We have an antique Crawford Royal but the kitchen was totally renovated and with insulation and new windows, it gets too warm to do any baking. Since my mother-in-law used hers a lot, my husband wanted one, too. There's a slot at the top of the firebox which allows him to insert a grill basket for steak, chicken breasts, fish, etc. He has the fire figured just right, a good bed of coals, and does a great job of grilling. We also heat with a wood furnace in the cellar so the stove gives some extra heat. When it's just cold in the morning we don't need to keep the wood furnace going but the stove takes the chill off the kitchen. It's great to have the extra cooking space for big family dinners. Also, I think nothing of steaming brown bread or keeping a soup simmering because the stove is already in use. I am not using extra electricity (we have an electric stove). I use the warming shelf for yeast doughs. I don't think food tastes different except the grilled meats. It's just nice to have the stove.

Thanks for all the input and ideas not many if any negatives. I'm sure if there were some it would have come out. I have done the lemon and oil test on a little piece of the granite (30 mins). No mark no stain nothing. It is resined ( coating on the side). So we should be good to bake our brains out..... OK I started this thread and I disappeared from the picture. Well we and yes I do me DW and I have been working on and off for most of the week....On a Ukrainian Christmas dinner for 22 people. It is just not Ukrainian http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/holidays/christmas.htm Kutya (wheat) Borcht (Beet Soup) with stuffed mushroom min perogies Salmon Shrimp Herrings Perogies (potato and cheese, saurkraut, blueberries and prunes) Cabbage Rolls Mushroom gravey with 4 types of mushrooms with the addition of dried mushrooms Added some saute porkchops (for those that just need to have meat) dessets and coffee etc. Oh did I forget clean-up...good friends always help. all the time we were working,serving and cleaning up was wishing and thinking about our redo.

I've been using a metal steamer pan with a hole drilled in to inject steam. Right fit but it works great. You have to be careful not to damage the IR broiler which the handle as it looks kind of fragile. Definitely a good use for the ball bearing rack as it's much easier to pull out with a stone. I just started using my baking steel which works great. Much thinner than a stone (1/4") which may help in your situation as well. The company can cut them custom for you as well. Cost me about $100. Really awesome. Check out their site. http://www.bakingsteel.com Mike

I bake 2 loaves of sourdough a week for sandwiches and occasional treats (cinnamon rolls) or a different kinds of loaves during the week. I don't like it to be too complicated but want what I consider excellent results. Personally, what works for me is just preheating the oven (Wolf CSO) to whatever temp I need in convection steam mode. If loaves in a pan 335, ciabatta type 445, free form loaves generally 400-425. I don't use a stone. One of the reasons I prefer sourdough is the 'to die for' crust and I get it w/the straight up steam convection mode. There's always a great poof of steam when putting the bread in and taking it out but you don't notice the steam in the oven as you would if steaming veggies while cooking. As mentioned steam only exists at 210 degrees over that the waters there but not noticeable until it is 210 degrees. I'm not sure how often or exactly when the water is injected, I can hear the valve working but I'm pretty sure it's not constant. I will sometimes use a large gas oven as I can heat it to ~550 or a large electric convection if I need a larger oven. The results from the CSO are always more impressive, the oven 'spring' is more noticeable and the crust is crustier w/the steam. I'm sure adding water to either of the other 2 would work similarly but like I said I'm in the K.I.S.S. group and don't like overthinking things too much. A lot of people get caught up in thinking rather than doing, having a good understanding of what you're doing, the 'why and how', will eliminate a lot of the guess work. Worse case is you mess up, so? You get to do it again but now you know more than last time. I don't use recipes or measure things a whole lot anymore, I have over the years but learned what to look for and the 'how and why' so have the latitude to experiment relatively successfully and don't get too upset when I fail. A fail for me is a boon for the chickens. My audience isn't very large, as long as we're all happy and occasionally overjoyed it's all good. The best night is when the kids say 'thank you for making this wonderful dinner dad!'. I have no idea where that came from, they started it when they were about 4 (now 8 yo twins). I don't get it every night I cook, but it makes my day when I do.