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Anyone used "The Baking Steel?"

Looking at the GreenEggers forum and "Focker" seems to have some great results. Anyone else used it? What else could you use it for?
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Comments

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,664
    edited March 2013
    cast iron fry pan would work, maybe even put the pan in upsidown and cook on the bottom
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • I have a friend who uses one in his oven and swears by it. He is a big time pizza guy and has cooked on eggs. He says the baking steel provides the best crust and allows him to put out 10+ pizzas with no problem.
    "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland." -Tennessee Williams
  • http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/09/the-pizza-lab-the-baking-steel-delivers.html

    Pretty good review of it for oven use compared to a stone.
    "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland." -Tennessee Williams
  • I would just get it, whats another toy for your arsenal,  tell us how it works. 
  • I am thinking of buying a Baking Steel instead of a stone but haven't seen any experiences with it on the egg or any grill.   Anyone?
  • fletcherfam
    fletcherfam Posts: 935
    There is one guy who has used it on greeneggers.com
  • Aviator
    Aviator Posts: 1,757

    Is this gonna be another Mangrate thread?

    We just got done with a final ruling on that one.

    :))

    ______________________________________________ 

    Large and Small BGE, Blackstone 36 and a baby black Kub.

    Chattanooga, TN.

     

  • fletcherfam
    fletcherfam Posts: 935
    I don't think so, seems like the real deal as people don't normally use it in the egg, you have to custom order it.

    I just thought it was a cool idea, seems like it gets great results, something else different than the man grate (search baking steel on the web and you will find articles from pizza critics that love it.)
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited March 2013

    So far my results are on par with Kenji's in the link above.  My issues are not with the steel but trying to find the sweet spot with a 16" steel plate in a 18.5" egg.  Trying a 16" wok filled with sand as a setup this weekend.  The steel is a great conductor, and I am learning this as I go.  Spring is much better than stone due to this.  The undercarriage and bones are a different texture than stone, puffier, softer in the middle, and not overdone like stone pies.  Cook time is much shorter.  Leopard-like NY style undercarriage is much easier to attain.  With it seasoned, pies slide around effortlessly.  

     

    My problem is I have choked off the heat by raising the steel too high and blasting the bottom of the steel, which does not give enough time for my preferred doneness on the toppings.

    The A36 carbon used is the same used commercially in restaurant diner type griddles.  Plan on using the steel on some burgers tonight.  With some tweeking, I think this will be a versatile tool in the arsenal.   

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,664
    they seem to market it as a baking steel, but in the egg you can also use it as a griddle, if i had it this cook would have been done on it, it was from a book called la plancha, lots of spanish recipes for cooking la plancha, google polo la plancha, salmon la plancha etc. it does seem pricey for a steel plate though i can see alot of uses for it. its a nice simple way to cook

    image
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Aviator said:

    Is this gonna be another Mangrate thread?

    We just got done with a final ruling on that one.

    :))
    I'm no Boomer.  Not telling anyone to buy a baking steel. I get no kick backs and will provide no "discount" codes.  I have just heard good things about them for pizza from a good friend and am interested to hear if anyone has used them on the Egg.
    "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland." -Tennessee Williams
  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    I actually saw the Kickstarter campaign for this. I have seen a bunch of reviews and mostly recently the pizza lab review that was posted here. Every single review said this was better than anything else the had used previously. Gave you better New York style and Neapolitan style crust.
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    if Mickey will send me one I'll review it on video.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    henapple said:
    if Mickey will send me one I'll review it on video.
    Get fishlessman to send you one. They are made in Hanover, Massachusetts. 
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,664
    for the 79 dollars they cost i think that you could just go to a local metal shop and have one made, its just carbon steel sanded down to remove the hotrolled finish. for 79 bucks i bet a local stainlessl distributor could make you a stainless one
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • gerhardk
    gerhardk Posts: 942
    Stainless is not better for all applications, it transfers heat strait through were plain steel also transfers it side to side.  This is why aluminum is favoured over stainless in cookware and copper use to be popular for certain applications.

    Gerhard
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,664
    gerhardk said:
    Stainless is not better for all applications, it transfers heat strait through were plain steel also transfers it side to side.  This is why aluminum is favoured over stainless in cookware and copper use to be popular for certain applications.

