The Brod & Taylor Baking Steel
The Lightweight, Efficient Alternative to a Baking Stone
I’ve used a custom-cut volcanic lava stone from Italy for years. It bakes beautiful sourdough, but it does come with drawbacks: my original stone eventually cracked after many bakes, and two of the replacement stones arrived damaged during shipping. Delivery is expensive, it’s extremely heavy, and preheating takes a full hour.
The Brod & Taylor Baking Steel avoids all of those issues. It won’t get damaged during delivery, it heats about seventy-five per cent faster than my stone, it’s light enough for me to move around with one hand, and it produces the same outstanding results.
What Makes This Baking Steel So Effective
- Preheats in about sixteen minutes — seventy-five per cent faster than my stone
- Uses just a quarter of the energy thanks to the short preheat
- Contributes to great oven spring (correct fermentation is still the main driver)
- Produces an outstanding, shiny, crackly crust
- Lets you bake multiple loaves back to back with no recovery time
- Pairs perfectly with the Brod & Taylor Baking Shell
- Doesn’t crack, chip, or shatter
- Much lighter than cast-iron setups
- You’re not restricted on loaf size or baguette length, unlike cast-iron baking pans
My lava stone still performs incredibly well, and it may be a great option for some bakers. But if weight, delivery cost, or long preheat times are a concern, the Brod & Taylor Baking Steel is the better choice — it delivers the same level of quality with far fewer compromises.
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