Brod & Taylor Bread Steel, Lightweight Alternative to Pizza Stones and 1/4" Baking Steels, Fast Heat-Up and Even Heat Distribution for Baking Bread & Cooking Pizza with Bakery-Quality Results, Grey

Wow. If, like me, you want something lighter weight than a dutch oven, this plus an old upturned steel mixing bowl with a knob added by my other half as a cover does the trick. I did not want to have to lift something very heavy and ruinously hot, and was worried about my normal baking sheets. So, with this I just lift the bread. Easier and safer. You do have to use a flat plate of some kind to put the bread onto the steel, but find something you can gently slide it off and into the steel sitting on a piece of baking parchment or similar and it is easy enough. A luxury purchase, but looks like it will last forever.

Really useful for baking my sourdough as I leave it in the bottom of the oven so no heavy lifting, great quality item

I have commercial Fibrament baking stones, and they're terrific. But they're heavy as a guilty conscience, so I decided to try a baking steel. The average weight of a baking steel sold on Amazon is 15-16 lbs. That's not a lot of weight for most people *unless it's concentrated in a small mass.* With a baking steel, it is. So I decided to try out the Brod & Taylor 5-lb baking steel. This thin (0.01") steel produces hearth pizzas (baked directly on the steel) in about 6-7" superior to those baked on my Fibraments. It's so light that I can pull it out/put it in the oven with one hand at age 80 (I'm a small woman). The gains you might achieve by using a larger and/or heavier steel will be marginal. The only likely disadvantages to this one are its size--it's 14" square--and the extra 1-2 minutes it may take to bake your pizza on it compared to on a 16-lb howler. Unless you usually bake large hearth pizzas in rapid succession with hovering crowds awaiting them, this more modest, beautifully made and seasoned steel will do the trick. It also produces lovely results with hearth breads, including golden bottoms.

I am an experienced bread maker but never got that crispy but tender bottom crust. Now I get it every time.

This bread steel with Brod and Taylor’s baking dome is a game changer for being able to bake without having to lift a 17 pound cast iron Dutch oven.

Works as intended. No issues with it. I've used it to cook a pizza on, and that was predictable.

Loving this bread steel. Also use it for pizza. I appreciate the lighter weight that still gives that nice, crisp bottom on my breads. Easy care as well. Brush clean, oil and store for next use.