Baking Pizza Stones
Top Reasons Why Bakers Everywhere Use FibraMent baking stones:
The FibraMent line of baking stones were developed by Illinios entrepreneur Mark O’Toole to meet the needs of professional bakers. Prior to FibraMent, bakers options were limited to ceramic and clay products that baked unevenly and cracked easily. FibraMent has become an industry standard for the baking industry and now is also available to home bakers seeking to duplicate the joys of hearth baking in their own kitchens.
- FibraMent bakes great pizza, breads and bagels every time.
- FibraMent NEVER needs cleaning. Simply brush excess crumbs off the baking stone.
- Comes with a ten-year warranty.
- FibraMent customer support is only a mouse click or phone call away.
- FibraMent is safety tested and certified by NSF International, the widely recognized and respected independent certification organization for public health and safety.
- Easy to follow baking instructions are provided.
- FibraMent stones are designed for gas, electric and convection ovens, and also outdoor barbeque grills.
- Stones available to fit most oven and outdoor grill sizes
- FibraMent never needs to be removed from your oven.
- FibraMent is a minimal long term investment which returns optimal results.
FibraMent Q & A
1. What is the composition of FibraMent?
FibraMent is made from a proprietary blend of heat resistant and conductive raw materials approved by NSF International for use in baking ovens.
2. What size FibraMent Baking Stone should I buy?
When measuring your home oven, allow approximately a one inch opening on each side of the stone for proper air movement.
3. Can I lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the FibraMent Baking Stone to keep it from staining?
Yes. The aluminum foil will not alter FibraMent’s baking properties. However, all baking stones are porous and will darken over time. Additional benefits of using aluminum foil are: thermal shock will be minimized and excess moisture will be prevented from contacting the stone.
4. Can FibraMent be used in wood burning ovens and outdoor patio grills?
Although FibraMent has a 1500°F continuous use operating temperature limit, it cannot be exposed directly to flame. The flame diverter that comes with our barbecue grill stones must be used.
5. Some bakery publications have recommend baking on quarry tile. How does FibraMent compare to quarry tile?
Quarry tile does not have the heat transfer properties necessary for quality baking. It is not engineered for baking oven temperature applications. Quarry tile becomes brittle after it has been heated and does not provide an even bake.
6. Can FibraMent be placed directly on a heating element in electric ovens?
No. Nothing should be placed on the element. Setting baking stones or pans on the element restricts the heat flow. This gradually decreases the efficiency of the element until it fails.
7. Do you provide FibraMent similar to the HearthKit’s that are available?
Yes, and you do not have to spend that much money. FibraMent is not only used as a baking stone. Our commercial accounts use FibraMent to line their oven ceiling and walls. For home ovens, place one baking stone on the wire rack at the very bottom of your oven. This will be your baking surface. Use a second FibraMent stone as the ceiling by placing on the wire rack above. Adjust the height of the wire rack so it’s immediately over the foods you are baking. Since we have greatly reduced the ceiling height of the oven, and are redirecting the heat back down on the items we are baking, wall inserts are not necessary. Our tests show using this method improves the bake quality.
8. Do thicker stones improve baking performance?
Thermal conductivity or heat transfer is independent of thickness. Baking stones provide direct bottom heat to your food items. Thickness of the stone does not change the heat transfer rate.
For baking stones to work properly the heat must be conducted evenly. Some baking stones conduct heat too quickly while other stones conduct heat too slowly.
FibraMent’s heat transfer rate is 4.63 Btu.in/hr.sqft.°F tested to ASTM Standard C177-95. This is the ideal heat transfer rate. Thicker stones (1″, 1 1/2″ and 2″) are primarily used in commercial ovens where additional strength and recovery times are required.
9. Why don’t you supply a wire serving rack with your pizza stone?
Baking stones should be left in the oven. Food bakes at temperatures over 200°F. FibraMent will stay above 200°F for at least thirty minutes after it’s taken out of a 400°F to 500°F oven. You do not want your food to continue to cook after it is taken out of the oven. Also, you will probably burn your fingers trying to take a slice of pizza off the hot stone.
