For Hector and Matthew,

Regarding your comments about having to heat the stones for 45-60 minutes…. I talked to my friends who have and use Pampered Chef stones and “cookie” sheets (P. Chef calls them bar pans). Apparently you don’t have to preheat the Pampered chef brand stoneware the way you do other brands. Pampered chef is also lead-free, which is not always the case with other brands. Just thought you might find that interesting. 

(I’m still not going to buy the fluted pan. Rose’s expertise along with everyone’s explanations and input, as well as my research, have all convinced me that it’s only good for microwave cakes, baked chicken and as Rose says “a planter”  LOL )

Thanks, Heidi!

I don’t know if it matters anymore, but I used to have Pampered Chef baking pans and did not like them and ended up giving them all away.  The baking times were always off, and they started to pick up ‘flavors’ if they were used for anything else.  Things began ‘sticking’ after a time too.  Maybe they have changed how they are made, but my experience was not a good one.

Thanks Linda. I appreciate all the input I’m getting.

Hi Vega,

Actually, I have a friend that recently bought the Pampered Chef bundt (fluted) pan. After heaing all the negative comments I got about it she was going to return it but decided to try it out before doing that. She loves it. She has made bread in it several times and also carrot cake. She hasn’t tried any other cakes yet. Just last night I asked if I could borrow it to do my own experiments with it. I’ll let you know how my cakes turn out. If I can figure out how to post pictures I might also include them.

There are some stones that need preheating but not Pampered Chef brand.

Pampered Chef stones go in cold ovens but you are warned not to put a solid cold frozen pie on it to bake because eventually the stone will crack & break. Food for thought.

blazingsword - 16 May 2012 10:46 AM

Pampered Chef stones go in cold ovens but you are warned not to put a solid cold frozen pie on it to bake because eventually the stone will crack & break. Food for thought.

Thanks for your comment but the Pampered chef stoneware does not need to go into a cold oven ( I don’t know about other brands).  I checked my Pampered Chef recipe book and in each case it says to preheat the oven.  I use my stoneware often and always preheat my oven.  Never a problem.

You can preheat the stone itself, if you want to, for certain foods.  For example, if you want your pizza crust very well done, then preheat the stone in the oven. Or if you like chicken nuggets to brown on both sides, or cookies to get more brown,  preheat the stone for them.  It just depends on how you want your food to cook but it is not necessary to preheat the stone nor do you have to put it into a cold oven.

As for the frozen pie… the frozen pie thing is logical of course if your stone is hot and also because it is a dense food item.  The stone would break just like glass or ceramic would.    However, whenever we make frozen pizza we always put it on the cold stoneware and then put it into a 425 preheated oven. It has not broken because the thin crust pizza we get is not a dense frozen food like a roast would be (see below).

I have several stones and use them often. I still prefer to do all my cake baking in regular aluminum pans but my friend regularly bakes in her fluted stoneware “Bundt” pan and is happy with the results. 

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The following is from the Pampered Chef web site:

TIPS:
- Prevent breakage from thermal shock by avoiding extreme temperature changes.

- Do not preheat stone.

- At least two-thirds of Stoneware surface should be covered with food to avoid thermal shock. Always evenly distribute food over Stoneware surface; avoid clustering foods.

- Do not place dense, frozen food items (chicken breasts, pot pies, roasts or chops) on Stoneware. Always thaw dense, frozen food in refrigerator prior to baking.

- Foods refrigerated in Stoneware may be placed directly in a preheated oven.

- Do not place any other pan or rack on top of Stoneware while baking.

- Follow recipe temperature and baking time when using Stoneware. Short bake times (under 12 minutes) may need an additional 1-2 minutes.

I too, just checked my Pampered Chef instructions for the rectangular pizza stone. Heidi, you are correct in what you have written.

However, since I am making pies in 9” aluminum pans, (not deep dish as the pies a just a little above the rim, especially apples and most notably blueberry and cherry), and freezing the pies for baking later, I really want a crisp pie crust bottom, not a soggy one.

My thinking is to start the frozen pie, on the cold stone in a cold oven. Then set the temp to about 425 and leave in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the timer goes off, romove both the stone and the pie out of the oven. Then put the stone on it’s rack that came with it on the counter to cool off. Then put the pie back into the oven at a reduced temperature of 350 or 375 degrees for the remainder of the time, approximately 60 minutes, to finish baking.

I am thinking, in this way the bottom of the pie crust will crisp up. I don’t want a soggy bottom crust.

And I do make my fillings in such a way, thick enough, so that after they have totally cooled for about 1.5 hours or so, that when I go to cut into them they do not run.

