Baking stone...how do I use it?

[JamNan]

Just got an eBay bargain. It's 15-inch in diameter and made in white ceramic and the brand name is Professional Cookware and I intend to bake bread with it.

My oven is a Gas Relic circa 1980 - ancient, ugly but still reliable. I am an experienced cook and quite often bake bread, cakes, pizzas etc.

Does anyone have any tips about using a baking stone?

I use mine for bread and pizza. Put it in the oven, whack the oven on super hot and wait for ages so that the stone can get really hot. Then turn the temperature to whatever your bread/pizza needs and throw it on.

Mind you, bear in mind things will cook a lot quicker. My foccaccia takes 25 minutes without a baking stone and about 8 minutes with.

I have exactly the same one. But i dont think im using it properly so will stalk to see if theres any suggestions! Especially with regards to cleaning!
Ive a terracotta one that needed seasoning before use, i didnt do it with this one though.
What i do with mine is put it in the oven cold and then warm the oven up with the stone inside. It does seem to make a massive difference with the underside of the base all nice and crispy. ive only done foccacia (yes i know i cant spell!) on mine and it came out really well, but i got olive oil on the stone and now everything sticks to it.

I have the pampered chef one but I was advised not to use it without anything on it. It is great for homemade chips, pizza, pastries etc and I have a scraper to clean it.

Thank you all.
I never thought of chips or that cooking time would be quicker. I have read that some people put baking paper under the loaf before cooking it - anyone tried that?

(must get myself a fancy cheap eBay peel)!

I form all my loaves/pizza's on a non stick sheet and then slide them onto the stone. It's a much easier way of doing the transfer. The non stick sheet I use is like a re-eseable greaseproof paper so the heat transfer is instant.