Never, never have I put a hot pan down on my marble or any other counter material. They say you can with soapstone, but I'm not sure I would do that even.

I don't really use trivets. I use cooling racks if necessary.

What counter do you have that you set a boiling hot pan onto?

Here's a thread on the same topic from earlier in the month.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marble and hot pans thread

Breezy - you are fast! I was just about to post that link and BAM! you beat me to it. lol

I haven't had marble counters before, but I've had granite and people will say the same thing about putting hot things on any stone. Thermal shock can cause the stone to break. I've had granite for years and things come right out of the oven straight on to my nice cold granite with nary a problem. Could I have a problem at some point? Sure. It's possible. If it happens, I'll deal with it then. I wanted stone counters so I don't have to baby them and I don't plan on babying my new ones.

Where are you getting your info on marble? Meticulous? Really? Then don't get the marble. Truly, many kitchen with marble look dressy, but in my mind, marble is like blue jeans and the dressy kitchens are jeans with heels, but still jeans. If you can't be that comfortable living with them, don't get them.

You do need to have a good marble sealer applied and then reapplied every few years or anytime you buff off an etch (because you just buffed away at least some of the sealer). If sealed, it is not likely to stain. Period. Chips are a matter of the crystals in the stone -- same as any other stone. More likely you will get what is called bruising -- like when you smash a finger tip and get a white mark on your nail except it will not grow out.

Professional advise will be not to put very hot pots or pans on marble or any other stone, concrete or most other surfaces because there is always the possibility of a weak spot that could crack with extreme temp changes or other stress (standing, sitting on the counter, etc.). You may be able to do those things 1,000 times without any problem, but they don't want to be paying for your stone if you do it 1,001 or 10,001 and have a crack.

I've had formica and tile counters that I have hated scrubbing and bleaching to keep them white. Marble is easy in comparison, but you have to be realistic about the nature of a natural material.

Can hot pans go directly onto marble? Yes -- at least once. :-)

@breezy - Yes, you can put hot pans directly on soapstone. In fact, I even use a large soapstone tile as a baking stone. It is totally heat proof, at least within the tolerances you'd find in any normal home not occupied by the devil himself.

We have soapstone countertops at our farmhouse and I put hot pans on them without any problems to date.

Re: soapstone. Yes, I know you can put hot pans on directly. I think my very old habits would die hard, though. :) And not that matters because this is my one and only new kitchen and I went with marble and walnut.

I put hot pots and baking sheets on my marble all the time. No problems so far.

a painter put a work light near our bathroom marble floors. That tile is probably 3/8" thick and a chlaky white spot appeared with a grey halo. The contractor replaced all four marble tiles.

I know you asked about marble, but since soapstone has been brought up I thought I'd chime in. I put my homemade pizza directly from a 450 oven right on to our soapstone. They use soapstone in laboratories, and they make fireplaces and fire inserts out of it, which I'm sure get hotter than 450.

They make marble trivets don't they?

It's funny, isn't it. Even though I grew up with ceramic tile and have both tile and marble in my kitchen now, I always put a hot pan first on the stove-top--never directly on the tile or marble. Just a habit. Even though they make marble trivets, if the marble cracks, no big deal. If your counter cracks, very big deal. (And somehow there is something very "Gatsy-ish" when people say,
"Oh, well, I'll just get another marble counter."

liriodendron, I'm so jealous...working with 40 + year marble.....I would love to see pictures of it. I bet it's gorgeous with a beautiful patina so many want. I remember my grandparents marble in their kitchen & it was so beat up beautifully! Looked like so many I've seen through out Europe, I'm sure others here would love to see what they can look forward to seeing their's look like one day, or if moving into a home that already has it.

Thanks!

Do you think Crema Marfil would have more or less the same properties as the more common marble like Carrera or Calcutta? I also would like to put hot pots on my marble but am hesitant. My Crema Marfil is already honed and of course sealed. I'm just wondering.............

Crema Marfil is still calcium carbonate, and has a large thermal mass at room temperature. Of course it's going to behave like other marbles. It will etch white when exposed to acids and it can crack with thermal shock if you set something hot on it.

Hi - I know this is an old post, but I had a related question. I have a steam convection oven in my kitchen and often use it to reheat food - so the food is in the oven for 10 min at 212 degrees F or maybe 250 degrees F. Would something like that be ok to put on the marble, but not something that was cooking at a more typical baking/roasting temperature (325-500 degrees)?

And a related question - do you use coasters for cold drinks on sealed marble? I know you can get water on it and wipe it off and it’s fine, but would the condensation from a drink leave a ring if it sits there for hours like it would on a wood table? Thank you!

Trivets, cutting boards, and coasters are all required kitchen tools regardless of countertop material.

I took a pizza out of the oven last night and put it on our marble countertop. My wife asked if it was ok. I said no problem. A few minutes later I moved it to cut the pizza and a 5 inch crack down the marble where the Pizza Stone was.

erihel:

Houzz should have a permanent We Told You So sticky. Your post should be the first entry.

erihel, ouch. Thanks for sharing. Maybe it will keep someone else from the same fate.

Gah...I'm so sorry! For anyone reading this, I tell my clients it's never okay to put anything directly from the oven or stove top on a countertop, regardless of the surface. Marble, Quartzite, Granite and Quartz are all susceptible to thermal shock. Other surfaces are susceptible to scorching. Maybe you have a granite that hasn't cracked from hot items being placed on it. That doesn't mean that all granite tops can handle it. My advice is to never risk it. It's a costly item to replace.

Thank you for the warning, erihel!

I had both soapstone and marble in my last kitchen and never hesitated to put hot items on my soapstone, but I never did it with the marble. It wasn’t that difficult to use a trivet. I will say though that I rarely put hot items on the soapstone because it sucks the heat out of whatever you set down, which could be counter productive if you want to serve a hot meal. ;) But on the other hand, if I needed something to cool down quickly, set that puppy down on the soapstone! Or it was a lifesaver when all the trivets were in use and I had my hands full with hot pots! Didn’t have to panic. But marble, I would hesitate. It just seems more fragile by nature and so I babies it a little. I never sealed our honed marble and never had staining issues. It did etch but that just added to the character and the more It aged the better it looked IMO.

I don’t care what kind of counter you have: always protect them from the heat with a trivet❣️ An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.