Hello Folks,
I've used the FibraMent baking stone in my 25 year old gas oven for about a
year now. The stone came with the NSF (food service sanitation) label -
I'm not concerned with toxicity.
I've had very satisfactory results baking things directly on the stone -
mostly pizzas (homemade & par-baked carryouts). I've also baked fifty or
more flat breads using this stone.
I placed the stone on its own rack approximately 1-1/2" above the oven
floor. I bought a third rack for the oven in order to do this. That leaves
me with two adjustable racks. If I'm baking pizza or flat breads on the
stone, I move both racks to the two highest slots or remove one altogether.
In my oven there is approximately a 1-1/4" gap on all four sides of the
stone and oven wall when the door is closed.
I used to place six inch square quarry tiles in my oven when needed. The
tiles are not as thick as the FibraMent and there were problems, at times,
with the tiles trying to separate from each other. Yuk, pizza sagging
through the gaps.
I leave the FibraMent in the oven at all times. I occasionally remove it
to wipe the bottom of the oven. I wipe the FibraMent with a damp cloth to
clean it only after it has cooled to room temp. The FibraMent stays very
warm for several hours after use - great in the winter but not in the summer.
Because of the heat storage qualities, I find the gas doesn't cycle on and
off as frequently in my oven once it reaches the selected temp. I also
noticed that I don't have the potential for burned bottoms of cookies as
much any more and I attribute that to the presence of the FibraMent acting
as a "damper" on the heat rising from the bottom of the oven.
I should have bought this thing twenty years ago.
Jeff Riepl