"Kenneth" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 17:00:57 GMT, "graham" > wrote:
>
> >You could buy some 6"x6" UNGLAZED tiles. They are cheap and if one
breaks,
> >it is easily replaced.
> >Graham
> >
>
> Howdy,
>
> Everything you have written is certainly correct, but...
>
> The tiles are not sufficiently massive to offer much benefit. The
> whole idea of a stone is that it is a heat sink. It takes quite a
> while to heat the stone to the appropriate temperature. Then, when the
> dough is slid onto the stone, all that stored energy is liberated to
> the dough. The tiles heat in a flash, and, as a result, have retained
> little heat to liberate later.
> All the best,
> Kenneth

I agree. However, IIRC, Alan (in alt.bread.recipes) has been using them
successfully and that's why I suggested them. I would have thought that
tiles would be OK for the odd pizza but not for multiple batches of bread.
I use one of those expensive "pizza" stones for my bread baking - mainly
because I couldn't be bothered, at the time, to chase around looking for an
alternative. I thought of asking a potter friend to make me one - custom
fitted to my oven - but there was the possibility that it would warp in the
firing apparently.
Graham