On Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:32:29 -1000, dsi1
> wrote:

> On 12/16/2011 4:22 PM, Kalmia wrote:
> > I'm kinda lazy. I leave the pizza stone in the oven all the time,
> > unless the cooking vessel just won't fit on it. Is it best removed
> > for, say, a sheet of cookies?
> > Any caveats if I leave the stone in the oven as to time and temp? I
> > theeeenk I have read that the baking is faster on the stone than on
> > an open rack. What say you?
>
> Baked goods will always turn out better with heat mostly coming from the
> bottom. I don't use stones but being able to place the food directly on
> the surface of a thermal mass is a good idea. Cookies, and light cakes
> are an exception to this and it helps to insulate the bottom of the
> cookies from direct heat using parchment paper or by using an insulated
> cookie sheet.
>
> Dark colored pans are important for good results for baked goods. If you
> use stones or a baking sheet as a heat sink then silver pans would work OK.

I'm the opposite of you when it comes to cookies. I do *not* want
cookies with a browned bottom, so I don't place the cookie sheet on a
baking stone or tiles and I don't use dark cookie sheets. I have an
insulated (double walled with air in between) cookie sheet that I use
to keep their little bottoms as light as possible.
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.