Remodeling kitchen...Best surface?

[Chifraction]

Good luck with your repair. I myself recently completed repairs in my country house, and at least now I'm sitting there on modern chaise. It is still very exhausting and does not leave any strength. Although my repair was relatively short, I was still so tired of it. I probably celebrated the end of this three-month renovation stronger and longer than my own birthday and Christmas combined. So good luck to you and I hope you finish your renovation quickly and don't spend millions on it wow I did it

[red kiosk]

We've been rocking counters and a farmhouse sink made from soapstone for the last 25 years. I love the matte finish and it's much warmer to the touch than granite. No problem with hot dishes placed right on the counter and it's much easier on fragile glass stemware. Over the years it's developed an almost leather-like texture as it's softer talc content is slowly worn away and making it's mica and quartz content more pronounced. Mineral oil treatments every few months keep them looking great. Here's a pic of our sink. Hand-chiseled with the phrase "Hunger is the best seasoning" in Latin.

Jim 

[starcmr]

Hi guys,


Knowing how important the right/best surface is for bread and pizza making but taking also care here https://mayflowerva.com, maitenance and appearance into consideration, whats the winning countertop surface to go with?


What do you have...and love...or not love?


Any details appreciated.


Thanks

Hi, we are about to demo and remodel the kitchen. There will be a lot of dust. It is 1 room away from where the piano is and there is no door. The contractor will put up barriers, but I am assuming it will not be good enough and there will be a lot of dust. I can't move the piano into storage because my daughter needs access to it to get ready for music school performance auditions. She can go a couple of days where she just practices on her keyboard upstairs during the actual demo process when it will be most dusty. So I want to seal it up tight during that time. After that, I will want to peel back the cover so she can practice, but maybe cover it back up here and there in case there is any more dust floating in the air, and during floor-sanding, etc. Is it good enough to just close the lid and put a few sheets over it, or do I need to do sheets, then plastic tarp, wrap around legs, etc.?

[Camarie]

We've been rocking counters and a farmhouse sink made from soapstone for the last 25 years. I love the matte finish and it's much warmer to the touch than granite. No problem with hot dishes placed right on the counter and it's much easier on fragile glass stemware. Over the years it's developed an almost leather-like texture as it's softer talc content is slowly worn away and making it's mica and quartz content more pronounced. Mineral oil treatments every few months keep them looking great. Here's a pic of our sink. Hand-chiseled with the phrase "Hunger is the best seasoning" in Latin.

Jim

I'd LOVE to have a sinik like that, but i don't think that it'll happen!!!!

[Travinos_Pizza]

I’ve worked on wood, granite, the plastic crap that escapes me, and steel.

If I had a shop, steel would be the ticket for cleanup and being able to see the mess that needs cleaned with the most ease.

For my home, I very much enjoy the granite due to the smooth finish and ease of picking up my dough with the peel.

[Dollar]

Hey all,

I've been wondering about this for my granite countertops: is it a legitimate concern to worry about oil from the surface of the dough staining the granite?

When I put dough away to rest, I usually am coating the surface with oil first, which helps make it easier to remove from the container and keeps it from sticking as it expands during proofing. This however means that when I take the dough out to shape, it's still pretty slick with oil, and I'm worried about that oil seeping into my granite and staining it. When I was younger my mother always stressed to never let oil get on the granite due to the staining, and that was on a very dark granite, whereas mine is sort of "cookies and cream" with lots of white/grey/black mixed.

Curious of everyone's thoughts on this. I've been shaping on silicone or on parchment paper because of this concern, but I'd love to just shape directly on the countertop if I can. Alternatively, if this is an issue I could just use it to rationalize a large wooden board for the purpose of shaping.

Thanks!

