Switched from a stone to a cheap steel pan for my rustic loaves and I'm not going back
Everyone in my baking group swears a pizza stone is the only way to get a good crust, but I got tired of mine cracking so I tried a $22 carbon steel pan I already had in the cupboard. The bottom comes out darker and more even than the stone ever did, especially on my 75% hydration sourdough, and I get better oven spring since the pan heats up faster. I've done about 14 loaves this way since March out of my little apartment oven in Boise and haven't had a single soggy bottom. Anyone else skip the stone and just use a pan, or am I the odd one out here?
Fourteen loaves on a $22 pan and not one soggy bottom? Come on, that sounds too good to be true, and I say that as someone who wants to believe it. My stone has been sitting in the cabinet since it cracked last winter, so the idea of just grabbing a steel pan I already own is tempting. But does the bottom really come out even every single time, or do you have to babysit it and rotate halfway through? Tell me the truth here, because if it's really that foolproof I'll dig out my old skillet tonight.