cleaning new unglazed quarry tiles

[tmp24]

Hey Everyone,

I finally was able to track down some unglazed quarry tiles. I had to special order them as no Home Depot or Lowe's in my area carried them.  I'm pretty psyched to try them but want to know how to clean them before use.  Do I wipe them with a damp cloth or do I run them under hot water with no soap?  I'm assuming soap would be a bad idea but am unsure.  Also, will getting them wet possibly lead to them cracking?  I purchased them because I was sick of my regular pizza stones cracking.  I usually crank my oven at 550 degrees for about an hour before making my pies.  I'll try to do the same with these.  My pies usually cook in about 7 minutes or so.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

Tina

[ThePieman]

I've always used water and baking soda for my stones. Should work equally well for quarry tiles. I'm no expert on quarry tile manufacture, but it would seem like a good idea to bake the stones off for a few hours (to bake off undesirable contaminants), before cooking a pie on them.

Perhaps someone else will chime in here. 

[buceriasdon]

High heat in the oven will sterilize any beasties so it's not needed to go overboard cleaning the tiles. I hope you bought a few extra as some will crack in time.
Don