Well, the dogs like it, but....

hounddog

I have been using the stone for indirect cooking. Have burnt various substances onto both sides of the stone in connection with same. The dogs seem to enjoy working on it, but they aren't doing a very good job. I don't care about the color of the stone. I also don't want to cover the stone or do much of anything that requires a long attention span. (I strive to know my limitations).[p]My first reaction to the problem was to fire up the egg to top temperature with stone in there for a while, but I have to say that has not worked very well. [p]Any suggestions as to how to maintain the stone? [p]The blissful answer will be to not worry about it and just keep on keeping on. If this is the answer, I would appreciate it if several FEMALE posters would so advise so that I might pass on such an authoritative response to my wife.[p]Thanks folks.

Fireball

hounddog,
Remove the big chunks and go with the flow. You are aging the stone. We all know all things get better with age. Fireball

RhumAndJerk

Fireball,
I definitely agree, let the stone be. People have a tendency to over clean and sometimes harm something just because they perceive it to be dirty. If you compare the inside of your egg now to when you purchased it, I will bet that it is very dirty looking, but you would not clean it. Putting water or cleaner on a pizza stone would hurt it. [p]I have had the same six baking tiles in my oven for over ten years now. They are black when they used to be terracotta. I also use the tiles in my egg. Even though every tile is broken into at least two pieces, they still work and I have no intention of replacing them.[p]Consider your pizza stone similar to a Cast Iron Frying Pan. When they are new, they are a nice bright iron color. The longer you use it the blacker it gets and the better the skillet works. They same thing holds true for your pizza stone.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk

Mike Oelrich

hounddog,[p] I pretty much agree with the other posts. I do sometimes wipe mine down with a damp cloth, though to finish removing some of the smaller bits. Since pizza stones are normally porous, there is a chance that any cleaners or soaps would be absorbed into the stone (most kitchen store brands I've seen come with instructions that allow use of a mild detergent . . .). Maybe I'm too anal, but I don't normally cook meat over mine without a drip pan or foil on top of it. If you want to see something interesting, check out:[p]Flaming Pizza Stones[p]How the heck a stone can actually catch fire is beyond me but I guess you never know . . .[p]MikeO

Spin

hounddog,[p]Proper stone maintainence is simple. Give it a good scraping and wipe away anything that comes loose. A damp cloth wipe is about as wet I would make a stone. Never use any chemicals on it. Anything burnt into the stone becomes totally inert and helps fill in the microscopic pores in the stone, making it slicker and less able to absorb anything on it. This is natural and actually makes the stone better. A well aged stone has the look of character and works like a charm.[p]I work in the wastewater treatment industry. Everything you flush, wash, or send down a drain in your house is wastewater. We settle the "organic solids" out of the wastewater, remove most of the water, and then pasturize these solids. The result is a soil enchancer that is classified as "exceptional quality" by the Department of Environmental Protection. You can grow vegetables (above and below ground) in it and eat them.[p]The pasturization process requires that all viruses are eliminated (typhoid, hepatitis, ect.). Viruses are very tough and ALL bacteria are killed long before any virus are even affected. We use heat and time to kill the viruses. All viruses are killed when heated to a temperature of 158F for 30 minutes. At 212F, the kill is instant. [p]My wife says "With the sole exception of allowing the dogs a go at the stone, don't worry about it."[p]Spin[p]