I touched the leathered finish stones at the slab yard. The texture didn't turn me on so much. I was concerned about rolling out dough unevenly and crud in the grooves. I thought it might be nice for an end table or shower floor, but not for a work surface.

A note about baking and soapstone:

Soapstone is known for thawing frozen things more quickly that the average surface. But they--mine at least--seem to suck heat from things as well. That is, a hot cookie sheet cools off very fast on my counters. I would love to learn more about this from a scientific perspective. Basically, soapstone seems to reach some kind of temperature equilibrium between itself, and whatever is put on it.

What does this mean for baking? My chilled doughs heat up and soften much, much faster than they did on my old silestone/quartz countertop. It wouldn't have been a deal breaker for me, but it can be a tad bit annoying at times when I want my bits of butter to stay solid as long as possible.

I wonder if other SS owners notice this. I've not heard anyone else mention it.

:-)

francy

The specific heat capacity of soapstone is about 1 J/gK and its density about 3 g/cm³, making its volumetric heat capacity 3 J/cm³K. The mineral magnesite has good thermal conductivity and heat capacity. The specific heat capacity for natural stone is usually 0.84 J/gK, making the value for soapstone about 20% greater than average.

What does this mean for baking? My chilled doughs heat up and soften much, much faster than they did on my old silestone/quartz countertop. It wouldn't have been a deal breaker for me, but it can be a tad bit annoying at times

Stone does suck the heat out, but it also holds a chill. Chill it first, by putting a flat pan or large zip-lock bag of ice and water on it. It's like sticking your marble pastry board in the freezer.

Stephanie,

I can't claim to call myself a baker or an experienced cook, but I do bake and I do cook, and I do have leathered granite, Impala Black, since April. I love it! I haven't experienced what cienza was anticipating would be a problem with it... not at all. I think it could not be easier to keep up. It does have texture, but not anything I'd really call a pit. We made homemade pizza the other night and I rolled the crust on the floured counter. None of the dough got stuck in the pits, and the flour and bits of dough swept easily into the trash. We make waffles every Sunday and some of the batter always drips on the counter. Whether I wipe it up immediately, or a little later, or much later after it dries, it always cleans up beautifully, with nothing getting unduly stuck. I am not the most immaculate housekeeper, so I love that most nights all I have to do is wipe it with a damp cloth. I don't even have to dry it; no streaks. I have a friend who does some cleaning for me every other week and she cleans it with Windex. It always looks a little better, but not enough for me to do it every time. I won't say it shows nothing... for instance, if I am using olive oil and get some on the counter you can see where it has been. But once I wipe it down, it's gone.

The other one I looked at was leathered Antique Brown (also known as Marron Cohiba); there were no pits at all, but the grains were very large and varied in size and there were many veins running through that made my fabricators nervous about cutting it. The surface felt very smooth to the touch.

Pictures can't easily convey texture but I have tried:

I like the idea of chilling the surface before rolling. I will try that this week when we make pizza dough.

Thanks for the replies and please keep them coming. I feel so confused as I am not sure exactly what to get if I dont get the leathered finish. I am really scared that I will ruin soapstone as I AM NOT a neat fanatic and worried that I wouldnt keep up with it and would get water marks, oil rings. Also nervous about the honed as there is lots of negative reviews on honed surfaces as far as showing everything...BUT I DO NOT WANT A SHINY GRANITE:-(

What to do?? Thinking of going to the stone yard this wknd and bringing samples of the leathered and maybe one soapstone to see.

Does anyone have a soapstone that does not take to much work? Does anyone have a leathered granite and do alot of baking and cooking...especially baking?

Thanks so much for any replies...

I wasn't sure from your post just now if perhaps we crossed and you didn't see my reply, or if something I said scared you off or made you think it was NOT a good choice, or if my saying I am not a "baker" or an "experienced cook" made you think I didn't use it much.

I DO cook a lot and I DO bake a good bit, just didn't feel I was qualified to give myself those labels. At any rate, I do use the counters all the time. From what you are describing, leathered would be perfect for you. I agree that seeing whole slabs and bringing home samples to test and abuse would be the best way to see what will work for you. If you can get samples, take some of your typical dough and try to make it stick!

Oh, and it is NOT shiny... it does reflect light but not images, at least not in a mirror way, more in a shadowy way (think Monet). I think of it as matte, though not as much as a honed finish. But then you do run into issues with many honed granites.

Sconde: Maybe I'm mistaken, but one reason I am planning to go with soapstone in my kitchen is that I, like you, am not neat. As I understand it, one of the major advantages of soapstone is that it is inert and very dense, which means that it does NOT stain or etch when stuff is spilled on it.

Now, that being said, I know some folks prefer the pristeen "unoiled" and unaged look of soapstone...ie. grayish. And you can sing rings and marks on it...that is, until the whole stone ages, oxidizing and darkening. Folks oil the stones to speed that oxidation up.

And the thing is, if you DO slop, spill or otherwise mess up your soapstone...it is NOT permanently damaged. It just needs to age back (or be oiled back) to a more uniform look. Even chips seem to fade away and can certainly be sanded away. Bottom line is probably that soapstone doesn't look as "perfect" as some other stones to start. But it never gets trashed either.

