More baking stone questions.. sorry...

So I've been reading about baking stones..."quarrey tiles" etc... I went to the home depot... asked for "quarry tiles" after looking at all of these tiles... the man said "oh we gott'em... he was surprised that I only wanted 1. they had these granite tiles... 12x12 $1.69 and the 16x16 $12.49 Then there was "slate" real slate tiles... unfinished... $1.29... plus a coupla' others... I was thinking when I went in there that I'd just find "quarrey tiles"... but alla' sudden, there were choices... so, I got a slate tile. 12x12...(FIGURED i'D START SMALL) I suppose I should stick it in the dishwasher... then......I guess I could try it out....

but I'm stuck... All it would take would be for someone to say... Yea! that's going to work!... Go ahead... I guess my question is... Should I make one (pizza) for testing before I try to make one for someone else?... Or should I just "dam the torpedos...full speed ahead!"? jni

Reply to
janie
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Are you sure floor tiles are safe for cooking food on? I would be worried that they could contain lead or other things that could harm you.

Reply to
Scout Lady

Quarry tile are unglazed ceramic tile made from CLAY. Slate, marble, and granite are all cut from slabs of quarried stone -- they are natural products. Quarry tile and tiles cut from quarried material are NOT the same thing. I just set about 100 square feet of slate as a hearth and surround for my fireplace and in the entry. Slate is very soft and shales or delaminate very easily. Slate generally has an uneven surface and inconsistent (non-calibrated) thickness because it is cleaved from a block and separates along natural lines formed during its formation. When I cut the slate on the wet saw I noticed that it gave off a little oil.

You need to return the slate to HD and ask to talk with someone who is knowledgeable. I can't recall seeing any unglazed quarry tile at any of the HD or Lowe's stores in my area. It could be there, but I haven't seen it. You may need to go to a tile store. I'm sure that the slate would fracture with even moderate use - maybe not from thermal shock but from normal handling. It is likely that the surface would shale and I would be worried that it would exude oil. I don't think that granite or marble would be porous enough to use as a baking stone. You may have to get 4" or 6" tiles and line a baking sheet if you can't find 12" or larger tiles.

Reply to
Vox Humana

Reply to
janie

Clay doesn't have lead in it. I have looked for several years for ANY evidence to suggest ceramic clay has lead, and have found none.

Some glazes do contain lead, and the glazes fired in third world nations are often not fired enough to render the lead harmless.

As a result, it is suggested that unglazed tiles be used.

No glaze = no lead.

In any case, leaded tiles with bread probably wouldn't be a big deal. The length of contact is short enough that there should be virtually no lead transfer. However, it's safer to be safe, and avoid glazed tiles.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Avery

It's not lead, it's mercury.

Adding a small amount of mercury to the clay lowers the firing temperature significantly, so people who operate in countries where BTUs are harder to come by (say, Mexico) are keen to lower their firing temperature any way possible.

Thus, it can be reasonably assumed that unless the FDA or some other federal organization has certified a product to be free of heavy metals

-- and in flooring products, that's unlikely to occur -- it can be reasonably assumed that those thick, cheap pink-and-yellow saltillo style mexican tiles probably have some amount of mercury in them.

It's not so much as would do you immediate damage, but I'm in the habit of not consuming heavy metals.

A friend of mine is co-owner of a factory in mexico that manufactures glass figurines. He designed and built the factory, and is acquainted with the operators of other factories in the same area, and tells me that adding mercury to ceramics is more or less standard practice, except with regard to culinary products - and even then, it's a matter of limiting how much goes into the ceramic, and then glazing it well enough to keep the mercury from leeching out. the FDA probably has a writeup on the issue of heavy metals in dishes imported from central and south america somewhere on their website.

Since this friend also has degrees in chemistry and engineering, and works part-time as an EPA inspector, I generally trust his opinion on chemical matters.

I use 8" (really 7.5") half inch thick unglazed quarry tiles, strictly for pizza. Five of them, one cut in half evenly. this roughly covers the bottom shelf of my oven. I chose this route because i was extremely low on cash at the time and wanted a decently crusty crust. Maybe this holiday season i can con a relative into buying me a 15x20 fibrament stone.

They are vastly outperformed by the 3/4" thick 15x15 ceramic beast in my parents oven, but also beat the heck out of my old perforated baking sheet. I haven't tried pizza screens. I keep meaning to. Some day soon when i visit the restaurant supply again I'll pick one up.

- Eric

Reply to
Eric Jorgensen

I have a degree in biochemistry that's why I questioned the use of using floor tiles as cookware. The first thing that came to mind that the standards for building materials are different than the standards for cookware.

Reply to
Scout Lady

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