Upset Over Moldy Stone from Neighbor

[AJPratt]

So... I did a show for my next-door neighbor (her town home and my town home are connected). I left a few items at her house because I was trying to get home quickly. She brought everything back Friday afternoon (or so I thought). Today, I go out on my back patio and I see my large round stone with handles on a chair. It looks like it has spots of greyish mold on it. (It has been doing nothing but pouring rain here.) I am so upset. I don't know when it was left there as we were gone all day yesterday, not to mention why she didn't call me or tell me. I don't even know if I want to try to salvage it if it has mold on it. It is a new stone, maybe used four times. What do you think? I want to save my stone if possible, but not if it means risking the health of my family and customers. And, I highly doubt HO would replace it since the damage happened not in accordance with proper use and care.

 

[vtgadgetqueen]

I would try washing it. I know they say no soap but I do if I cook chicken just cause I have to inorder to make myself feel okay about putting it away. You can't hurt it anymore.
Good Luck

 

[lt1jane]

after you wash it, leave it in your oven on the bottom rack. After cooking something else on the top rack a time or two, your stone should be looking better. The key is don't put anything on top of it. You're OK to leave a stone in your oven on a different rack and cook something else. There is no worry of themal shock this way. I leave my bar pan and round stone in my oven all the time rotating which one is on top accoding to what I'm cooking.

 

[chefa]

Scrub it good with baking soda then bake cheap biscuits on it then wash again w/ soda. Should be ok

 

[AJPratt]

Thanks, ladies. I will try it.

 

[esavvymom]

I would try washing it. I know they say no soap but I do if I cook chicken just cause I have to inorder to make myself feel okay about putting it away. You can't hurt it anymore.
Good Luck

You do realize that when you COOK the chicken, you are cooking away any of the bacteria associated with raw chicken...it's no longer raw and no longer a risk. Just sayin'..... (Trust me, I'm super anal about chicken/raw, I got VERY ill with salmonella poisoning from mishandled raw chicken by the baggers at the grocery store and then it got splashed on me, etc).

 

[Tracy99]

You do realize that when you COOK the chicken, you are cooking away any of the bacteria associated with raw chicken...it's no longer raw and no longer a risk. Just sayin'..... (Trust me, I'm super anal about chicken/raw, I got VERY ill with salmonella poisoning from mishandled raw chicken by the baggers at the grocery store and then it got splashed on me, etc).

Ditto! Whenever someone 'complains' about not using their stones because you can't use soap on them, I say well did you cook the chicken/pork/whatever on it? And then you ate the chicken/pork/whatever? So why are you worried? This seems like a common concern through since I hear it a lot.

 

[ShellBeach]

With mold, my OCD says I need to put bleach on the mold. There is no way I could use a moldy stone without giving it a bleach bath.

The idea of cleaning it, then cooking some throwaway cheap biscuits sounds good.

PS. I'd be really annoyed at the neighbor over this, but what can you say? She was trying to be good

 

[AJPratt]

@ShellBeach: Yeah, I feel the same way, but I don't want to put bleach on a stone.

 

[dme.grant]

I've heard of people putting their stones in the dishwasher (without soap) on the sanitize cycle. I think it just steams it. Maybe that could help?

 

[gailz2]

I've used bleach in my washing of dishes if someone in the family is sick, then rinse well. This shouldn't be any different. And remember, there is chlorine in many people's public water supply already. I'd scrub the stone well, pour bleach on it and scrub again, then rinse well, and probably would bake some biscuits on it and toss them.

 

[babywings76]

I would double check with test kitchens before doing anything different than normal (ie. bleach, sanitize cycle in dishwasher, bare stone in hot oven.) Just to be on the safe side. They might have tips for you as well on how to handle mold.

 

[AJPratt]

Thanks, everyone. Still trying to figure this out.

 

[[email protected]]

Call HO

 

[momtothreeboys]

If all else fails, I have placed a PC stone I bought at a yard sale in the oven on the self-clean cycle. When I only paid a dollar for it, I figured I had nothing to lose. I placed the metal rack it came with (turned upside down) on the base of the oven and put the stone on top. Old grease and whatever else was on it all came off. It looked new. I examined it closely for cracks when it cooled. I have used it for several years since now with no problems. I am sure the company does not approve, but I would guess that would have killed mold.

 

[lkhartmann]

I agree momtothreeboys, put it in your self clean oven and rum it thru the clean cycle and it will be fine.

 

[Dina Atnip]

Use a baking soda paste that will clean it.

 

[mspibb]

I recommend Baking Soda and Vinegar>
.

 

[KateInTheKitchen]

I bleached my stone after doing a search on how to deal with it – I had to, because a mouse pooped in it. It was a diluted hot water & bleach and I let it soak a while, then gave it a scrub. Then, when dry, just for good measure, put it in a hot oven for a while. It worked fine, I never had any trouble with bleach taste coming into the food, and it's still going strong!

 

[cookingwithlove]

To sterilize something without an autoclave.... 350 degrees for 1 hour is called dry sterilization. This will kill Bacillus spores, which are the hardest thing to kill.

As far as using soap on your stone... Soap is a surfactant and helps to release things stuck on the surface, but not kill bacteria. Bacteria need 2 things to live: water and a food source. If you scrub with hot water to remove the food then dry it and put it away, there is nothing for the bacteria to live off.

