"Feuer" wrote in message ...
If you preheat the skillet in the oven beneath the heavy baking
tiles and give the oven a while (maybe an hour) to fully heat
everything, you probably won't have much trouble with cold spots.

You make a good point. The skillet should be preheated along with the oven.
And you are also correct that a healthy time period is necessary to heat the
oven body as well as the oven air. However, it doesn't make any difference
in the circumstances of a small oven. That skillet will cool when boiling
water is placed in it and the rising evaporating water will cool the stone
immediately above. Even removal of the skillet at the end of the steam
period will not allow the stone to heat sufficiently to brown the bottom
crust. Remember that you are also cooling the crust from above when you
place the room temperature raw loaf on it. After experimentation, I settled
on the skillet on the top rack and the stone on the second-from-the-bottom
rack. You may not have these issues for a variety of reasons. My point was
that if the standard configuration doesn't get the results you want, try
something else and if you get an unexpected result you need you take a look
at all factors to determine what is going on.
Janet