Serving the pizza will also become a problem. You will not harm FibraMent by cutting your pizza directly on the stone but you will dull your cutting instrument very quickly.
10. Can I leave my baking stone in the oven during the cleaning cycle?
Baking stones are porous and absorb anything that comes in contact with it. It’s best to take the stone out of the oven when it goes through the cleaning cycle. You can leave the stone in the oven if you prevent any foreign residue from dripping on the stone.
11. When I baked my last pizza some sauce and cheese spilled onto the stone. How should I clean it?
Take a dry rag and wipe off as much of the residue as you can. Use a rubber spatula to remove any stubborn spills. Be careful not to damage the surface of the stone.
You can also bake-off the heavy spills. Instead of turning the oven off when you are through baking, turn it up to the highest temperature setting for 60 to 120 minutes. This will charcoalize the residue spilled onto the stone.
Remember baking stones naturally darken and discolor over time with use (stone pictured here is 5 years old). The grease and toppings that drop on the stone actually improve the baking properties. This seals the surface of the stone and minimizes the chance of dough sticking to the surface.
12. Why is it necessary to predry/temper the stone?
Since baking stones are porous they absorb moisture. Moisture turns to steam at 212°F. If the moisture is forced out of the stone too quickly it can develop cracks. This is why a slow, gradual temperature increase is so important.
Even if we predried the stone at the factory it would pick up moisture during shipment to you. To ensure there was a nominal amount of moisture in the stone the predrying process would have to be repeated.
13. When I opened the carton I noticed some chips on the edges. Should I be concerned?
Due to the inherent nature of the raw materials used in FibraMent, the edges may have some small chips. These areas do not affect the baking properties of FibraMent.
14. Some baking stone suppliers state their material absorbs moisture during the baking process. Is this the case with FibraMent?
Baking stones provide even, direct heat from the bottom of the stone. Consistent thermal conductivity ensures that the toppings and dough finish baking at the same time.
Baking stones do NOT draw moisture out of the dough. Rather, good quality baking stones bake through the dough at a even pace. It’s hard to imagine a stone heated up to 600°F can absorb moisture. Moisture evaporates very quickly at those temperatures.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
About how long does it take to preheat the FibraMent baking stone?
Hi Holly,
If I’m using it to bake pizzas and preheating it to 500F, I give it at least 45 minutes. I prefer to up to about an hour just to be sure it’s at maximum heat saturation.
I’m interested in purchasing the baking stone but have some questions…I have been baking my own version of Italian Herb bread on just plain baking sheets..like cookie pans. I want to start baking on baking stones as I’ve read that the breads turn out more like artisan breads…crust is crust”ier”..and inside bread is chewy…I want to make ciabatta bread..or simular breads..do I want the baking stone or should I get the La Cloche to bake breads? Thank you for any help you can give me in choosing what equipment I should get.
Hi Barbara,
When I’m baking ciabatta and focaccia, I use stones because of the greater surface area of the stones. I’m always baking more than would fit in a cloche. For other types of bread, I use the cloche for the benefits of baking on stones along with the benefit of the cloche lid holding the steam from the baking dough close to the dough. That’s a big benefit.
Ciabatta - going by recipe, the dough is very, very wet and sticky. If i knead in enough flour to enable forming loaves, the bread is more like a regular loaf. If I follow the recipe and free-form the loaves on a sheet or baking stone, the loaves (during the second rising) flatten out, run together (2 loaves to a sheet) and lose their form. Can’t seem to get the loaves to behave like loaves and less like dough puddles.
I thought Ciabatta was supposed to be more like a dough puddle than a “loaf”. The really big holes come from really wet dough which is going to pancake on you.
