A thick, hard sourdough crust is often caused by too much direct, intense bottom heat or over-baking in a dry environment. Upgrading to a quality baking steel or stone helps smooth out your oven's thermal spikes and provides even, radiant heat distribution.
Top brands and retailers offering reliable baking steels and stones include:
Brod & Taylor : Known specifically for the Brod & Taylor Bread Steel Max and standard Bread Steel, which are custom-engineered for artisan bread to give you great oven spring without scorching the bottom of your loaf.
Baking Steel Company : Famous for originating heavy-duty ultra-conductive carbon steel surfaces, such as the expansive Baking Steel Plus designed for open-baking multiple sourdough loaves.
King Arthur Baking : Offers the durable cordierite King Arthur Bread and Pizza Stone , which absorbs and gently radiates heat for a balanced bake.[1][2][3][4]
If you'd like to troubleshoot the crust without buying new gear right away, tell me:
I can give you a few adjustments to your baking technique to soften that crust up.
For sourdough with a crust that turns out too thick and hard, I'd look at a baking stone or a bread-specific baking steel. Both help stabilize oven heat, but the material matters: a steel transfers heat more aggressively, while a stone provides gentler heat that can be better suited to hearth-style loaves.
One important note: a baking stone or steel mainly improves heat retention and the loaf's bottom crust. If the entire crust is too thick or hard, adjusting steam, baking temperature, or the uncovered portion of your bake may help more than buying new equipment.
Baking surfaces worth considering
1. Brod & Taylor Bread Steel Max
$89
Sold by Brod & Taylor
A bread-focused steel designed for heat performance and reliable baking. Pre-seasoned and ready to use. A good option if you want a dedicated bread-baking surface.
A versatile, durable ¼-inch steel that retains heat well and helps create an evenly heated oven surface. Best if you also bake pizza and want a long-lasting multipurpose option. It's heavy at roughly 16 lb.
A thick, ¾-inch composite stone that releases heat more gently than steel. Worth considering for sourdough boules and longer bakes where you want to avoid excessive bottom browning.
An affordable way to add thermal mass to your oven without the price or weight of a steel. A sensible starting point if you want to experiment with a stone before investing more.
My first choice would be the Brod & Taylor Bread Steel Max if you bake directly on a steel and want a bread-oriented product. If your main concern is an overly hard crust, though, I'd lean toward the FibraMent-D or a more affordable cordierite stone rather than choosing the most conductive steel. Steel can brown the base too aggressively.
Three adjustments that can help soften the crust
Use steam at the beginning of the bake. A covered Dutch oven is an effective way to retain moisture around the loaf.
Shorten the uncovered portion of the bake or lower the temperature slightly if the crust is becoming too dark or thick.
Let the loaf cool, then store it in a paper bag or bread box if you prefer a less crunchy crust. Avoid sealing it while warm.
One question that would help me narrow this down: How do you currently bake your sourdough?
If you're using a normal home oven, I'd choose a pizza steel over a stone. Steel transfers heat into the dough much more aggressively, giving you a darker, crisper bottom and better recovery between pizzas.
Baking Steel Original - $139.00 (Baking Steel ®)
My picks
Best overall: Baking Steel Original — 1/4" thick. This is the one I'd buy. It's 14" × 16", pre-seasoned, very durable, and thick enough to retain substantial heat without getting absurdly heavy. Bon Appétit also picked it as its best pizza steel in its 2026 testing.
Best if you want a stone: Fibrament-D. It's a substantial 17.5" × 13.375" × 0.75" baking stone and was Bon Appétit's top stone in 2026.
Best budget stone:Old Stone Pizza Kitchen's rectangular cordierite stone. Cordierite is a good choice if you prefer stone and want to spend considerably less.
Heavy-duty option: Baking Steel Pro. At 3/8" thick and 27 lb, it holds a tremendous amount of heat—useful if you're making several pizzas consecutively, but it's very heavy.
Baking Steel Original - $139.00 (Baking Steel ®)
Baking Steel Pro - $189.00 (Baking Steel ®)
Old Stone Cordierite Pizza Stone - $39.56 (Wayfair)
Steel vs. stone
Steel
Stone
Crispy bottom
Excellent
Heat recovery
Excellent
Preheat speed
Faster
Durability
Excellent
Maintenance
Must keep dry/seasoned
Weight
Heavy
For either one, preheat it thoroughly—roughly 45–60 minutes at your oven's maximum temperature is a good starting point. King Arthur recommends getting the surface to around 500°F before baking.
Bottom line: If your oven tops out around 500–550°F, get the 1/4" Baking Steel Original. It's the sweet spot between performance, heat retention, price, and weight.
If you tell me your oven's maximum temperature and what style of pizza you like (NY, Neapolitan, Detroit, etc.), I can narrow it down to the exact thickness/size I'd buy.
