrote:
> Cheryl,
>
> My baking stone is about the same size as yours. It's ugly with black
> stains from cheese that fell off pizzas and burnt on. It'd smooth and
> works just fine. I clean the surface with a dough scraper until it
> feels even when I pass my palm over it. You can't feel the stains, and
> what they look like doesn't matter. The stone is porous and will
> absorb whatever it's washed with. If that were soap, I can only guess
> how to fix that. Water is easy, if any gets on by accident.I suppose
> letting the stone sit around long enough to completely dry out would
> be good enough, but when it happened to me, I dried it in the oven set
> at the lowest temperature. The important thing is not to heat it to
> baking temperature while there's still enough water inside for
> expanding steam to crack it of affect the food. Like a baby, you
> shouldn't abuse it, but it's tougher than one might think. Seasoning a
> new ceramic baking "stone" consists of wiping it clean od dust,
> bringing it to about 350 -400 F long for a few minutes to volitalize
> any absorbed crap you wouldn't want flavoring what you'll bake, and
> letting it cool.
>
> You mentioned cast iron pans as a species that shouldn't touch water.
> They are actually pretty tough. You can look at my letter on how to
> maintain and restore them (http://users.erols.com/jyavins/season.htm),
> but remember, Ronald Reagan's doctrine of benign neglect works pretty
> well. I use water, dish detergent, stainless pads, and steel wool when
> needed, and the pans are smooth, rust-free, and as non-stick as
> Teflon. The coating that seasoning provides is mostly carbonized oil,
> applied and maintained in such a way that it is hard and smooth. Think
> "varnish".

Thanks Jerry. Between your reply, and some others, I think I know how
to deal with this now. It's also interesting that different stones may
need different care. I wouldn't have known that, so I'm glad PC had the
paper insert in electronic form that came with my stone so I could share
it.

I don't own any cast iron so if and when I do, I'll read your letter
further, and thanks for posting it.

On 9/12/2011 9:29 AM, Serene Vannoy wrote:
> I keep parsing the subject line as "Seasoning a baking stone and asking
> it questions".
>
> Excuse me, Mr. Stone, but I hear you get really heated up in the
> afternoon...

LOL! Adding a subject line isn't one of my strengths. Just like "using
stuff up". ')

Thanks for the giggle.

On 9/12/2011 10:16 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> Actually what that stone does is waste energy by having to heat it,
> and it stores no energy used for cooking because it never gets hotter
> than the thermostat setting and any retained heat is wasted by being
> retained after what's cooked is removed from the oven. Only the
> imbeciles who failed grade school science think so-called pizza stones
> do something, well they separate the dollars from those with more
> dollars than brain cells.

It may not get hotter than the oven temp, but it should help to hold the
oven temp better than without it. Plus I can see it as additional heat
source in the winter. I might even put it under my pillow.

On 9/12/2011 5:14 PM, Jerry Avins wrote:

>
>> Using a
>> pizza stone is exactly/precisely the same as filling your bath with
>> hot water and getting in with a block of ice. Even pizzarias with
>> real brick ovens are using pizza screens nowadays to create an air
>> space under the pizza, prevents condensation onto the oven surface so
>> the crust cooks crisper and saves a business quite a bit of money by
>> lowering energy bills.
>
> I doubt that. Can you cite a source?

He doesn't get out much but since he thinks he is omniscient it must be
true simply because he wrote it.

Of course others can determine that pizzerias with real brick ovens
don't do as he described by simple observation.


>
>> Pizza screens make placing and removing pizza
>> from an oven much easier/faster too... even better for a home oven
>> with wire racks is a perforated pizza pan, it's even more rigid, works
>> very well for grilled pizza also... serve from the perforated pan too,
>> a solid pizza pan immediately makes crust soggy by collecting
>> condensation. There is no way to convert the standard oven into a
>> brick oven, pizza stones are all about fantasy. And a pizza stone can
>> damage your oven, by hindering convection componants can be
>> damaged.... most oven manufacturer's owner's manuals warn against the
>> use of pizza stones, their use will void the warranty.
>
> That depends on the type of oven and the clearance around the sides of
> the stone. If you need more to worry about, you can block convection
> just as well with a cookie sheet.
>
> Jerry
> --
> Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can
> get.

George > wrote:
>On 9/12/2011 5:14 PM, Jerry Avins wrote:
>>
>>> Using a
>>> pizza stone is exactly/precisely the same as filling your bath with
>>> hot water and getting in with a block of ice. Even pizzarias with
>>> real brick ovens are using pizza screens nowadays to create an air
>>> space under the pizza, prevents condensation onto the oven surface so
>>> the crust cooks crisper and saves a business quite a bit of money by
>>> lowering energy bills.
>>
>> I doubt that. Can you cite a source?

I've already several times... newbies such as yourself missed out.
But it's real easy to peruse the commercial pizza supply web sites.

>Of course others can determine that pizzerias with real brick ovens
>don't do as he described by simple observation.

By simple observation there are very few pizzerias or bakeries that
have real brick ovens (where there's a wood or coal fire directly
under the oven's brick floor), most municipalities have outlawed them
due to the fire risk, only a very few are grandfathered... but when
the business changes owners those ovens gotta go. Most all pizzarias
and bakeries have for a long time now used stacked electric ovens that
have the elements inserted into channels inside the slabs of fire
brick that make the oven floor. And several larger pizza parlors and
bakeries use conveyer convection ovens, those use no stone whatsoever,
the products are transported on wire mesh belts, essentially the same
as using pizza screens/perforated pans. All pizza supply companys
sell pizza screens in every imaginable size.

On Sep 13, 11:00*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> George > wrote:
> >On 9/12/2011 5:14 PM, Jerry Avins wrote:
>
> >>> Using a
> >>> pizza stone is exactly/precisely the same as filling your bath with
> >>> hot water and getting in with a block of ice. *Even pizzarias with
> >>> real brick ovens are using pizza screens nowadays to create an air
> >>> space under the pizza, prevents condensation onto the oven surface so
> >>> the crust cooks crisper and saves a business quite a bit of money by
> >>> lowering energy bills.
>
> >> I doubt that. Can you cite a source?
>
> I've already several times... newbies such as yourself missed out.
> But it's real easy to peruse the commercial pizza supply web sites.

One of these days you really should break down and educate yourself on
the concepts of specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity.

--
Ernest