Hey all.
I have been using lava rocks in steel bowls in my oven a few times, and have this annoying problem that it leavea layer of fine sand/dust in the bottom of the oven.
It does not get to the bread, so it is not a problem for that, but it leaves alot of potential for scratching the surface in the oven, and is really annoying.
Is anyone else experiencing this? Or am I just using the wrong rocks? These were sold as filtering rocks, but I can buy new ones that are for gas grills. I just want to make sure it is not just what these rocks do, before I go buy new ones.
Did you rinse them well before use?
Garden type natural lava rocks in a broiler pan have a permanent spot in my oven, but I soaked them in water first and rinsed quite well before their first use. They were dusty when removed from the bag for soaking, but I've not seen any dust in my oven.
I just rinsed them real quick when I got them, maybe I should just do that again, more thoroughly this time :)
They have just given off dust so many times by now, I really have a suspicion that it is dust freshly broken off the rocks.
The dust should stay in the water in the pan No worries. How you are getting dust in your oven is beyond me. Are you letting the rocks boil dry with the fan on?
Heh, yea that is actually sort of what I'm doing... I found about the amount of water needed to keep steam going. In that way I don't have to take the tray out halfway through the baking, so they stay inthere all the time...
I don't use the fan at all, though.