No direct heat for any counter. Trivets and cutting boards for all. Turmeric stains almost anything. You need to clean with a peroxide based cleaner when it does.

Thanks for your response @live-wire_oak.
Won't the peroxide react with the resins in the quartz?

We have had two different granites & they have been bullet proof. I also have quartz in my bathrooms that have been bullet proof. I would go with what style you like most & just be mindful of putting proper protection under hot pots & pans. Also just wipe things up after you make a mess. Ask for a sample of the two & take them home to test. See what you think.

I've never had turmeric stain the 3 different types of granite we have had over the years.

We had quartz installed about a month ago and I'm surprised how stain resistant it's not. I've already got one red wine stain and a few other small marks. It's very subtle but definitely there. The brand we went with was Antolini. I think the white is just hard to keep spotless. I had Azul Aran quartzite in my last house and that was indestructible, but also a lot darker and busier so it hid everything.

There are a thousand granites, and some behave differently than others. Some are bulletproof, like what mark_rachel and Rekha mentioned, and some are not. The OP did not say what granite she is considering. Some of the “white speckled” granites (her description) like, for example, Kashmir White, stain easily. Other granites with a white background like Alaska White, White Springs, or Bianco Delicatus, do not stain. The bottom line is that the OP needs to be specific and name which granites she is considering in order to get advice about whether they will stand up to turmeric or not.

Yes, I currently have a granite that must be impossible to stain (steel grey, leathered, I adore it!) but it replaced a granite that I stained several times. I don’t know what that one was called, it was here when we bought the house, but it looked like salt and pepper... so yeah, a lot of white in it, and it stained very easily. Best thing to do is to get some samples of any countertop you are considering and do your best to stain or scorch it. Now, I set hot things on my granite and it has been fine, but I’m well aware of thermal shock and wouldn’t set a boiling hot pot in a spot where I might’ve had a bag of ice sitting just before. Nevertheless, I’m still kind of wary any time I set something hot down... like I’m uncomfortable with the idea as most of my life I’ve lived with laminate counters and it still just feels wrong to set a hot pot on a counter. LOL!

Our fabricators who installed our quartz said that the slow cooker could cause damage because it radiated heat downward. I always use racks on the counter for anything out of the oven as well.

@Shannon_WI - that is a valid question. I will get the names of the granite options we are considering and share it here.
In the meantime, do you have any feedback about Calacutta Verona quartz?

@della70 - that is good info. Thanks. I use slow cooker and Instant Pot a lot for my cooking.

I have quartz and it's pretty stain resistant, but no, not bulletproof. I've got cheap cutting boards I put under the slow cooker and rice cooker as a precaution against heat damage.

I used to have a salt and pepper granite and it would stain if someone left a wine spill on it, but it wasn't a problem to clean. I would spray a bit of Lysol with bleach, cover with a damp paper towel, leave for 10 minutes and all stains would come out. I have never babied any granite I have owned. These days I would probably put some sealer on it, but I didn't know there was such a thing back then!

Hchawla - in answer to your question, no I do not have feedback on that Quartz. I am a "granite person". That is not to say I am critical of Quartz at all. It looks really nice in the kitchens posted on this forum. It's just that I prefer for my own kitchen the natural beauty of stone.

One caution I have read on this forum about Quartz that has chunky veins like the Calacutta Verona you mentioned, is that if the counter has to turn a corner, the veins are almost impossible to get to flow, and people find that non-matching to be jarring. I think if I wanted Quartz, I would choose one of the marble-look patterns with just tiny markings rather than the chunky veins. Just MHO.

IMO you have already been told quartz stains so why bother with it I have never had a client that had staing problems with granite but I suggest you get a sample and test what ever choice you make.

Here are the Granites that we are considering : White Ice, River White or Verde Aquarius Leather or Bianco Antico.
We have white cabinets and Dune shadow wood floors

In answer to your question, in order of durability from least to most:

White Ice granite is one of the stain-prone granites.

River White can stain on occasion, but is less stain-prone than White Ice, if sealed at least annually (a 5-minute process that any homeowner can do that involves wiping on sealant, and wiping off excess). River White won't be as bullet-proof as some of the darker granites that don't need sealing at all.

Bianco Antico (and its similar relatives Alaska White, Lennon, White Springs and Bianco Delicatus) is more bullet-proof than River White. You should still seal it annually, but my friend has the similar Alaska White and she has kids that are messy and her counters look like the day they were installed.

Verde Aquarius will be the most bullet-proof of the choices you listed. It may not even need sealing at all ever. I am not sure about the leathered finish. People very much like a leathered finish, but it will diminish the depth of coloration of the stone, and Verde Aquarius has some beautiful depth of coloration. That finish choice is personal preference. I am not sure if Verde Aquarius will go with your Dune Shadow floors; gray wood floors are unfortunately quite difficult to coordinate with other kitchen finishes like counter and backsplash because of both the gray color and the somewhat stripey appearance.

We looked at both quartz and granite, but in my stain tests the quartz stained with red wine and turmeric. My kids and I cook a lot and although we clean up after, there’s always a chance a spot could be missed, and the turmeric stained quickly! The Alaska white did not stain at all, even leaving the stain items over night.
We had azul delicatus in our last kitchen and we are doing a blue toned Alaska White in this kitchen because we love the way they look and the durability. Our delicatus looked exactly the same on the day we moved as it did 4 years before when we installed it.

I did a whole lot of testing of staining and cleaning of various types of manufactured quartz, and turmeric was definitely a culprit in many of the staining tests.

https://usenaturalstone.org/do-engineered-quartz-countertops-stain/

I’ve read that the leather option can be a problem for staining

Thank you all for your suggestions and experience. We decided to go with River White granite.

Now I'm too sure if we should go with Dune Shadow for wood floor....the other option is Wolf Gray wood floor. That is the sample on the left. Dune Shadow is in the middle.

Those floor samples seem quite dark. Note that dark floors are much higher maintenance. They show every speck and crumb, and need to be vacuumed or swept very frequently to look clean.

Those floor samples are WAY too dark IMO. I would go with something much lighter. Something like this would look MUCH better.

I agree those are too dark.

Is there more than one Dune Shadow flooring? This is the one I see from Regal Hardwoods. It looks a lot lighter than your sample, though I don’t like it in any case. Too gray. I just want to make sure there is no mixup in floors you are looking at.

These are the 2 options.

that's a pretty granite. I didn't know you could get something that subtle. good to know!

In that lighting they look MUCH better.

Here's another picture of both samples on the floor. On the left is Dune shadow and on the right is Wolf Gray

I prefer the Wolf Gray. Just looks “cleaner”.

Personally I don't like either as both look very gray. I think something just a bit warmer would work better, and even work when in a few years gray has gone the way of the dodo bird.

I do like your other choices. Well done.

I don’t know why anyone would consider Quartz if they could afford granite.

Please don't get the River White granite! It is too similar in properties to Kashmir White which I had a nightmare with at our last house. You can read ALL about it HERE. I'm not the only one that had issues either. Consider yourself warned if you proceed with it.