Shopping A Baking Steel

[SheilaAnn]

Hey y’all…. Thoughts?

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/de-buyer-23-9-16-x-15-3-4-blue-steel-baking-sheet-5363-60/904536360.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gbraid=0AAAAAD_Dx-vfzKIrgvxGTIoafQZ2yuxtu&gclid=CjwKCAiAmMC6BhA6EiwAdN5iLRatZR-7yVJcBPpjbTN9mhHs4npkDd1qE011RlT5jfX3lVB0ODFq7BoCRIUQAvD_BwE

[scottranda]

I don’t know about that specific steel. I have this

https://bakingsteel.com

it works great, but it is super heavy. So heavy, I leave it in my oven. When I want to use it in my kamado, I take it out of the over and use it there. But it’s heavy duty!

[fzxdoc]

Ditto what scottranda said. I love my Baking Steel purchased from www.bakingsteel.com .

It stays in one of my ovens all the time. Super heavy. Great for pizza baking.

MBMorgan recommended it several years back, and I've always been happy that he did, because I'm one satisfied user.

Kathryn

[GolfGeezer]

+3 Replaced a composite stone with this one. Yup, leave it in the oven - that also helps stabilize oven temps overall as well.

[captainlee]

The steel works great. I don't remember which brand that I purchased but it s heavy. I'm sure you can't go wrong with that one. I got mine from Amazon. Compare weights on different selections.

[Uncle Bob]

SheilaAnn, it looks like there may be some chance for confusion here, btw not a criticism only clarification. The pan you linked is in the range of 1/16 inch thick, which is fine for some baking, but I suspect that many on here think of a baking steel as a "pizza stone" replacement. Typically those would be at least 1/4 inch thick, so quite a difference in performance features.

As an addition, if someone wants an alternative, a local sheet metal fabrication shop will likely have cut off pieces (called drops in their parlance) that can be had reasonably only requiring extra cleanup/seasoning.

[Oak Smoke]

That’s exactly what I got for my wife. I called the local welding shop I deal with and ask for a piece of 1/4 inch plate with the edges ground smooth. I just measured the bottom rack in the oven and had the plate cut 1/4 inch smaller in both directions.

[learning pellets]

Hey y’all…. Thoughts?

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/de-...BoCRIUQAvD_BwE

Link led to a baking sheet less than 1/8” thick (1.2mm). The baking steels are 1/4-3/8” thick and typically not used as a baking sheet.

[fzxdoc]

Baking steel vs. baking sheet. You and Uncle Bob nailed the difference in thickness with respect to intended use. Thanks. Not being a baker, I did not twig to that.

Kathryn

[Donw]

I have the original Baking Steel and it is a 1/4” thick and weighs a ton. We keep ours in the oven too as some above do and Kathy usually asks me to move it for her when she wants to use it because it is heavy. I also have DeBuyer pans which I like. My only concern is that the DeBuyer shows a shipping weight of under 3 lbs which is a lot less than ours.

[Oak Smoke]

The “blued steel” is a sales word at best. If it is true blued steel it is a form of rust that is blue to black. It won’t have an affect on the product either way. It won’t do anything that will make the products more valuable or useful. I blue gun parts all the time. It’s a little helpful in preventing rust but mostly for looks, you still have to use oil on them or they rust.

[Pobeque]

Love my original Baking Steel. Stays in my oven 24/7. Here is an upside down roni Za I made last week

[shify]

Agree with the others. I love my Baking Steel and would highly recommend it. I don't leave in my oven permanently just due to the extra length of time it takes the oven to preheat with it in there but in addition to being great for pizzas, its good as a heat sink / oven temp regulator if you are constantly opening and closing the oven door (say during Thanksgiving)

What you linked to looks more like a typical sheet pan than the original baking steel so if your intention is a pizza stone replacement, I don't think that is the right tool

[RonB]

I was gifted a baking Steel shortly after they became available, and I love it. It's also great for baking bread. Did anyone mention that they are very heavy.

[yakima]

Too thin. 1/4 inch thick is about 6 1/3 mm and probably your minimum desired thickness. My steel shop fabricated one is 1/2 inch by 12x12, designed to fit the chimenea. 21.2 pounds. But I think we went thru this all before?

The good thing is that this rehash caused me to get it out and weigh it. It needs to be reseasoned.

[jfmorris]

Wow! I think @ShielaAnn will log on later to be surprised by the number of reactions! I do agree that the baking SHEET she linked to is a different animal than what many here considered to be a baking STEEL. I think it depends on what she needs it for as to which one is appropriate.

[yakima]

Yep, some confusion here. Her post is titled baking steel, but the link is to baking sheet.

[SheilaAnn]

Oh wow! (twirling my blonde hair) total confusion on my part. Which is why I asked, right? Thanks for the clarification! So my link is basically a sheet tray without the rolled edges. I fell for the “blue steel” marketing words as mentioned above.

and now that Oak Smoke brought up the welding shop, I remember having that conversation thread a while back and then life happened and I stopped researching.

dodged that bullet!! Thanks y’all!

edit: now I know why I stopped researching metal/welding shops…. I got overwhelmed.

[Uncle Bob]

If the local choices of fab shops overwhelms then the interwebs are your friend at maybe only a slight premium. The Baking Steel brand is $129 list for 1/4x16x16, didn't check if shipping is extra. On both ebay and Amazon there are plenty of same size steel plate options in the $50-70 range shipped.

[yakima]

The commercial steels which I have seen have nice rounded corners. My "custom" has sharp corners, but all edges were rounded with a grinder. I keep it in the chimenea, which is not entirely enclosed, so weather has crept in, Thus the need to reseason.