I dont know who told you quartz was more food safe and less porous. If properly sealed granite should NOT stain and sealing is NO big deal and with some granites rarely if ever needed if fabricated correctly. That said, after all the controversary of granite and radon, if I had it to do over, I would go with quartz. Quartz has no negatives IMO...assuming you like the color and pattern choices and lack of movement. Personally, I would never choose a granite from China, advice I received from a granite fabricator.

I have had Cambria Quartz for a year. We love it, I clean it with vinegar windex, that's it. No staining, no sealing.
It is always beautiful. I never put hot pots on it, though I hear of people doing it all of the time. It's just to easy to lay down a hot pad.

We are very happy with the Cambria.

We have Silestone in the bathroom and it's bulletproof, although I've heard once or twice of people chipping it (people can chip anything, even corian, if they try hard enough!). VERY forgiving wrt cleaning.

Don't even get started about the "food safe" and "porous" thing on the Kitchens Forum, though -- you may ignite a firestorm. I would say that you can use other criteria to decide, like whether you like the look, and lack of upkeep needed, and know that both would be relatively the same on the 'food safe' thing. I do agree with the China issue, though. You can never know what's been done to granite from China.

I saw a study about e coli and different countertop materials a few months back. The crux of it was...stainless steel and granite were the most hygenic. So even if engineered quartz countertops are somehow more hygenic than granite, IMO the issue is not something to base your decision on, because granite is plenty plenty plenty sanitary! Most peeps will have way more bacteria in their dish sponge or rag.

One sister has Zodiaq quartz, the other has sealed granite. I have cooked and cleaned up on both, and they both cleaned up exactly the same, became as smooth as glass with a few wipes of a microfiber rag. If I were choosing, I would pick based on looks only.

OTOH, how I found the study was researching concrete countertops, and I found that concrete was appallingly unsanitary. Sad news, because I love concrete. Who knows what kind of concrete they looked at though...maybe it was a chunk of sidewalk, and not a professional sealed countertop :-)

Joanna

We put in Silestone counters two years ago and I just LOOOOOVE them. We've had a lot of compliments.

This is the color we chose: {{!gwi}}

Please note I have no commercial connection to the company.

There are a gazillion different colors. We had a very slight problem with the installation -- the island was a very very very slightly different color than the counters. (My husband noticed it, and really, I think he was the only one who could tell the difference.) But when we called about it, the company sent out a team of people who measured, discussed, photographed, analyzed, and then replaced the island top at no cost. They were great.

The contractor who installed them installs a lot of different kinds of counters, and he said that in the five years he's been installing Silestone, he's had NO complaints or callbacks about it.

I clean it with Windex. Easy peasy.

We have Silestone on our kitchen island. I love it. I chose it over granite mainly because I like an overall consistant color and not a lot of movement. The colors in the Silestone were perfect and it is durable and easy to clean.

Thanks for all of the input. Based on some of the answers here and over at the kitchen forum, it looks like I might have to do a little more investigating in terms of the look and performance I want as well as to speak to a few more sales people. This might seem like a dumb question, but I see the word engineered and fabricated in some of the feedback -- are quartz countertops a composite/manmade product?

Have silestone for three years now and love it. They told me i could use 409 on it. They tell you it ok to set hot items on it but i just never do. It's cool to the touch and works great for rolling out pie dough. Would get it again in a heart beat.

Quartz is good. Zodiac, Silestone, LG Hi-Macs all make quartz countertops.

There are new sealants for granite on the market that last for 10 years.

I was sold on quartz and changed my mind because I just didn't like it enough to pay twice as much as granite.

Quartz has been a very durable and easy to maintain choice for a client of mine, who IMHO is dirty.

As far as hygiene, science has shown over and over again that being "too clean" is actually harmful. Small bacterial challenges are good for the immune system. The polio epidemic of the 1950s exploded because babies were no longer born with antibodies to polio. This was the result of increasing levels of hygiene.

Over use of antibiotics and antimicrobials has cause the development of superbugs. I am not promoting dirtyness but I grew up in the era of formica and linoleum counters and sponges etc and I don't think that anyone of my generation suffered for it.

This might seem like a dumb question, but I see the word engineered and fabricated in some of the feedback -- are quartz countertops a composite/manmade product?

Yes, quartz counters are a manmade product. Crushed quartz (a natual mineral found in many rocks, including granite) and colorants are combined with an epoxy resin material to make slabs.

I had a Silestone countertop on my island. I chose a black (Stellar Night, I think?), and I liked it. I felt secure knowing that it was tough as nails.

For my new house, I fully assumed that I would go with quartz again. and then I saw a demo kitchen with granite containing lots of depth and movement. It spoke to me. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but still....I think that I will go with granite on the perimetre this time around.

In 2006 we put Zodiac quartz counter tops in our kitchen and we love them. People think that they are granite. We didn't chose granite because we thought it would be too busy in our small kitchen. I love the ease of clean up & the integrated sink. Since we chose an eased edge the cost was higher than the cost of granite. The color is caramel with all the flecks of granite showing.

This is great input. Based on the info here, it looks like the decision isn't as clear-cut as I initially thought. We'll probably be making the decision within the next few weeks so I'll keep you posted . Thanks again.

We used black Silestone in our last kitchen, and if this kitchen had not already had granite, I'd have done it again. I loved them. They look great, and somehow seem softer than natural stone...and I cleaned them only with hot water and a microfiber cloth, unless I got raw chicken on them, and then I used hot water and a little soap as well.
The shop we used has a laser measuring system that does away with the need to remove the old tops in a renovation before the new ones come in. And they cut with water under pressure, so their operation is clean. They did a wonderful job, for about 3/4 the cost of stone.