Hi Sconde,
I know you asked for the opinion of experienced bakers and cooks but I thought I'd chime in anyway :)
I have leathered cambrian granite. Like others stated, it's not glossy but does have a ever-so-slight sheen comparable to oiled soapstone. Depending on the particular stone and "antiquing or leathering" technique, you will see variations in texture. My counters are not quite as textured as some others I've seen.
{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}
This was my compromise. If I wanted marble on the island, I had to do a granite perimeter because my husband was freaked out by my "unusual" taste and really wanted me to get a glossy granite. Otherwise, I was ready to go with soapstone. I don't regret it one bit though!
Back on topic, many things have been spilled on the counters during our build, caulk, grout, paint from the sloppy painter,etc. They clean up beautifully. I can't exactly feel the texture of mine, but I can see it, if that makes sense.
HTH!

I have used my leathered granite to roll out dough for pies as well as fondant for covering cakes. I have not had any problem with the texture either for the pastry/fondant or for cleaning up. I have marron cohiba, which does have some (IMO) gorgeous white veins, but I don't use these areas for rolling pastry. My son is also learning to bake and he helped with the fondant - we ended up rolling it out a few times before he got the hang of it. I would say this may be a better test than a very experienced baker who can very quickly and efficiently knock out a pie crust or rolled cookies.

I think with your little ones this will be a very forgiving surface to hide smudges but still clean up easily. I have been thrilled with how easily our granite cleans up. Even dried-on messes can be scrubbed off and the granite looks like new.

Do make sure to choose a very non-porous type of granite, however, if you want it to be impervious to stains. I don't believe the leathered finish will protect an otherwise stain-prone granite. I ran every test I could think of on mine - lemon juice, vinegar, oil, red wine, peanut butter and jelly (ubiquitous in our house!), sharpie, windex, and probably a few other things I scrounged out of one cabinet or another. Everything wiped right off, except the sharpie. I took that off with nail polish remover (it was a test, after all!) and didn't see any change.

I love soapstone - I have it in our powder room. But I love the oiled patina more than the unoiled and didn't relish oiling the much larger surfaces in the kitchen. For me a leathered black granite was the perfect compromise with low maintenance and a nice sheen. It isn't perfectly matte. There is a soft sheen where the light hits it, but nothing like the reflective surface of a glossy finished granite.

Hello and thanks to all that have replied back!!

Wanted to post back yesterday but teething twins and VERY active 4 year old boy(all boys by the way) can sometimes be crazy..Cannot imagine when I start teaching again in a month..

jsweenc: Thanks so much for your info and most of all the pics. your kitchen is actually one of my inspiration pics. Yes we did get crossed. I started to reply back before you had written your post and then got sidetracked by two screaming babies:-) and only got back to my post like 30 minutes later and then noticed you had replied. I am happy to hear some info from someone who does use this granite and does cook like a normal everyday person and is not obsessive about cleaning. I have a friend who has a honed finish on her granite but she is almost ocd about cleaning that I know that is not for me. The pics actually look like soapstone from far away and I like the close ups as they convey the texture. They dont look like anything would get stuck in them. How do they hold up to heat? I know that the crockpot did something to yours( i believe it was your post) and I do use the crockpot in the winters. Does it hold up to heat well. Can I put a hot pan on the counter or will it affect the top? Again any help appreciated as it is great to hear from people who have this granite and not just someone trying to sell it to me at the granite yard.

melissastar; I do love soapstone but am afaid of it also. I know that sounds stupid but I am just afraid that I will end up with the soapstone that always has rings and will need to be oiled all the time. Is one soapstone less of a headache than another?

rookie_2010; I also love your kitchen progress. Thanks for the info. It seems like you do not regret your choice of this over soapstone. Hubby also wants shiny granite but is leaving up to me as I do all the cooking.

jrueter: Your post was helpful in that your granite seems to have taken some use with cooking. Especially good to knwo that pie crust was easy to clean up. It seems like this granite would be a good choice for me but especially for my boys. My husband is actually not that bad at cleaning up. When you scrub off dried on messes does it affect the surface at all?

YOU LADIES ROCK with informatin. Thanks so much. As mentioned most of my decisions and purchases have been made through the internet. I am going to attempt to bring the twins and 4 year old to Home Depot now to look at tiles and lights...Should be interesting..
Thanks

sconde, I have the opposite of you, "twins" (now 11) and a baby (now 19 mos); I know the life you live... I've had the two screaming babies!

I'm so glad you have derived some encouragement from my kitchen... what a blessing to hear that! And you are correct, I had the crack from the crockpot. The fabricators came out and repaired it, and brought two large Corian trivets that somewhat blend in with the counters. I keep them out so I don't have to fish for them. Since that incident, I do not put anything hot directly on the counters; I always use a towel, hot pad or trivet, or stove top. I know you can put things directly on SS, but it's easy enough to put something under a crockpot to lower the temp that reaches the counter. It's just that neither of us thought of that on the day it cracked. We had not been told, and we had always put it right on the counter when we had laminate, with no problems.

I still think this kind of finish on granite would suit you well, from what you describe. It is very forgiving, except for the heat. Jrueter said exactly what I was trying to say about its look and feel, only much more accurately and eloquently! Since I came very close to having the same stone as her, I can pretty well answer your question, though I hope she'll also answer. I don't think the surface of the MC would be affected at all from scrubbing off dried-on messes; it seemed very tough. If you find a fabricator that is not afraid of cutting it, I'd say it would be a great one for you -- it is amazing to look at. We had it delivered to the fabricators from the suppliers, but they would not assume the liability if it cracked during fabrication, and we were not willing to take the risk. jrueter's fabricator did not express the same doubts about cutting it, and she ended up with gorgeous counters.