Home Bread-Bakers v108.n035.6
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pizza stones

"Darryl Gould" <darryl@thegouldhome.com>
Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:28:11 -0700
v108.n035.6
I have found a couple of pizza stone options, after experiencing the 
cracking you are talking about.  I went to Home Depot and found some 
12x12 clay tiles, I believe the model was Sausalito, and they were 
unglazed.  Home Depot will even give you a few tile cuts for free, so 
I bought 3 tiles, about $6.00, and cut one tile in thirds.  That gave 
me a 12x16 surface area when I combined a full square tile with a 
third size cut tile.  Dry it in the oven at a low temperature to get 
most of the moisture out and it will likely not crack.  If it does 
crack, you have a backup ready to go.  I am guessing you paid at 
least $20 for your stone.  At the unglazed tile price, that's at 
least 6 stones.

The other option I use (and it is great for the barbeque), is a split 
fire brick.  A regular brick is pretty thick, but a split brick is 
about 3/4" thick.  Find a contractors supply or rock supply store 
that sells fire brick, specifically split fire brick.  I bought six 
for around $11.  I also bought some sort of stainless grill grate for 
vegetables at a Linens and Things store for about $15.  I placed 3 
bricks on the grate, and then laid down 1 1/2 bricks perpendicular to 
the three and I have about a 12x12 surface that lifts all in one 
piece thanks to the grate it is one.  While I have not tried that set 
up in the oven, it should work with maybe a little extra heat up time 
due to the thickness of the brick ( about 1")

Good luck!