Stone Baking (as opposed to Baking Stones)
I just want to clarify the fact that this post is not about making heavy brick-like loaves as the title might infer, but to baking your breads on a pizza stone or tle that holds the heat and gives a great crunchy outer crust to your breads. I also think it gives the breads some character as we also free shape our loaves so they are not just the everyday cookie-cutter type loaves we get from using bread pans to bake the loaves.
Years ago we started selling pizza stones for making pizza, but soon discovered that they also made fabulous Artisan style bread. We also carried good quality thick stones and had great results with them so I decided to order some thinner less expensive stones to work with and make them more affordable to sell. Well I soon found out that the thinner stones do not hold as much heat and do not produce the same results as the much thicker good quality stone did. They seemd to me that the little extra pop we get with the thicker more substantial stones, just wasn't there.
Stone Baking Tips
1. STEAM THE OVEN - Professional bakers use steam injectors inside of their ovens. When the  loaves are placed in the oven they give the bread a good blast of steam before they start to bake. This keeps the loaves supple and moist and allows the bread to rise some more, as long as possible, while the temperature of the bread is heating up. Once the outside of the loaves begins to dry out it hardens and won't spring any more. This is why we spray the loaves several times when make french bread to give a good thick crust to it. We get get this same affect by spritzing our over walls with water in a spray bottle, right after we put the loaves in the oven to bake, being careful not to do it on the light bulb or it will explode. The water will evaporate quickly creating steam.
A warning: steam is hot. Really really hot. Steam is also wet and many electronic ovens do not like wet. Please use the utmost caution trying any of these techniques, and be aware that damage to person or property can occur as a result of these techniques. Try these at your own risk!
Another way to get steam in the oven is by placing an baking pan ( I use an 9"x12"one) with about a cup of hot water in it under the stone. This will heat up and evaporate more slowly, adding extra steam to the oven at the beginning of the baking to give the crust that extra boost. Please be aware though, that if you have a newer electronic oven that you are more cautious with either of these methods for adding steam.
2. SCORE THE BREAD - Scoring the bread is when slice or cut a line or lines in the top of the  bread. just before it rises. Scoring or slashing the bread is done with a sharp, single edged knife or bakers blade. I have even used a razor blade slipped on to a stirring stick. You don't slash straight down the length of the loave either if doing a French style loaf but rather diagonally across the bread about a 30 to 60 degree from the vertical. The cuts should be no more than a 1/4 inch deep so that when the loaf is baked, the scores "blossom" and spread across the loaves. The rule of thumb is that the larger the loaf the deeper you go. What the scoring does is allow the bread to rise and expand evenly to give the bread a more uniform look to it. Underscoring and not going deep enough will give you less attractive loaves. As you can see from the pictures you can get quite fancy with it.
3. TURN UP THE HEAT - One of the most important things that needs to happen when weareusing the stones it that we get what we call "Bread Spring". This term means the final, extra rise that happens in the last few minutes that the loaf is in the oven. A good spring will often make the difference beween mediocre and great bread. When preheating the oven to bake French bread. turn it right up to as high as it will safely go, at least 500 degrees F.
Also when I started out with using the stones years ago, I think I was doing a couple of things wrong. For one, I wasn't pre-heating the baking stone long enough as I was only heating the oven to the final baking temperature, usually 400 Degrees F. If you only pre-heat the stone for 15 to 20 min. it is usually only achieved the temperature of 375 degrees and doesn't give as nice a crust.
To get a substantial stone you can purchase a thicker pizza stone or you can make one out of bricks or unglazed quarry tiles which are extremely inexpensive and can be found at most home improvement stores. (They must be unglazed stones to work as baking stones) The stones need to be placed in the oven at least an hour before baking and turn the temperature of the oven way up to 500 Degrees F. or whatever the maximum temperature your oven can safely go. Let the stone very REALLY hot before placing your bread on it. If you do this you will get a great oven spring or bread spring and really notice the difference between your stone baked bread and bread that you have baked on a regular baking sheet.
One more thing. Before you go to buy those UNGLAZED quarry stones at the flooring store, make sure to measure your ovens shelves so you know how big to buy them . You can always buy a few extra tiles as well as you know some will break. Chances are that you could cover both shelves in the oven for about $15 to $20. Before you use the tiles you need to clean them with a baking soda solution as soap and detergents can impart off tastes. Scrub and rinse well and let dry before heating. It is also good to leave a 2"space between the tiles and the wall for better heat and air circulation and to promote even heating on both the bottom and top racks. The first time they are heated they will smoke a little but that is normal. Once they are seasoned by using them over and over they will be perfect for doing all your artisan style breads
4. PRACTICE! - The only way the you will get really good at baking on the stones is to practice. Your breads won't turn out perfect every time but once you get down how to do it right by tweaking a few things to see how it changes the outcome, you will perfect the art of bread baking on the stones. Have fun with it and experiment and don't get upset if a few of your loaves fail to turn out the way you wanted them to. Mistakes help us all perfect our craft! 
Try out some of these recipes on a Baking Stone.
Cottage Rye Bread Heritage Bread Sourdough French Bread Whole Wheat Bread Bowls
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loaves are placed in the oven they give the bread a good blast of steam before they start to bake. This keeps the loaves supple and moist and allows the bread to rise some more, as long as possible, while the temperature of the bread is heating up. Once the outside of the loaves begins to dry out it hardens and won't spring any more. This is why we spray the loaves several times when make french bread to give a good thick crust to it. We get get this same affect by spritzing our over walls with water in a spray bottle, right after we put the loaves in the oven to bake, being careful not to do it on the light bulb or it will explode. The water will evaporate quickly creating steam. 
bread. just before it rises. Scoring or slashing the bread is done with a sharp, single edged knife or bakers blade. I have even used a razor blade slipped on to a stirring stick. You don't slash straight down the length of the loave either if doing a French style loaf but rather diagonally across the bread about a 30 to 60 degree from the vertical. The cuts should be no more than a 1/4 inch deep so that when the loaf is baked, the scores "blossom" and spread across the loaves. The rule of thumb is that the larger the loaf the deeper you go. What the scoring does is allow the bread to rise and expand evenly to give the bread a more uniform look to it. Underscoring and not going deep enough will
give you less attractive loaves. As you can see from the pictures you can get quite fancy with it.
sure to measure your ovens shelves so you know how big to buy them . You can always buy a few extra tiles as well as you know some will break. Chances are that you could cover both shelves in the oven for about $15 to $20. Before you use the tiles you need to clean them with a baking soda solution as soap and detergents can impart off tastes. Scrub and rinse well and let dry before heating. It is also good to leave a 2"space between the tiles and the wall for better heat and air circulation and to promote even heating on both the bottom and top racks. The first time they are heated they will smoke a little but that is normal. Once they are seasoned by using them over and over they will be perfect for doing all your artisan style breads
