Using a baking stone (also called a pizza stone or bread stone) is actually quite simple and it can make a huge difference in the quality of all your baked goods, particularly if your oven has hot spots or heats unevenly (see Galley Oven Problems). The biggest problem that people have with a baking stone is that it can crack or break. If you have a stone that’s at least 1/2-inch thick, and take care to follow the precautions below, yours should have a long life.
In general, your baking stone should just be left in the oven. The more you handle it, the greater the chance of dropping it or otherwise knocking it against the oven and cracking it. By leaving it in the oven, it will start out at the same temperature as the oven itself and it will safely cool off when you are finished baking. Whatever you do, NEVER put a cool stone into a hot oven — it’s almost certain to break!
To avoid breakage, your stone would just fit inside the oven and not slide around at all. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t allow air to move inside the oven, which would cause other problems in baking. So it needs to be sized so that there is about an inch of space on all sides.
So how then to keep it in place so that the movement of the boat doesn’t chip the edges on the walls of the oven? I use little binder clips! It takes a bit of fiddling to set up at first, but then you can just leave everything in place. I use four clips, two on each side of the stone. I just clip them onto the oven rack (where the wires are too thin for the clip to stay in place, I put a little aluminum foil around the wire of the oven rack). If you do this, be sure that your clips are all-metal — no plastic!
If your boat oven has two racks, put your baking stone on the lower one. Otherwise, put the rack low enough that your pan will fit in the oven on top of the stone, with at least 1 inch (preferably 2) of airspace on top. Let it preheat 20 to 30 minutes before baking.
You can bake pizza or bread directly on the stone but it’s hard to do without a “peel” (those long-handled paddles you see in pizzerias) to slide things on and off with. And peels are both hard to use and store in a boat galley. So on a boat, place your pan directly on the stone (again, thick pans will conduct the heat more evenly than thinner ones, so using a baking stone with poor quality pans won’t solve all your problems). NEVER place something cold or wet (from the refrigerator or freezer) onto the hot stone – it will crack. Equally, never let liquids spill onto a hot stone (using a pan will help keep liquids from getting on the stone).
Cleaning the baking stone: Unless something spills on it, you don’t need to clean the stone. It will turn a little darker over time, but that’s no reason to clean it. The stone is very porous and needs little care. If you do spill something on it, wait until the stone is completely cold, then begin by scraping what you can off with a plastic scraper (don’t use metal) – a plastic putty knife (like you’d use for tight spots when bottom cleaning) works well and is a lot cheaper than scraping up your good kitchen utensils.
Then soak the stone in water – no soap! Soap will permeate the stone and be impossible to rinse out. To be honest, I skip the “soak in water” stage unless it’s something that didn’t fully scrape off. Anything else will just bake off the next time you use it.
If you REALLY need to clean your baking stone, mix a thick paste of baking soda and water, rub it on the stone and let it sit for 15 minutes (if you’re in a really hot climate, put it in a plastic bag so it doesn’t dry out) and then rinse with hot water.
Don’t use the stone again until it is thoroughly dry – it will crack if heated when wet or even damp.
Interested in a baking stone and want more information on buying a stone? See Baking Stones.
Want some help with that tiny refrigerator? Check out our step-by-step how-to:
Making Boat Life Better
Danielle says
I finally got a baking stone after “the last straw”: burning the center portion of a tray of brownies a few weekends ago in our propane stove on board. We custom cut it to size, secured it in place, and it works wonders! Thanks for the tip!
Carolyn Shearlock says
Glad to hear it!
PacificSailors on Facebook says
Great info! I just bought a pizza stone for our boat oven. So far it’s been great. No more cookies burned on the bottom and uncooked on top. My captain is happy!
PacificSailors on Facebook says
LOL. I just heard a loud bang coming from my oven and sure enough, my pizza stone cracked in half. Must have heated it too fast. Glad I had just read your post or it would have scared the bejeezus out of me!
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
Oh no! Can you still use it? I’m curious — how thick was it? Mine is 5/8″ and it takes longer to heat than thinner ones, but I’ve always heard that thinner ones are more susceptible to cracking.
PacificSailors on Facebook says
I just measured it and it’s 10mm… sorry I’m terrible with the american system…It broke into3 pieces so I guess I’m back to putting an extra cookie sheet on the bottom rack to distribute the heat. That worked quite well.
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
25 mm is an inch, so that’s that’s 4/10 — I would have thought it wouldn’t be likely to crack. Sorry about yours!
John says
Something called “quarry stone” or “quarry tile” found in home supply stores such as Home Depot makes excellent “pizza stones”, and are often used by restaurants as such.
The tile is sold in the flooring department for about $7 for 5 square feet, enough for you and maybe several friends. It comes in 4×4 and 6×6 tiles, and is the flooring used in commercial kitchens and on hospital floors (because it is so slip resistent). Look over the counter into the food prop area in any Chinese take-out and you’ll see it. Most usually a red in color, though sometimes a tan color.
Carolyn Shearlock says
The problem with using such small stones is trying to keep them in place on a boat oven. You could try laying them on a jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with sides), but otherwise they’ll slide all over and fall off the oven rack. NOTE: I haven’t tried putting them in a pan, so I don’t actually know how it would work — just an idea if that’s all you can get.
Karin Drake on Facebook says
Yeh, my big pizza stone will fit my new galley oven. Wont have to buy a smaller one.
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
🙂 Big galley oven!
Kathy DeMasi Vicchiullo on Facebook says
You are just a vortex of useful information!! LOL
Marcie Trantham says
I use a piece of large tile. Has worked well.
Sharon Whitefoot says
Would a cast iron plate or grill be a good substitute for a bread stone?
Monica James says
Hi Carolyn,
Just reading your awesome book! We have a stone made of some material that my husband got from work (his company does kitchens and baths). We’ve been putting it under the rack on the floor of the oven, but I’m wondering if putting it on the rack and clipping it in like you describe will make a difference. Been having a lot of hit and miss baking of late…
Carolyn Shearlock says
I do think that putting it on the rack will do more for evening out the temps. Putting it under means that the uneven heat source is still between it and what you’re baking. Try it and let me know if it does better — I’m curious!
PS. Glad you find the book helpful!
Jennifer says
What do you do about mildew building up on stones between uses? Is there a good way to prevent this? I get tired of cleaning them every time I want to use them. We live aboard in the tropics.
Carolyn Shearlock says
I have had NO problem with mildew, and we’re in a very hot and humid location. If you don’t use the oven often enough to keep the stone dried out, I’d suggest turning the oven on (with the stone in it) for just 5 minutes or so every 3 to 4 days to keep the stone dried out so that mildew won’t form.