I guess I want my ciabatta to be like those in the pictures - holes as big as bird eggs, crusty and dusted with white flour on the outside and risen to almost the height of a regular loaf. Mine usually taste okay but look like flat recapped tires, brown on the outside with no trace of flour. Perhaps I want too much out of my baking…
I GOT MY LA CLOCHE AND HAVE MADE FOUR NK BREADS - I WAS SO EXCITED, AS THEY ALL TURNED OUT BEAUTIFULLY…TEXTURE AND FLAVOR WERE EVERYTHING I WANTED IN A BREAD…HAVEN’T USED MY STONE YET AND WON’T GET TO FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS,,,I JUST HAD HAND SURGERY LAST FRIDAY AND WILL BE IN CAST FOR TWO MONTHS…TYPING WITH LEFT HAND….TEDIOUS…ANYWAY, I CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE MY FIRST CIABATTA…BY THE WAY..I LIVE IN COLORADO–ALTITUDE 6900 FEET…IUSED EXACTLY SAME MEASUREMENTS YOU HAD AND RESULTS WERE GREAT..HOWEVER, AM GOING TO INCREASE WATER A TAD TO SEE IF I CAN GET LARGER HOLES…CAN’T WAIT TO GET BACK TO BREAD BAKING!!!
Thanks for the comments, Barbara (especially considering your right hand being out of commission for a while). It’s always great to get nice feedback. That’s interesting about the same measurements working well at high altitude. I get questions about that and haven’t had anything to say… until now.
Good luck with your one handed baking efforts.
Thought about the La Cloche and like everything about it except it being French. Nope, just won’t do that. I have a VillaWare Stone in one oven and Fibrament in the other and leave them both in all the time. Seems to stabilize the temperature a bit better. Would like to have another stone in each oven and may do that. The stones aren’t pretty (Betty Crocker style) but they help if you bake a lot.
I have a cheap round pizza stone and was looking at the hearthkitchen one, but am wondering if it is more of a gimmic?! There stone allows air flow thru the back instead, and there is no stone above as in your method. I would think heat transfer from above and below to be better then the way they have it? The question I have is about when they cook cassoroles and roast, with the rack included. If I buy two of the Fibrament retangle stones, would I place the food directly on the bottom stone? or place one stone on the bottom of my gas oven, then the food on a lowest rack, and the second stone on the highest rack?
I was also wondering if I can alternatly bake bread and roast a chicken in the La Cloche, or should just purchase the Romertopf for the roast/chicken? If the La Cloche or Romertopf should be used without the baking stone/or stones? Someone posted a suggestion of using baking soda to clean them also.
To Chuck,
TheFreshLoaf.com has ideas for using your bake stones/bakeware. Also for making your own cloche since you don’t want to buy french, or just buy a Romertopf.
Hi Audrey,
I bought a HearthKit a long time ago. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I think they’re largely a marketing gimmick.
If you are baking casseroles and roasts, as you mention, place the baking dish directly on the bottom stone (this is your baking surface) and adjust the upper rack so the upper stone is as close to the top of the dish as you can reasonably get it.
The bottom baking stone should be sitting on the bottom rack, not the floor of your oven.
Let me know if that’s not clear.
Eric
Regarding use of the Cloche for baking chicken, many people do. You wouldn’t gain any additional benefit by having stones in the oven along with a covered La Cloche.
Hi
I am very interested in purchasing a baking stone for more crustier breads. I have heard/read great things are your stone and have a coule of questions before purchasing. I have a gas and an electric stove; where do I place the stone? I have read different answers and want to place them correctly. I have read the you the stone on the lowest rack[electric] and on the oven floor[gas]? Also, can I leave the stone in the oven and bake bread[in pans]/casseroles, etc on the stone? Thanks for any advise.
Jo-Ann
For both types of ovens, the stone goes on a rack (adjust level as needed and desired), but not on the oven floor.
You can place bread pans and casserole dishes etc directly on the stone. When you do that, the stone needs to be fully preheated or it will act as a heat insulator, blocking heat from getting to the bottom of the dish until it has reached the desired temperature.
Can the stone be cut to size, perhaps with a tile saw? My oven on the boat (our home) is small.
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