>I hope I don't sound ditzy, but you said the tiles on the bottom
>rack and leaving them there for cookies and such. Do you bake your
>cookies on the tiles, as well as bread?
>
>I have a set of tiles that I got that fit on an aluminum
>sheet. Alas I broke one tile and lost the aluminum sheet in the
>move, but hey, the rest still work, I imagine. After I got a pizza
>stone I quit using them. I'd like to return to them because the
>info with my PampChef stone said not to preheat the stone and I like
>the hot stone to put pizza and bread on and the tiles are always
>preheated first.
>
>Also, do you cook bread straight on the stone or in a bread pan? I
>use pans and the heat is not always even and so the tiles might help
>with that, I suppose?
My "hearth" is made up of a nine untreated red clay tiles I bought
from a building supply store ages ago. I place them directly on one
of the oven's wire racks which allows me to change the position of
the "hearth" according to need.
I usually bake hand-formed loaves (as opposed to loaves in pans), and
I usually put the loaves directly on the hearth, moving the loaves
into the oven using a peel I bought at Williams-Sonoma (since I
worked there, I got a great discount). When I do this, I put the
loaves on the peel for the final proofing after having liberally
sprinkled the peel with polenta (coarse-ground yellow cornmeal).
Sometimes I put a sheet of parchment paper down first.
Always (well, almost always, for there have been a few days when time
constraints have led me to "cheat") I preheat the oven and tiles for
about 45 minutes. And I always leave the tiles in the oven, for it is
just as easy to put a roasting pan or casserole dish onto the tiles
as it is to put them onto the wire rack.
Doug