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Many years ago we received our first baking stone as a gift. We just weren’t sure what to do with this, and thought it might be another gimmicky kitchen tool that would collect dust for a few years before getting ditched in a garage sale. Boy, were we wrong… this is one of our most frequently used kitchen items, and a must-have for any chef.
There are several different brands of cooking stones. The Pampered Chef stone is probably the most well known product, and was our very first baking stone. There are other manufacturers as well, now, offering similar products that appear to be identical. This is basically a large, flat piece of crockery, with a slightly rough surface. As you cook, the entire surface heats up, dispersing the heat evenly. This allows you to cook breads, bakery items and even meats on the stone with less burning or scorching.
Baking stones come in two basic shapes – rectangular and circular. We actually have one of each, and it truly depends on your needs as to which product is right for you. If you are using a roll-out pizza dough (such as Pillsbury Pizza Dough, in a refrigerated can) the rectangular stone will work perfectly. Other round doughs and certain cookie recipes, etc. are more suited to a round baking stone. You might want to start with one, and purchase the other shape if you feel you need it as you get used to cooking on a baking stone.
The baking stone can be used virtually anywhere that a cookie sheet can. You can actually cook meats and other meals on it and the bottom does not scorch. We use ours for two primary purposes: to make homemade pizza, and to bake cookies. It’s also wonderful for reheating leftovers like pizza or anything that needs a crispy bottom without burning.
Some tips on cooking successfully with a baking stone include:
• Heat your baking stone in your oven before use. Although this doesn’t work out well if you want to roll out pizza dough on the surface, for almost all other applications you will find that you get the best results if your baking stone is already heated when you place the food on it to cook.
• Don’t wash your baking stone with soap. The baking stone should come with a scraper – a small plastic spatula type device that is used (with water) to scrape the stone clean. Soap will destroy the accumulated “seasoning” of the stone, so just rinse it clean with hot water and scrape off any debris with the scraper.
• Your baking stone will discolor (naturally) over time, so don’t be alarmed by this. I was told that my blackened baking stone (which I was very concerned about) was a sign of a well-seasoned stone.
• Experiment! Try using the Pillsbury pizza dough and your favorite toppings for a great homemade pizza, or use the baking stone in place of a cookie sheet next time you’re baking. You’ll be amazed by the results!
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