 

[KellerCooks]

As a new consultant, I'm confused. The use and care says not to have the stone in the oven unless 3/4 covered (and no pre-heating). Are some of you saying you leave an uncovered stone in your over when you cook something else? Is it in there while the oven is pre-heating when nothing else is in the oven or do you not put it in until you add something on the rack above it? I had seen posts referencing the fact that leaving the stone in the oven when you cook other things makes it season faster, but I was always unsure. Thanks for any help.

 

[pchockeymom]

As a new consultant, I'm confused. The use and care says not to have the stone in the oven unless 3/4 covered (and no pre-heating). Are some of you saying you leave an uncovered stone in your over when you cook something else? Is it in there while the oven is pre-heating when nothing else is in the oven or do you not put it in until you add something on the rack above it?

I had seen posts referencing the fact that leaving the stone in the oven when you cook other things makes it season faster, but I was always unsure. Thanks for any help.

No, you do not put stones in the oven while other things are cooking. Nor do you pre-heat a stone. Yes, some say it will season your stone quicker but you need oils on it to season it, not just heat. The repeated heating and cooling of an empty stone will cause it to crack. It may not show itself until quite a while later but it will happen.

I don't believe one round in the oven to kill foreign bacteria (mold or mouse terds residue) will harm a stone unless it already has an unseen fracture.

I would not recommend leaving your stones in the oven even as a storage place. The temperature differential will not allow your stone to maintain the "room temperature" it needs while not in use. And the oven can act as an agent for bacteria with the warmth.

 

[aimeers]

I Love using the self cleaning oven to clean my stones.... it is like new when done!

 

[babywings76]

I Love using the self cleaning oven to clean my stones.... it is like new when done!

Although doing that voids the guarantee. Please be careful because putting a stone under such high heat can cause it to crack, or can cause tiny fissures that you might not see until one day it just gives out and cracks or leaks. You'll want to be careful not to encourage your customers to do this, too, otherwise they may have things crack and come back to you for a replacement only to find out the company won't do it.

Having your stone practically brand new isn't really desirable though, right? Then you have to start the "seasoning" process all over again. Even though a stone might be dark or considered ugly, it's non-stick properties are awesome!

 

[esavvymom]

Although doing that voids the guarantee. Please be careful because putting a stone under such high heat can cause it to crack, or can cause tiny fissures that you might not see until one day it just gives out and cracks or leaks. You'll want to be careful not to encourage your customers to do this, too, otherwise they may have things crack and come back to you for a replacement only to find out the company won't do it.

Having your stone practically brand new isn't really desirable though, right? Then you have to start the "seasoning" process all over again. Even though a stone might be dark or considered ugly, it's non-stick properties are awesome!

I was thinking the same thing....both the warranty and the seasoning. BUT if i had a stone that i wasnt sure was safe or clean as in the op, i would probably do it once as a last resort. But as a general rule, no. And telling customers you can do it is like telling them every PC product has a lifetime warranty!

 

[babywings76]

I was thinking the same thing....both the warranty and the seasoning. BUT if i had a stone that i wasnt sure was safe or clean as in the op, i would probably do it once as a last resort. But as a general rule, no. And telling customers you can do it is like telling them every PC product has a lifetime warranty!

Yeah, for the OP I'd say do it if you have tried everything else and have nothing to lose.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I had a customer use the cleaning cycle on her stone once and it caught on fire! Shr said it was terrible because she could not open the oven door! She let me know so I could warn others.

 

[jeryan0413]

So what was the verdict on your stone? My deep covered baker has mold in it and so far I've tried a baking soda paste but I don't feel confident that I've killed all the mold. I'm on here searching for other solutions.

 

[Rosechef]

Self clean is super high heat. My friend put her dcb in the oven at 475 degrees to finish cooking something. She had it in for about 45 minutes and the stone broke.

My director puts water in her stone (if it's one she can use with water) and puts it in the oven for about 45 minutes on 400. Then she lets it cool down and washes as usual. No problems. The heat from the oven at 400 for that length of time should kill mostly anything.

 

[PamperedChefLayla]

If all else fails, I have placed a PC stone I bought at a yard sale in the oven on the self-clean cycle. When I only paid a dollar for it, I figured I had nothing to lose. I placed the metal rack it came with (turned upside down) on the base of the oven and put the stone on top. Old grease and whatever else was on it all came off. It looked new. I examined it closely for cracks when it cooled. I have used it for several years since now with no problems. I am sure the company does not approve, but I would guess that would have killed mold.

My aunt did the same thing accidentally and her stone was fine. I am still a bit afraid to do it since the self clean cycle is SO freakin hot

 

[Curlyone]

Self clean is super high heat. My friend put her dcb in the oven at 475 degrees to finish cooking something. She had it in for about 45 minutes and the stone broke.

My director puts water in her stone (if it's one she can use with water) and puts it in the oven for about 45 minutes on 400. Then she lets it cool down and washes as usual. No problems. The heat from the oven at 400 for that length of time should kill mostly anything.

I put my DCB in the microwave with water for about 10 minutes. I let it cool down some and take it out. I pour the water out and let the stone dry.
Since it is still hot, it practically dries itself and I feel like it is cleaner. No issues with it!

 

[byrd1956]

I know this is an old post, but a customer told me her Deep Covered Baker has black specks and she mentioned that is looked like mold. I told her to scrub with a baking soda past. For those that had this problem before did this do the trick? Is there anyone with any other suggestions on this?