[barryvabeach]

If properly sealed, you should be fine.  Most natural stone, like granite, is porous to a certain extent, which will allow liquids to seep into it and cause stains if the liquid stays on the surface too long.  If it is properly sealed,  liquids should not get absorbed, so you would be fine to use oil.    Here is one webpage describing a teste https://bostonstonerestoration.com/know-granite-needs-sealed/

[Jersey Pie Boy]

I think Barry is right, but to be safe, I use a large wooden board...also my granite is a tumbled=brushed surface so not a smooth surface

[spaceboy]

i was going to start a thread on this subject because i am moving into a new house and am unsure on what surface i should get and sure enough this thread popped up.  i will have a prep island where i foresee doing most if not all of my dough management and i am torn as to what the surface should be.  soap stone has been mentioned by the designer but i have no idea if that is a good dough surface, i can also go with boos block but was also thinking should i just have the island be stainless steel? although, i dont know how that would look, aesthetically. 

mock-up attached

[barryvabeach]

Nice mock up.  As for function, SS is great, for aesthetics,  IMO, it presents a lot of challenges -Fingerprints, liquids, and nearly anything else stands out on SS, so it will be hard to keep it looking clean,  Soapstone is on the opposite end - I think it will hide a lot of stuff. 

[spaceboy]

Nice mock up.  As for function, SS is great, for aesthetics,  IMO, it presents a lot of challenges -Fingerprints, liquids, and nearly anything else stands out on SS, so it will be hard to keep it looking clean,  Soapstone is on the opposite end - I think it will hide a lot of stuff.

how is soapstone in regards to dough management? my wife is handling pretty much all this stuff bc frankly i dont really care but im involved with kitchen stuff because i love to cook and my main concern is whats best for my dough 

[kori]

...it's still pretty slick with oil...

Curious of everyone's thoughts on this.

Use much less oil.

[ButteredPizza]

The very visible swirls and scratches on stainless countertop at home would drive me crazy! 

[red kiosk]

I'm a retired interior designer and have had soapstone counters and sink in my kitchen for the past 25 years. I also used to make a lot of pizzas. Soapstone requires periodic maintenance with mineral oil. I found sprinkling a layer of flour on the soapstone during dough prep would pull any oil off the top surface creating a dried-out, dull-looking area that required re-oiling later. Basically a hassle. I eventually ended up purchasing a nice slab of white marble that I would use when making pizza dough or any other pastry.

I do love ALL the properties of soapstone and could go on and on about it. It's warmer to the touch as it actually absorbs heat from the house. It's easier on glassware. You can put hot pans directly on it. You can use it as a chalkboard. It ages and wears beautifully, eventually developing
a texture similar to fine leather.

But it's not for everyone. "Maintenance" is something a lot of people would rather not deal with.

PM me if you have any specific soapstone questions.
Take care!

Jim

[Davydd]

I have Cambria quartz on my kitchen countertops and it is the best surface I've had by far. It is smooth, impervious and doesn't scratch after 6 years. This is the specs on it if you understand them. I don't.

https://p.widencdn.net/h6vm5h/Product-Specification-Sheet-US_Canada

I have stainless steel in my RV. It's OK as a pizza prep surface but not the best looking except with an overall "modern" kitchen design and I think it would scratch.

[QuickDraw]

I have Cambria quartz on my kitchen countertops and it is the best surface I've had by far. It is smooth, impervious and doesn't scratch after 6 years. This is the specs on it if you understand them. I don't.

https://p.widencdn.net/h6vm5h/Product-Specification-Sheet-US_Canada

I have stainless steel in my RV. It's OK as a pizza prep surface but not the best looking except with an overall "modern" kitchen design and I think it would scratch.

I just put Cambria in our kitchen as well, we had it at our old house so im familiar with using it and to me its the best surface for a home kitchen.

[spaceboy]

we were going back n forth about the island surface, was going to be stainless but just switched to quartz
not sure if its cambria quartz, will have to research that

[QuickDraw]

we were going back n forth about the island surface, was going to be stainless but just switched to quartz
not sure if its cambria quartz, will have to research that

i think they're all very similar, at the old house it was a different brand, there's no difference that i can tell.  i think the other brand we had was silestone but we looked at at least 4 different brands and they all have a little different mixes/colors...  the new kitchen we went with matte finish which hides messes a bit better but functionally they are the same for me.

[spaceboy]

gotcha, thank you