    Gerhard
    yep, but in the case of using it in an egg, the main thing ive seen posted is burning bottoms of pizza crust, the stainless might work better for this with a slower heat transfer. but who knows, they probably will do exactly the same thing in an egg. my problem is paying  big bucks for a carbon steel plate knowing it will be outside rusting away
    :D
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • for the 79 dollars they cost i think that you could just go to a local metal shop and have one made, its just carbon steel sanded down to remove the hotrolled finish. for 79 bucks i bet a local stainlessl distributor could make you a stainless one
    You could and many people have done that.  And the results have been amazing.  That is why this guy created this product.  I've read numerous threads on pizzamaking.com about the work these people go through to clean a raw piece of metal.  And it is way more work than I am willing to do.  And at that they are still paying $30-40 to a sheet metal shop for the part.  Then spending days and sometimes weeks scrubbing, sanding, soaking, re-sanding, etc to get rust and mill scale off the piece.  If that's worth your time go for it.  I'd much rather pay the $79 and have a shiny new and safe baking steel delivered to my house.   :D
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,664
    for the 79 dollars they cost i think that you could just go to a local metal shop and have one made, its just carbon steel sanded down to remove the hotrolled finish. for 79 bucks i bet a local stainlessl distributor could make you a stainless one
    You could and many people have done that.  And the results have been amazing.  That is why this guy created this product.  I've read numerous threads on pizzamaking.com about the work these people go through to clean a raw piece of metal.  And it is way more work than I am willing to do.  And at that they are still paying $30-40 to a sheet metal shop for the part.  Then spending days and sometimes weeks scrubbing, sanding, soaking, re-sanding, etc to get rust and mill scale off the piece.  If that's worth your time go for it.  I'd much rather pay the $79 and have a shiny new and safe baking steel delivered to my house.   :D
    then you forget to take it in and it rusts and your sanding. the carbon steel might be better in the oven inside than outside with the egg for most of us. they should sell a stainless option, no sanding needed, maybe just wash and and send it, or sand it in a time saver that does all the work
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • True.  True.  And I would probably forget.  Point well taken.
  • gerhardk
    gerhardk Posts: 942
    I would think with a little use it would be seasoned just like cast iron, my dome vent doesn't rust.

    Gerhard
    yep, but in the case of using it in an egg, the main thing ive seen posted is burning bottoms of pizza crust, the stainless might work better for this with a slower heat transfer. but who knows, they probably will do exactly the same thing in an egg. my problem is paying  big bucks for a carbon steel plate knowing it will be outside rusting away
    :D
    I would think that stainless would make burning the bottom worse, main reason commercial kitchens like aluminum pots over stainless is that is far easier to scotch food in a stainless pot.  
    Gerhard
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited March 2013

    Today's lunch with the boy.

    Onions cooked with ghee, and balsamic at the end, 350 dome.

    Ground chuck 1/4lbers, woosty sauce, S and P.....steel 500 IR

    Sharp cheddar and tiger sauce to finish.  Even my 5 year old will eat it straight, with the horseradish doubled!!!  We love the stuff.

    Performed bettter than my CI #16 Griswold griddle of the same size.

    Similar to CI, when properly cared for, rust is not an issue.

     

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • fletcherfam
    fletcherfam Posts: 935
    @focker, that is some gooooood looking food.

    How do you keep all the fat/oil from dripping down into the fire?
  • jimreed777
    jimreed777 Posts: 324
    Focker said:

    Today's lunch with the boy.

    Onions cooked with ghee, and balsamic at the end, 350 dome.

    Ground chuck 1/4lbers, woosty sauce, S and P.....steel 500 IR

    Sharp cheddar and tiger sauce to finish.  Even my 5 year old will eat it straight, with the horseradish doubled!!!  We love the stuff.

    Performed bettter than my CI #16 Griswold griddle of the same size.

    Similar to CI, when properly cared for, rust is not an issue.

     

    That round piece of metal is not the "baking steel" item posted about earlier....what is that exactly, just some piece you had cut locally and seasoned?
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    @focker, that is some gooooood looking food.

    How do you keep all the fat/oil from dripping down into the fire?
    Painted a thin layer of ghee with a silicone brush.  Then added a little as I flipped the onions around.  Used the leftover ghee on the steel to sear the burgers.   

    The fat from the burgers usually isn't enough to run off and it usually collects around the patty. 
    Nice thing about the CI griddles, there usually is a small lip on the edge.  Not a huge factor though. 

    The baking steel weighs a little over 9lbs, it doesn't move.  The Griswold griddle would tend to slide around on top of the grid at times.  

    The finish on the steel is inbetween that of new age Lodge and the vintage, machined, Griswold and Wags.  For the first use, the burgers seemed to release much better than CI during the flip.        
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited March 2013
    Focker said:

    Today's lunch with the boy.

    Onions cooked with ghee, and balsamic at the end, 350 dome.

    Ground chuck 1/4lbers, woosty sauce, S and P.....steel 500 IR

    Sharp cheddar and tiger sauce to finish.  Even my 5 year old will eat it straight, with the horseradish doubled!!!  We love the stuff.

    Performed bettter than my CI #16 Griswold griddle of the same size.

    Similar to CI, when properly cared for, rust is not an issue.

     

    That round piece of metal is not the "baking steel" item posted about earlier....what is that exactly, just some piece you had cut locally and seasoned?
    That is the 1/4" Baking Steel, cut into a custom 16" circle.  Seasoned identical to the old CI with 5, 500 degree, one hr seasoning sessions with grapeseed oil. 
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • Who cut the Baking Steel for you?
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited March 2013

    Andris, the head dude at The Baking Steel.  It was a gift from another egger.  Give him an email.  From what I've been told, he will take care of you. I might be contacting him soon for a 12" for the small.  

     

    @jimreed777,

    Pics I forgot to add from earlier

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • That is sweet.  Any signs of rusting as fishlessman suggests could happen above?  
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited March 2013

    Thanks, it was a special gift.

    No rust.

    You should not have any problems if you take a little extra effort initially seasoning it properly and storing it properly.  Keep it raised direct to protect the seasoning.  Dome temp was 420, IR of steel was 500.  Same as you would for CI.  If it gets too hot and the seasoning burns, it can easily be restored.  

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."