Today, I wanted to try something new – baking bread using an oven stone. I’d heard that using a stone could make the bread turn out really crispy, so I was pretty excited to give it a shot. Here is how it went. I started by gathering all the stuff I needed: flour, water, yeast, salt, and, of course, my new oven stone.
First, I put the oven stone in the cold oven. I read somewhere that it’s best to let the stone heat up with the oven, so that’s what I did. I turned the oven on to about 450°F (yeah, that’s pretty hot) and let it heat up. This took some time, about 40 minutes, but I figured it was worth it for that perfect crust.
While the oven was heating, I got busy making the dough. I mixed the flour, water, yeast, and salt in a big bowl. Then I kneaded it for a good 10 minutes until it felt smooth and elastic. After that, I covered the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour. It doubled in size, which was pretty cool to see.
Once the dough had risen, I punched it down and shaped it into a loaf. It wasn’t the prettiest loaf, but hey, it was my first time. I knew that I had to be careful when putting the dough onto the hot stone, so I practiced my “quick but careful motion” a few times without the dough, just to get it right.
When the oven was finally hot enough, I sprinkled some cornmeal on a pizza peel, placed my dough on it, and with one swift move, I slid the loaf onto the hot stone. This was the trickiest part! But I managed to do it without burning myself or dropping the dough. Success!
I set the timer for about 30 minutes. While the bread was baking, the whole kitchen started to smell amazing. I kept peeking through the oven window, watching the bread turn golden brown.
- Waited and watched, and after about 30 minutes, I took the bread out of the oven.
- Tapped the bottom of the loaf, and it sounded hollow, just like the instructions said.
- Let it cool for a bit.
- Cut a slice, and it was perfect.
The crust was super crispy, and the inside was soft and fluffy. It was definitely the best bread I’d ever made, and the oven stone made a huge difference. My family loved it, too. My kids even asked if we could make pizza on the stone next weekend. Overall, it was a fun experiment, and I’m definitely going to use the oven stone again.
