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By Lisa Abraham
Beacon Journal food writer
POSTED: 09:00 a.m. EDT, Apr 29, 2009
Question: I have been trying some bread baking, where it is suggested that putting unglazed tiles on the oven shelf will give better results. Can ordinary ceramic tiles be used instead? Does it matter if they are colored?
— P.D., Akron
Answer: For your question, I consulted with Kathy Lehr, a local bread expert who teaches at the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson, and who has an instructional DVD Classic French Bread and More.
Lehr said ordinary glazed ceramic tiles, the kind you would use to tile a kitchen floor, cannot be used for bread baking and can be harmful. When heated, glazed tiles release toxins.
Tiles for baking must be natural and unglazed, and Lehr said they are getting hard to find. She gets the tiles from a supplier and sells them at cost for $1.05 each. She recommends bakers use eight of them to line an entire oven rack, leaving one inch of space between the tiles and the walls of the oven.
A pizza stone works just as well, she said, but offers less surface area for baking more than one loaf at a time.
Anyone wishing to purchase tiles can contact Lehr at 330-668-0131.
Got a food question? Lisa Abraham has the answer. Call 330-996-3737; e-mail labraham@thebeaconjournal.com with ''Ask Lisa'' in the subject line; or write to her at 44 E. Exchange St., P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include your name (initials will be printed on request), hometown and phone number for confirmation.
Question: I have been trying some bread baking, where it is suggested that putting unglazed tiles on the oven shelf will give better results. Can ordinary ceramic tiles be used instead? Does it matter if they are colored?
— P.D., Akron
Answer: For your question, I consulted with Kathy Lehr, a local bread expert who teaches at the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson, and who has an instructional DVD Classic French Bread and More.
Lehr said ordinary glazed ceramic tiles, the kind you would use to tile a kitchen floor, cannot be used for bread baking and can be harmful. When heated, glazed tiles release toxins.
Tiles for baking must be natural and unglazed, and Lehr said they are getting hard to find. She gets the tiles from a supplier and sells them at cost for $1.05 each. She recommends bakers use eight of them to line an entire oven rack, leaving one inch of space between the tiles and the walls of the oven.
A pizza stone works just as well, she said, but offers less surface area for baking more than one loaf at a time.
Anyone wishing to purchase tiles can contact Lehr at 330-668-0131.
Got a food question? Lisa Abraham has the answer. Call 330-996-3737; e-mail labraham@thebeaconjournal.com with ''Ask Lisa'' in the subject line; or write to her at 44 E. Exchange St., P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include your name (initials will be printed on request), hometown and phone number for confirmation.
Comments
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Durham, NC
Posted 08:52 AM, 04/30/2009
Lisa,
Interestingly, ceramic tiles are completely inert. If there were any organic compounds present in the tiles, they would have been cooked out at several thousand degrees when the tiles were fired. The Tile Council of North America studies tile and has proven that ceramic tiles contain no VOCs at all. I doubt they've tested it for cooking though! (Check www.tileusa.com for more info).
Perhaps the issue with the bread is the tiles' ability to hold moisture?
akron, oh
Posted 07:42 AM, 05/03/2009
ANY BAKING SUGGESTIONS ARE GREAT ,BAKING BREAD IS A ART I HAVE BEEN BAKING SOME BREAD AND FIND THAT ITS ALL THOSE LITTLE THINGS NOT IN THE COOK BOOKS THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE,WATER WASH,EGG WASH AND I FOUND PREHEATING THE OVEN FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES WORKS GOOD AND I PREWARM THE TOWELS FOR THE RAISE CYCLE,THE YEAST CAN BE DIFFICULT TO BLOOM,CAN IT BE DONE DIFFERENTLY? ANY HELP WOULD BE APRECIATED
