Hartstone gets the bread and meatloaf tests

We’re quite fond of Hartstone Pottery’s baking stone line, which includes unglazed stoneware dishes for baking bread, muffins, pizza, lasagna and other foods.

The pieces are:

Stoneware
Made in USA
Lead free
Microwave, oven and dishwasher safe
Resistant to metal tools
Resistant to absorbing dishwashing soap in sink or dishwasher

We were very happy with the Pineapple Nut Bread we made in the loaf dish. This recipe called 3 cups flour and that is about the right amount for the capacity of this generous sized pan. The nut bread was similar to muffin batter, in that it was leavened with baking powder. This is the kind of batter that you want to stir until just mixed.

The loaf was nicely browned and evenly baked. We love this dish!

Based on the crustiness of the bread, I think this dish will really shine when used for a kneaded loaf.

We also asked our tester to put the unglazed stoneware loaf dish through its paces. She made meatloaf in it without seasoning the dish first, just washed and baked. She was happy with her results, and the clean up.

“Just used it like I would have if it were glass or metal - no molly coddling,” she said.

“After I took out what was left of the meatloaf, I put the pan in the sink and filled with soapy water for a bit of a soak. Gave it a few minutes and would have not been worried to let it soak longer…

“It cleaned up well. There are some light stains now as you would expect no matter what you cooked in it. I would have no concern at all to now bake a loaf of bread in it…

“The only comment is that as it’s unglazed stoneware it’s going to age/season with use and the purchaser should expect that’s normal (so much of what’s out there to be purchased doesn’t do that).”

The “original” Hartstone Pottery is handmade in Zanesville, Ohio.

Hartstone has roots back to the 1970s, when it made the popular Brown Bag Cookie Molds. The company went through a period of corporate ownership, and was closed.

But in a town of 25,000, the loss of 400 jobs was painful, not to mention the loss of a piece of history. Southeastern Ohio has a long history of pottery making, and most of it is gone. Roseville and McCoy are just two of the Ohio potteries that are familiar to collectors of vintage American pottery and dinnerware.

The rest of the story…a group of local business people got together and Hartstone Pottery was reborn.