Many people remember from childhood the bricks lying on the bottom sheet in a gas oven.
Some housewives placed stones in the oven instead of bricks, which in appearance resembled the cobblestones used in baths.
When asked why bricks or stones are needed in the oven, any Soviet housewife would answer that the baked goods turn out better with them.
Some continue to use the old trick to this day. Modern housewives believe that modern ovens have become better in some ways, worse in others, or have retained their previous shortcomings.
Stones and bricks in the oven
Ovens are generally considered poorly suited for baking. They are best used for roasting meat, poultry, fish, cooking in pots or foil.
Their disadvantage is that they heat up unevenly, do not hold the heat, and you cannot create a "steam room" for baking in them. The complete opposite is a regular oven. It takes longer to heat up, but it holds the heat longer and the heat is distributed evenly.
That's why housewives tried to improve the oven with bricks and stones. But not always successfully. Not every stone will do for this purpose.
Which stone is suitable?
The stone should be fireclay. It is also called baker's stone. It heats up and gives off heat evenly. Such a stone can really turn the oven into a kind of analogue of a stove.
How the trick works
The stone is placed on the oven and heated for at least 60-90 minutes. Only after this can you put bread, pie, buns or a biscuit pan in the oven. The stone will give off heat and bake the pastries evenly.
But there is a downside. The stone quickly absorbs fat, oil, sauces, and stains appear. The aesthetics suffer, but this is not the main thing here. A pungent smell appears, which will not disappear until everything that has been absorbed into the pores of the stone burns out. Therefore, it is better to lay the workpiece on baking paper, and then place it on the stone.
