It won't scratch true granite unless the bottom is covered with diamonds! But not all stones sold commercially as granite are geological granite. You should check the hardness of the acutal stone you get - but it's better to be careful!

Wow! It seems like I need to do a criminal background check on the granite slab before I marry it for 15 years.

Being a kitchen novice, it's really amazing how complicated some of these decisions get.

I guess that's perhaps a benefit of a consistent man made material: you know its properties (for good or for bad).

Thanks!

Mike

Good points Weissman!

Mike, cookware won't scratch either quartz or granite. By "granite" I mean any igneous rock, regardless of color or mineral content. The so-called granite you have to watch out for are the marbles that some stone yards misclassify as quartzite or granite. Aside from that you are pretty safe with "granite."

There is a similar thread running right now where a few others including Old Ryder chime in about some of the pros and cons of quartz and granite.

I think in general quartz seems to be more subject to scratching than true granite. At least that's the sense I get from watching threads.

No material is perfect. Read some threads here on quartz and granite and you will see they both have pros and cons.

If you like granite find some that you like and do some more research. Having knowledge so you know what to expect is key.

I slide stainless and stoneware across my quartz and haven't had any scratching. What will scratch it is using an abrasive on it like Scotchbrite pads and gritty cleansers.

My fabricator told me they can easily polish out scratches on granite. Not so with quartz. On install they cleaned epoxy off my Caesarstone with Barkeeper's Friend, which is oxalic acid, and dulled an area. They wanted to try to polish it out and got training from Caesarstone, but after 2 1/2 hours of a two-man team working their way through different levels of polishing creams and buffing tools, it was still noticeable, so they replaced the countertop. But it was a good learning experience for them.

I read that really long thread about the guy doing the granite experiment (measuring radon and radiation) before & after a granite install.

What's clear to me is that you really need to know your stuff before investing in granite.

And, it's like buying a puppy: each is unique as a snow flake and not a commodity.

And, I don't know if it's a real concern but after someone here mentioned granite and bacteria, I did a quick google search and found this:

http://solidsurfacealliance.org/G-biology-issues.html

Again, whether it's a real concern or not, the bacteria, radon and radiation have combined to make me decide granite is not for me.

Mike

Mike,

I won't even open the link. Who paid for this "study"? Solid surface alliance? Every group has "facts" that show their stuff is better.

How often does food actually touch your counters?

I roll dough on my granite. I wash it first, just like I would wash laminate, quartz, or any other surface.

If you think about cutting boards you will be going around and around with the same issues.

Take it easy on yourself with these decisions.

I think you are making a really uninformed decision. That so called study you linked is one step above advertising. I would not trust it one iota. You should really evaluate your research sources better and be a little less gullible.

Didn't your cavemen ancestors use rock as a food preparation surface? And yet, here you are! ;)

Thanks for your @realism. I don't think I'm being gullible. I am asking opinions from others who have more experience in this area than I do. And, I really appreciate all the input.

Whether or not each of the potential issues with granite are a big deal individually, taken together, the pro's do not out-way the potential cons for me.

I am simply acknowledging I'm well outside my area of expertise and asking for help in narrowing down a surface for me to investigate.

In a sense, the Corian vs. quartz vs. granite vs. Formica is kinda like iphone vs. android (a subject I know lots more about :-)

Mike

"potential cons"

From advertising.

Most of the cons you have shown(radiation and bacteria) are fantasy.

Sounds like the wood cutting board fiasco of a few years ago.

Wood turned out to have better germicidal proprieties that plastic (good thing or all the tress would have rotted away long ago).

This post was edited by brickeyee on Fri, Mar 22, 13 at 11:54