New Bread Stone, any help out there?

[jenjscott]

I got a new bread stone. I have never used one before. I am mixing up a white bread recipe I would like to bake on the stone. Does anyone have any tips or tricks on using this stone? I would assume you do your final rise on the stone. Do you have to change time or temperature of the recipe?

 

[Kim_NC]

I have two. I rub a thin coating of cornmeal or flour on the stone, then do the final rise on the stone. Bake on the stone using the same times/temps as the original recipe. I use a spatula to lift the bread and check the bottom when the loaves appear done. (Same with pizza crust, etc.)

One of my stones is very thick. It takes longer to heat through and brown the bottom. I tend to put it on an oven rack one "rung" lower than the middle of the oven to help browning on the bottom. I like to use the thinner stone on a middle rack.

Also, remove the bread from the stone to a cooling rack after baking. It will continue to bake if left on the hot stone.

To clean - allow stone to cool completely. Then remove any debris with plastic 'scrapper'. (Most stones come with a scrapper.). Use water to remove anything more stubborn. Never use soap. Stones season over time and use...similar to seasoning cast iron.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[peeplessinNC]

In my opinion, the real value of baking on a stone surface is to have the stone preheated in the oven for about half an hour, then transfer your bread to the hot stone to bake. The bread gets an impressive oven spring or extra rise from the heat of the stone and the porous stone promotes a really great crust by removing moisture from the bread while it is baking.

There is more than one way to get the dough onto the hot stone - safely! When I make hearth breads, I often shape the dough into a round or oval and put it on a sheet of parchment paper to rise covered by a clean kitchen towel. Then by using a pizza peel or a cookie sheet without sides, I slide the dough on the paper onto the stone. When baking a pizza, I sprinkle a lot of cornmeal on the pizza peel, lay the pizza crust on top of the cornmeal on the peel, put on my toppings, quickly, then transfer the pizza onto the hot stone with a smooth jerk movement of the peel. Another way is to rise the dough in a cloth lined basket and when ready to bake, just carefully tip the dough out of the basket onto the hot stone.

If baking in pans, preheating the stone for a long time (30-45 minutes) will still provide that burst of heat for a good oven spring if you set your metal pans on top of the hot stone. I would not set glass baking pans on the hot stone under any circumstances.

Hope this helps!

 

[saddina]

if it's never been used, you'll want to season it first, otherwise the bread bottom will stick. My personal favorite is peanutbutter cookies, the stone absorbs the oils while baking, and one pass'll condition the stone, so it stays slick.

 

[jenjscott]

Thanks for the tips. My bread turned out wonderful. The texture of the crumb was the best I have ever made. The instructions that came with my stone were very skimpy, but did say not to put baking pans on top of the stone. Peepless you talk about using a bread pan, and I saw that elsewhere also. So I could do that if I wanted a traditional loaf of bread? And you can transfer a risen loaf without it falling? Wow.

 

[ranchhand]

Nothing beats homemade bread!

I use a stone, too. I preheat it in the oven while the bread dough does it's final proofing on a sheet of parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal, which is on a rimless sheet pan.
When it's ready I slide the bread into the oven onto the stone, parchment paper and all.

I used to work in a European-style bakery and all the breads were baked that way. I just do it on a much smaller scale!

Happy baking and eating!

 

[peeplessinNC]

My favorite bread pans are the Chicago Metallic Commercial 1-pound pans.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=13BH1JP4W396ZAW7YBK0

They are heavy and bake very evenly with no sticking issues. But they are not non-stick! I wouldn't use non-stick bread pans for my usual bread baking. I've had my pans for over 15 years and they have no rust or dents, although they do discolor a little over time. But that does not bother me. I never put these in the dishwasher! Bar none, the best bread pans on the planet, IMO, for the home baker.

If you are careful and the loaf hasn't overproofed, you can transfer a loaf of bread to the stone using the techniques that I described and ranchhand also mentioned. The technique may require a little practice to perfect, and yes, I did have some "accordian" pizzas at first, but I got better with practice, practice, practice. Not sure why the directions say to not put pans on the stove. You don't want to set very cold or wet pans on the stone because the temp change could cause them to break.

 

[Kim_NC]

Quote:
I'll have to try your method on transfering to the preheated stone. I may like the crusts that way...nothing better than thick crispy or chewy crust.

 

[BettyR]

I place a piece of parchment paper on my peel and place the bread on the parchment and allow it to rise there. Then it is easy to slide the parchment paper onto the baking stone. When you go to take the bread out of the oven the parchment paper is very brittle so I just pick the bread up with my pot holders and remove the parchment to the trash.

Editing to add...

Check this out....
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

I have been using this recipe for several years now...this is the bread we eat at supper. I keep a container of it in my frig at all times. You just mix it up and stick it in the frig and then right before you start supper you cut a hunk of dough off and shape it. I put mine on a piece of parchment paper on a peel and preheat my baking stone for 40 minutes. Then you just stick it in the oven. You don't have to worry about if it has risen at all you just stick it in the oven and you get a totally awesome loaf of bread. The kind of bread that has the hard crisp outer crust and soft chewy middle.

I took a picture of one of my loaves...I'll hunt it down and post it.

Found them....