I just ordered one from King Arthur Flour, one reason being they offered free shipping, so I ordered a peel as well. A friend gave me one from Pampered Chef and it broke into two pieces just sitting in the oven. I think CI recommends the one that I ordered.

jude

Amck:
Hi again.
Try the Search box at the bottom of this Message page.
Just type in Baking Stones.

The members will also give you the latest scoop.
Lou

I have Pampered Chef stones..because a friend used to sell it..

A friend gave us her unused Pampered Chef pizza stone and peel. Like Jude's it broke just being in the oven. We still use it. Awhile back there was lots of discussion on the kitchen forum about using plain clay tiles from Home Depot.

Also, I've seen peels at the restaurant supply store.

I have a very old round Pampered Chef baking stone that is well seasoned and in good shape. I just gave it to DS because it is too small. I got a large square one at Meijer. Seems to be just fine, too.

For those of you who have the broken PC stones, if you are the orginal owner, or maybe not, there is either a 3 yr or a life time warrenty on their stones. Just give the demonstrator a piece of the broken one for her/him to turn in to the company.

I love mine! And no, I don't sell it, just buy it.

amck - Where did you see people complaining about smell? I looked on WS's site where one person did complain about smell, one person said it didn't work but didn't elaborate at all, and the other 12 reviewers gave it high marks.

As for me, mine works great and doesn't smell. And my Epicurean cutting boards work quite well as peels.

When I wanted a stone, I couldn't find one, of course. So I took myself to the tile store and got six, 6" unglazed travertine tiles. Total cost was $12.00. I get a larger surface area than any "stone," and it's easily taken out, one tile at a time. Works great.

I have two round stones that I got at Wal Mart for $10 each - they work just as well as the expensive Pampered Chef one I had that broke.

Becky

foodonastump, Before I submitted this post I searched this forum and a post dated 12/25/08 "I Got A Baking Stone..." is the one where two people made reference to odd, chemical smells coming from the WS stones.

Could have been flukes, but I thought I'd cast the net out into the forum for more suggestions before purchasing.

amck, that was my post...
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/msg122214515178.html
I was lucky, my WS stone never had a strange odor, it's been on the botton rack of my oven since that post. I haven't made any pizza directly on it though.
Di

Elisamcs: Just make sure that the travertine doesn't have the "filled" holes. Most travertine requires filling in of all the small-sized, natural holes and I don't think that compound would be safe to rub onto food. You can usually tell by looking and seeing a diff. color in the holes. I thought we were to only use the red, unglazed tiles from H. Depot called ... gee, can't remember, damn it. I'm sure someone else will come up with the name.

Becky ca: what size is the round pizza stone, please? Thank you.

arline

I don't mean to hijack but what makes a good baking stone or are they all good? I see a wide price range.

eandhl, happy you asked. I'm new to cooking with/on a stone so would love to learn as much as I can from people who use them.

Well the only smell I get from my WS stone, the one that's actually in the process of heating to 500 for reheating calzones as I write, is a burnt smell, and that's just what's left from Monday's calzones.

Using tiles from the tile store in place of baking stones, wood from the lumber yard in place of cutting boards... all I suggest is be careful and ask questions. As far as I know, it's not just deck lumber that's chemically treated. God knows what tiles go through.

JMHPO (where P stands for Paranoid)

I've got two Pampered Chef stones and love them. Use them several times a week and have had them for about 10 years. The stoneware is the only thing that I've gotten from PC that I'd buy again though. I've got a square one and a large round.
From what I've read now there are two types one is a rough VERY porous type and the other is a somewhat smoother and much less porous type. The PC is the latter....

Grace

Arline - I just measured the stone from Wal Mart and it is 15" across - plenty large enough for me to get my pizzas on without any trouble. They come with racks which I don't use.

And I'm another one who was leery of using tiles from the hardware store - even if they say they're unglazed it seems like you never really would know what additives they added to the clay before they fired them. They certainly wouldn't have worried about using food safe products since that's not the use they were intended for, let alone heating for extended periods of time. My DH convinced me we were better off paying a little more to be on the safe side.

Becky

I was one of the ones who got a weird chemical smell from my WS Stone. I threw it out, thinking I didnt have the receipt anymore. Then yesterday I was changing wallets and there was the receipt! D'OH!

Forget Pampered Chef. There are better stones out there. The one that I have is 10 years old and I'm sure it will last another 10 years. Gets a lot of use and is always left in the oven.

My advice is to get the largest stone that your oven will hold, and make sure it is at least 1/2 inch thick.

The one that King Arthur Flour sells looks very similar to mine.

If you are going to buy tiles, make sure you buy unglazed quarry tiles. And you want to make sure that they are 1/2 inch thick too. Anything thinner tends to crack easily.

Ann