Granite and other countertops

greenfire

Tue, Feb 10 2009, 11:41 pm

"What Counter tops Can Be Kashered?

As the laws of kashering are complex, one must see to it that a person versed in the laws of kashering will oversee the process in its entirety to ensure all the laws have been carefully followed. The cRc therefore recommends that one should always cover their counter tops unless they are sure that it was indeed properly kashered.

There are many countertop materials available in the home market today with the most common one being plastic laminate, manufactured by laminating a hard plastic material onto a thin piece of wood. Because of this process there are seams formed where the two pieces meet, creating the potential for collecting chometz in that area throughout the year.

Some other popular brands of counter tops available are Formica, Pionite, Wilsonart and Nevamar. There is a difference of opinion in Halacha whether one may kasher a material not mentioned in the Torah. Since plastic and many of the materials listed in this article are not listed in the Torah, Halachic authorities debate whether they can be kashered. Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, Av Beis Din of the cRc, is of the opinion that plastic may be kashered for Pesach. However, if it is a type of plastic that might become ruined during the koshering process, then kashering is not permitted, as the Rabbis were afraid that one may not kasher properly due to fear of ruining the countertop.

There is another countertop material that is made to look like stone, but it is actually an acrylic and therefore easy to maintain. Some popular brands are Corian, Staron, Swanstone, Gibraltar, and Surrell. Avonite makes a similar polyester based product. Theoretically these may be kashered. However, this material is likely to scratch and stain. If that happens, kashering will not help, and the countertop would have to be covered.

Butcher block, or wood surfaces are becoming once again increasingly popular. In the past wood countertops, tables and cutting boards were very common. However, it was thought that because of the porous nature of wood, they were highly susceptible to bacteria contamination. Today it has been proven that the natural enzymes in wood actually kill the bacteria, and therefore wood is becoming a popular option in the kitchen. The wood used for these products is covered with an oil at the factory, usually tung oil, and should be continuously treated in the home to prevent drying. Wood may be kashered for Pesach, but one needs to be careful that there are no cracks in the wood that could trap chometz. If there are cracks, the counter would need to be covered. In a butcher shop, it was the practice to sand down the wood surface for kashering. However, this cannot be done in the home because it would ruin the surface. Some of the popular wood brands on the market are John Boos, Craftart, Spekva and Omega.

Today, natural stone such as granite, marble, limestone, soapstone, slate, and onyx are commonly found in the kitchen. While they are natural and beautiful, they are very porous and need to be treated with a water-based sealant to help keep out the bacteria and keep the stone from staining. There are also concrete counter tops available. These are exactly what as they sound – concrete tops formed to the shape of the area to be covered. All of these may be kashered for Pesach. However, one must make sure that the top is not finished with a synthetic, which itself would also need to be of a kasherable material.

Another material used for counter tops is quartz resin, a man - made material made to look like granite or marble. It is different than natural stone in that it is not porous. Therefore the surface does not need to be sealed. Some common brands are Cambria, Silestone, Zodiaq and Caesar Stone. These may be koshered for Pesach.

There are also glass, ceramic and porcelain counter tops available, with porous grout between each tile. There are also other materials used for countertops, with caulking used to hold down the counter top, or as a seam to seal two pieces together. These counter tops may not be kashered for Pesach and must be covered.

While not used as often in a home, stainless steel, copper and zinc are also available. These may all be kashered for Pesach."

Rubber Ducky

Wed, Feb 11 2009, 12:57 am

Greenfire, thanks for the info from the cRc.

I am also a kitchen designer. Whether or not a particular counter surface is kasherable is absolutely an ask-your-LOR or follow-your-local-Vaad ruling question. As the cRc info in Greenfire's post notes, there is no Rabbinic consensus on counters made of plastic or acrylic, such as Formica and Corian. Silestone and Caesarstone are also controversial; they are made of ground up stone with an acrylic resin added as a binder.

The Star-K, which is the local Vaad here in Baltimore, does not consider plastic/acrylic to be kasherable, so Formica and Corian, and materials containing plastics/acrylics such as Silestone and Caesarstone would not be kasherable according to them. Pure natural stone (such as granite, including sealed), and metal (such as stainless steel and copper) are considered kasherable by Star-K. Butcherblock with an oil finish is also considered kasherable if not scratched up or cracked -- if it's scratched you would have to sand the scratches out. YMMV.

Here is a link to Star-K about counters: http://www.star-k.org/cons-counter-advice.htm

ss321

Wed, Feb 11 2009, 7:15 am

TzenaRena wrote:

I haven't searched all the topics to see if this was posted already, but I'm looking for information about kashering countertops.

specifically laminate (I think you can't) and granite. I heard granite has to be sealed. Does that make it more kasherable, or less?

I Think, that granite is more kasherable than formica.

TzenaRena wrote:

are there any kasherable countertop materials?

yea. I think, stainless and granite. marble too but who on earth has marble countertops, that is very impractical.

TzenaRena wrote:

What do people do when they move into an apartment which was previously occupied by people whose kashrus they wouldn't trust? What do they do about counters?

We bout a house from frum ppl and the countertops were formica. I wanted to change the countertops anyway, but I wasnt in a hurry to renovate the kitchen, it really couldve waited. But we asked our Rov about the kashrus of the countertops, and he said, ideally you should change them. You dont know the people, and since they were sefardi their adherance to halacha might have been different, they have different minhagim, chumros, and kulos. I guess I was secretly happy at his psak, because my kitchen B"H is much nicer now with granite countertops! Although it cost a pretty penny lol.

anonymom

Tue, Feb 24 2009, 10:17 pm

ss321 wrote:

TzenaRena wrote:

I Think, that granite is more kasherable than formica.

TzenaRena wrote:

are there any kasherable countertop materials?

yea. I think, stainless and granite. marble too but who on earth has marble countertops, that is very impractical.

TzenaRena wrote:

What do people do when they move into an apartment which was previously occupied by people whose kashrus they wouldn't trust? What do they do about counters?

I had the same situation. But kashering is only an issue if you want to put hot pots on the counter, which you would not do with formica/laminate. If not putting hot pots or food directly on the counter, you need not kasher them, just clean them. In fact I had very limited counter space, so I used the same space for either milk meat or parve as long as it was clean and cold. So I'm glad you got new counters that you like, but I question your rav's advice.

ss321

Wed, Feb 25 2009, 6:43 am

anonymom wrote:

I can give u his number if you want....
I guess based on the fact that
1. I wanted separate milchig and fleishig counter areas
2. I definitely do put pots down on the counter, hot (another advantage of granite...I did that once in our apartment [formica countertops] and was left with a black spot till we moved....). But hot food, that is not right off the stove, I still put on the formica counters all the time in our apartment. I guess it depends on how your kitchen is set up.
3. They were sefardi and so their adherance to halacha was different. Ex: when we were looking at the house and I made a comment to DH - "oh we can put a small milchig dishwasher where that cabinet is," the owner piped in- theres no need to do that you can just run the dish washer between uses and use different racks? something like that, which I have absolutely never heard of. Based on that story, which DH told our Rov, he said you are safer starting from fresh, (I guess this is why? but I wasnt on the phone with him, DH was:) because their Rovs way of paskening what is kosher and what is absolutely not, is different.