Pizza Stone Thermal Characteristics

[james]

I have had a kiln shelf in my oven for a couple of years. I had broken so many of the thin pizza stones, that I wanted to give it a try. It's thick, but I wasn't thrilled with how it cooked. So, I ran a test with my Infrared thermometer and compared it with the new Forno Bravo pizza stone that we sell.

http://fornobravo.com/store/home.php?cat=257

What I found is that the kiln shelf does a poor job of absorbing heat, which is why it doesn't cook well. The Forno Bravo pizza stone is good.

You can see the results here:

http://fornobravo.com/pizza-stone/pi...rformance.html

For the test, I set a cold stone in a cold oven, then set the oven temperture to 550F. I did the two tests on separate days to let the oven fully cool. After 25 minutes the FB stone was 420, while the kiln shelf was 350F. After 35 minutes, the FB stone was 525F, but the kiln shelf was 440F. The kiln shelf didn't reach 535F until after more than an hour. That explains a lot.

Lesson #1 is to preheat your pizza stone for at least 45 minutes.

As an interesting aside, a wood-fired pizza oven gets to 750F in less than an hour.

Live and learn. I am going to keep experimenting with my new FB stone, and will keep track of its performance as I go. Still, so far, so good.

James

[cliff]

I've broken two thin (3/8") pizza stones in two months after running my electric oven at 575+ deg F. It seems it cracks when I make a pizza with tomatoes-perhaps it's the moisture seeping through the crust before it sets up?

Anyway, I just bought the FB stone and note through the link that it holds heat much better. I hope it fares better in life expectancy too! I'm looking forward to getting it.

cliff

[james]

Hey Cliff,

I'm like you. I have broken more of the thin stones than I can remember. I use the Forno Bravo stones, and so far, so good. They work great and I've had no problems. We're in this together, and I will let you know how my stones work.
James