I've worked my way up to baking four pizzas at a time over the last twenty years. So in my dual 30" convection Therms I have three mismatched 14" x 16" pizza stones from different manufacturers, all fairly thick but not the same, and my fourth most recent purchase was the same size baking steel to try that out for comparison. And for the most part, they all pretty much do the same great job with slight time variants that you can account for with your eyeballs. My first eighteen or so years I was all about the corn meal for moving the pizzas off of the peels and onto the stones. Then I bought one of the aluminum peels and the cornmeal flat out didn't work - the dough stuck no matter how much corn meal I used. And you know - corn meal on the 500 degree stone eventually talks to your smoke detectors. Out of necessity I tried parchment instead - and it works brilliantly! I've completely switched after all these years. Allows me to pre-prep four pizzas on parchment, (there is no risk of sticking to the peel while making the others), the pizza cooks right on the stone through the parchment, and after four or five minutes I'll slide the aluminum peel under each and slip out the parchment to extra crisp the crust. I keep the parchment aside and use that under each pizza when I slice it to absorb dripping/steam and keep the crust crisp. I preheat the oven and stones to 500 or 525 for at least 30 minutes before the first batch, and my pizza is super thin crust, about 6-8 minutes baking. Oh, and the parchment also works to get pizza and flat bread transferred over and started on the grill - directly on the grates. That stuff is magic, not just for cookies.

I have a wood-fired brick oven in my kitchen. The oven itself is from Italy, but I got it from Mugnaini Imports in California. Many people have installed the same oven in an outdoor patio setting, I just happened to have room to install it indoors, where I can use it year-round. If you go to the Mugnaini website linked below, you can see photos of many, many outdoor ovens. You might also want to check out a book available from Amazon called "The Bread Builders: Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens" by Daniel Wing and Alan Scott. There's a whole wealth of info available in their book. Copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Builders-Hearth-Loaves-Masonry/dp/1890132055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197614023&sr=1-1 Here is a link that might be useful: Mugnaini Residential Ovens Gallery

Thanks everyone. I've done some searching today and looking for the keyword "hot". Seems like several models have complaints of them being not well insulated and hotter than the user thought it should be. The B&D I had several years ago didn't get this hot. I don't think I'll keep it. Reminds me of a space heater :o Don't need THAT in Texas 9 months of the year. I wanted to cut down on the energy and heat. Monica ps...momj, are we (THS) oldtimers or what! (lol) This is my 7th year on this site. I know you've been here at least that, right?

I wonder if it is a problem only if the oven doesn't get used often and the water sits in it for a long period of time without being replaced. ann_t, i think you hit the nail on the head. I use my espresso maker often, but for a while I didn't, and noted a layer of black mold-looking stuff at the bottom. I leave filtered water in it, but if left long, it's emptied, cleaned, and left dry. I've read a few rare comments on the full sized steam ovens having mold inside. Again, this was due to the user allowing moisture to stand inside something, not wiping it dry but leaving it for a period of time unused, and it mildewed. Same thing happens with FL washers. Same thing happens with a lot of items where water is left to stagnate for a period of time.