Corian for pastry work surface?

Synthetic Polymer derived surface is not heat resistant and can chip easily. Marble is more expensive, granite is less costly.

synthetic surfaces for cookery baking purposes. They will never be my preference. I have made pastry with many types of table top surfaces such as making hand laminated croissants, pie crust, danish, puff pastries.etc I donot like these 'artificial' surfaces although they are smooth but they feel warm and tends to melt the butter faster if compared to marble and granite( which are cooler) making it slightly difficult to make such bakery products straight by hand . But for general dough making they are both the same., but I prefer the stone surface for dough rounding and molding. Meanwhile for chocolate work, I will never play around with synthetics but would go straight for natural stone based surfaces. Often I placed a marble slab/granite slab on top of those polymer surfaces whenever I temper chocolate by hand. Conclusively, Marble and granite (in my experience) are equally rated for such purpose will always be my preference in pastry /chocolate/bakery based preparations. Roy

Hi Roy,

You have mastered biochemistry, but how about physics?

It seems to me that all objects in my kitchen that are exposed to the air will soon be at the same temperature.

Some feel cooler, but that is because they conduct heat better than do other things, and my hands are warmer than the objects in the kitchen.

If the synthetic materials feel "warmer" that is because they conduct heat less well than do such surfaces as steel, or granite.

That would seem to make the synthetics better with regard to the melting of (refrigerated) butter.

No?

All the best,

Hello Kenneth, I think its not about conduction but a force of habit honed by years of experience and the apparent 'ease' working on those natural surfaces Besides stone is not a good conductor of heat either if compared to metals.(stainless steel.).Stones act more like a heat sink and tends to retain the prevailing ambient temperature than wood, and synthetics. A lot of well experienced pastry chef sand bakers prefer the marble or granite surface for making their stuff as it is easier to manipulate pastry dough , temper chocolate by tablering method, etc..BTW, Chocolate which is heat sensitive is best handled in such stone surfaces. Besides they seldom work on such surfaces making those temperature sensitive things with high ambient temperature at the time of such preparations.

So do I,.....I worked with croissant, danish, puff, pastries( by hand) when the room temperature is around or less than 25 degree C. I had experienced working in the wood , formica and other supposed heat insulating surfaces but will prefer the natural stone surface as I find it easier to do my work in those areas. One thing also if I make caramel type confectionery decorations for plated desserts Blown and pulled sugar pieces,etc.I can put the hot copper pot on top of it without worrying the surface will warp..Unlike synthetics which are not usually stable to such. Roy

Hi Roy,

Much as was the case when we discussed ascorbic acid, clouds of smoke are coming from my screen.

All the best,

Hmnn ....Maybe its more of a nitrous oxide propelled smoke. Roy

I've never tempered chocolate on marble, but I do know that marble is awfully porous, have you ever had any problems with marble counters darkening and staining? I'm interested in this for future reference, when I design my own kitchen as opposed to just live with it. Thanks, T

In one establishment I worked previously they had marble lined table for 20 years , yes it not as white as the decorative ones more like dark colored due maybe due to long use, but it never seems to be a problem. Regarding staining the colors being used in the patisserie work are what we call water soluble and occasionally they use lakes but so far I cannot find any significant stain on the slab that is worthy of concern.Marble after long use, it seems to appear that the pores are sealed IMO. Regarding chocolate temperings and other chocolate work the porosity of the marble is not a concern. In the past I poured bucketfull of melted chocolate of varying kinds( dark,white, milk, compound) and worked with a palette knife and flat scraper spreading and collecting the mass until its thickened then it into a tub with a third to a quarter of the melted chocolate in it. The process is repeated until the desired kind of temper is attained for application to various chocolate confections,plated desserts,. assembling showpieces etc. . Whatever residues is just scrubbed off with a palette knife and paint scraper.Various others colored things are spilled on the marble surface but it is easily cleaned off. Besides many marble surface I saw is not using the perfectly white ones but more darker colored,so its difficult to tell if the marble was initially bright colored but darkened with age; or just plainly darker colored at the start. Roy.

On Wed 08 Jun 2005 08:38:59p, Thomas H. O'Reilly wrote in rec.food.baking:

Most candy shops that make fudge use a marble slab to cool and work it. I've never noticed any staining. Marble and granite have cooling qualities that are lacking in Corian.

The marble or granite slab is less of a conductor than materials like Corian which could be considered a plastic.

If you place a bag of ice on a marble slab prior to working pastry it will stay colder for a longer time than the Corian.

I have never worked directly on a countertop due to the problems cleaning it and use a large slab mounted on a rolling table.

If needed it is taken outside and pressure washed or given a light grinding with an abrasive polishing paste.

Many stone countertops are sealed to close up any pores and protect from staining. I believe these sealers need to be approved for food contact in the USA.

Howdy,

If the marble or granite conducts less well, why does it feel cooler to the touch than does Corian?

Thanks,

Because it's conducting the heat away from your hand or whatever body part is touching it.

That's why it's so good for pastries and candies. It conducts the heat away from the pastry so that the butter in it doesn't melt from the energy of being worked. It conducts the heat away from the candy mass so that it cools evenly and quickly (but not so quickly that it can't be worked).

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

Hi Jenn,

With respect, something seems backwards...

The reason that granite feels cool to the touch is that it is a better conductor of heat than other materials such as Corian. The OP had said that "marble or granite slab is less of a conductor than materials like Corian" and it was that to which I responded.

All the best,

I don't know if Roy's reasoning is correct but my experience has been that marble and granite are better than synthetic boards. I have occasionally had to work with chocolate. My experience has been that working the chocolate on my granite is better than any synthetic board I have used.

I don't know why but what Roy says matches my experience. The original question was about how Corian compares to marble or granite.

I've been reading this newsgroup for a while. I value Roy's experience. His reasoning might be off but the end result is correct.

P.S. to the person who was asking about the porous nature of marble and granite. Natural marble and granite are porous and will stain (not as bad as concrete) but most marble and granite (counter tops or boards) found in a kitchen are sealed to prevent staining.

Go with quartz.....nothing needs to be done with it!

The Fine Art of Cooking involves personal choice. Many preferences, ingredients, and procedures may not be consistent with what you know to be true. As with any recipe, you may find your personal intervention will be necessary. Bon Appetit!

This time I have to agree with Roy. Every pastry chef I've known prefers natural stone. It feels cooler, perhaps because it retains the cool of the evening.

When I was in high school, we had an old building that had thick walls and marble floors. Long before schools in Dallas were air conditioned, that building stayed cool all day long, even in the summer.

Mike

I think that it has to do with the relative thickness. you can take a blowtorch to a washer and it'll be really hot, but within minutes it'll cool down, But run your car down to the store and back and the block will be hot for hours

Additionally, there is nothing about Zodiaq that indicates it is any different from Corian, at least when it comes to using it for baking.

Zodiac is just quarz embedded polymer which had similar expected weakness of other plastics if exposed to heat. Defnitely,,,, still crappy in camparison to the natural stone surface like granite in terms of durability ,heat resistancea and "heat sink" properties. Roy