Oven Stones

[phire21]

At our local lumber yard they sell fire brick. It is used for the inside of the firebox in furnaces and are the same material as oven stones. I have bought these for $1.50  each and they are 4X8X11/4 thick. They take a while to heat up but if you are doing allot of baking they are worth the thermal mass. Also they work even better if you are going to bake, like I do, on the outside grill. I scrap them off when done and cool and place them under the grill for dry storage. I have had them for years and if one breaks I only buy one. I understand now that they are $2.00 a piece, but hey do the math. 16X16=$16.00
I when I was a kid we lined the inside of the pizza oven where I worked making pizzas with these.

[Carl T. Knox]

Talk about thermal mass!  Do you have one of those, Carl?

Mare

I do not, although I may try some soapstones I have on hand.
Soapstone is said to transfer heat very quickly. Mine is 1 1/8" thick.
In the mean time I have a half inch thick square Pizza stone.
I bake in a "La Cloche", self steaming, consistant quality.
I have quite a few, picked them up at second hand shops.

Carl

[Mare]

Today's LA Times had several articles about pizza, including this one showing how to set up firebrick in a home oven.

Mare

[xaipete]

Thanks for this article. This is a ***really*** good find, Mare. And, it even talks about Peter. --Pamela

[deb415611]

Thanks for the FibraMent oven stone link, I'll measure my oven today and get the biggest one it will take.  That stone looks really good!   

I have had mine for about 3 years & love it. 

I bought the 15x20  and it's perfect for my oven .  They do custom sizes also. 

[laura]

I've had my Fibrament stone for about 5 years. I spent years buying cheaper, thinner stones, and breaking them. This one gets used all the time.  The corner is chipped (it was damaged in shipping) but that doesn't really affect performance.

I've tried using the lighter pizza stone as a "roof" in my oven to radiate heat down onto pizza, but have found I prefer to heat up the Fibrament with the broiler between pizzas.

When you cook at 500 degrees plus, anything spilled on the stone burns off pretty quickly.  As you can see (I hope the photo shows!)  it does get stained, but the end products are well worth it!

One warning - these are HEAVY! I've learned to position it before I heat up the oven - it's a safety terror to move when it's hot!

[xaipete]

I've read that heating it up with the broiler is the way to go too. --Pamela

[marklwitt]

I purchased the Fibrament stone.  One thing that is very different with the Fibrament oven stone is that it has a chemical odor (maybe epoxy) when you first get it that you have to 'dry' out of it.  That process takes six hours, an hour each at 100,200,300 and 400 degrees followed by two hours at 500.  You'll want the exhaust fan on for this process. Once it was curred (dried out) it had lost about 6 ounces of weight. After the tempering the odor was definately gone.

The Fibrament stone works well, but I think the information about having to do the drying step this is too sketchy on the Fibrament site.  They mention the gradual tempering process without any details or mention of the odor.  The instructions warn of the odor.  I like the Fibrament and use the it almost every day. Alll in all I think it was worth it.

[xaipete]

Interesting info, Mark. I'm not sure what type I have except it is working well, has no odor, and is a lot thicker and bigger than your ordinary run-of-the-mill stone.

--Pamela

[Mare]

Mark, I'm glad your Fibrament is working out so well.  Does bread (or pizza) bake differently on it than on your previous stones?  Do you know if it can withstand the self-cleaning cycle of an oven? 

I have to say, though, the fumes sound kind of scary. 

Mare

[hickeyja]

I got a Fibrament for Christmas.  I love it, but went crazy waiting for a day when it was warm enough (in SE Wisconsin!) to open the windows while it cured.  I raise parrots, so fumes are a major concern.  There is a scientific reason behind those 'canary in the coal mines' and 'chickens on the humvees' stories.  I don't use any teflon in the kitchen either.  I purposely bought a stove without the self-cleaning because they coat the oven walls with a teflon product in the self-cleaning ovens.  Teflon poisoning is a major health risk for birds.
 
The curing cycle on the my Fibrament did not produce a lot of odor....just a bit during the first hour of heating.  I love the stone.  It works beautifully and retains the heat very well.  The stone stays in the oven all the time.  I find it evens out the baking temps-which is sometimes a problem with non-convection gas ovens.  I also position the stone before starting the oven.  I move the stone and the shelf it is on as a unit, so I don't handle the stone much.  I would certainly recommend the Fibrament.
 
Jan

[Mare]

Jan, did you use a stone or quarry tiles before the Fibrament?   Is the Fibrament noticeably better? 

I can't say my new pizza stone (not Fibrament) is any better than my old quarry tiles, and sometimes I think it's not as good.  It's nice, though, to combine them for a pseudo HearthKit.

Mare

[hickeyja]

Jan, did you use a stone or quarry tiles before the Fibrament?   Is the Fibrament noticeably better? 

I had one of those department store pizza stones.  It was better than nothing, but not great.  The Fibrament is a huge improvement over that stone.  I have not used quarry tiles, so can't give you a valid comparison there.
 
Jan

[burgeoningbaker]

I received a stone from Pampered Chef as a gift.  I highly doubt it is that great as it says not to preheat in your oven, but I also wouldn't tell the person who bought it that I need something more sturdy.  See the link to make sure I'm not mistaken.

http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=16723&words=Stone

Anyone had experience with PC in the past?

[phire21]

Sorry I have no experience with this product.