But I do realize that frozen pies will take longer to bake, about 15 minutes more.

Does this method sound good to you?

I am making notes on all my experiments with freezing and baking pies and cakes, on MircoSoft word so that I will know how things go for the sample baking that I am doing.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you for all your info!

(Blazingsword)
I’m not quite sure I understand what you doing. Is the pie an unbaked pie or is it baked and just needs reheating?  Is it still in the aluminum pan at that point?

Also, which rack are you talking about that the stone comes with? Mine did not come with any rack.  The only thing I have with mine is a kind of basket/serving tray that my large round pizza stone fits into for serving. Is that what you mean?

(FYI - that basket/serving tray is now discontinued - real shame. I love it.  It is very pretty for serving the pizza and it stays hot the whole time because it’s sitting on the hot stone.)

I’m not a pie baker so I’m probably the wrong person to ask about that. I stick to cakes but I will check with a friend of mine that does bake pies and is a big pampered chef fan too. Maybe she will know.

Hi Heidi!

Yes, the pie is all made to the point where it can go into the oven to be baked. BUT, at that point I flash freeze it in the freezer, then put it into a gallon or 2 gallon zip lock bag depending on size. Then when I am ready for dessert, I just pull it out from the freezer and bake it. AND YES, it is in an aluminum 9” pie tin that you buy in a package from the grocery store.

Yes, my stone, (item # 1350), is a rectangular stone, and it not only came with a plastic type scraper, (which I lost), but I have also a metal rack that I can put it on after it comes out of the oven to cool off or to serve it on. BUT I do see that it does not come with the rack any more. (Unless I am mistaken, which I could be.) I’ve been married for 30 years and probably had the stone for 25 years? Give or take a few. LOL!

However, mine DID NOT come with a basket or serving tray.

What I have NOTED was that somewhere along doing my research for getting the bottom of a pie crust made with butter, crispy and done, and also not to have a runny pie when cut, was to:

1) put the FROZEN PIE on the COLD STONE in a COLD OVEN and then turn the oven on to 475 and leave the pie in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes then I
2) remove the pie and the stone from the oven
3) put the stone on it’s rack out of the oven on the counter to cool off
4) put the pie back into the oven
5) at which point I lower the temperature to like 375 or 350 degrees and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling
6) then I remove the pie to cool off for a couple of hours

Of course, when making fruit pies, I want the bottom crust to be crisp and not soggy.

So I think that in addition to:

1) In addition to draining the fruits and reducing that on the stove, (tried the microwave and it burned it, won’t use the mircowave for that again)
2) I make sure that I have enough cornstarch to help thicken the filling
3) and I know that the filling must reach a certain temperature before the cornstarch will do it’s job to thicken the fruit filling

Therefore, I think that putting the pie on the stone as stated in the above sequence and baking it in the oven will help crisp the bottom crust as well as help the cornstarch reach that temperature to thicken the filling.

There is nothing appetizing about a soggy crust and runny filling. JMHO.

I don’t make pizzas anymore. Gotten away from the greasy stuff. So I figure I might as well use the stone for cookies, (which I rarely make except for holiday times), so I could use it for the pies which I make UNBAKED AND FROZEN IN THE FREEZER.

I am doing this for my SIL’s brother who is getting married in 4 weeks and is having a picnic reception. So I am trying to get ahead start by making and freezing the unbaked pies ahead of time.

I did a homemade cherry pie this way, with double crust, and 3 bags, (12 ounce size), of Dole’s frozen Dark Sweet Pitted Cherries, drained very well and then put them in a bowl with all the necessary spices, a little sugar, and cornstarch. Toss gently to coat, and put filling in pie and baked as in the above on the stone. It turned out very well.

So the samples that I make, I am taking notes on them from the very step to the last, from assembling to freezing to baking and to tasting. Keeping those notes on MicroSoft word document so I have something to refer back to if a sample doesn’t work out to my liking. (No sense in repeating the same mistake twice.)

Any other ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

As I said, I’m not a pie maker so I sent your question to the lady that sold me the pampered chef stoneware and she forwarded it to the Pampered chef test kitchen. This was their reply:

I think your plan sounds good but I don’t think you will need the stone
at all. The stone is just going to slow down the baking of the crust. If
you freeze the pie in a metal pie pan you would then preheat the oven to
400-425 then place the pan in the oven and bake 15-20, turn down the
oven and bake until bubbly. You might need to cover crust with foil to
avoid over browning.

Hope this helps,

The Pampered Chef Test Kitchen