Working Surface for Chocolates

[Jim D.]

I have granite countertops on which I make chocolates. Because there are stories about granite absorbing oil, I don't work directly on the stone but spread moisture-resistant butcher paper over it, then parchment for the actual chocolate work. I am thinking of finding something that would be more like working on granite/marble and have thought of getting a large sheet of stainless steel for this purpose. A slab of granite or marble would probably be too heavy to be practical (unless granite comes in thinner sizes--something I don't know). 

 

I would welcome any thoughts on this. I know SS is widely used in restaurant kitchens. Would it be an appropriate choice for chocolate?

[Tri2Cook]

I have two SS tables that I was able to get at a good price when a local restaurant was closing and I just recently acquired a 28" x 25" x 1.25" thick slab of marble that is going to stay on one end of one of the tables once I get everything set up the way I want it. But I'm not entirely sure I needed the marble, I was just able to get it at a good price as a remnant from a local contractor so I figured I might as well have it as an option. I can't think of any reason SS wouldn't be fine but I'm certainly not an expert in the chocolate field. I did any chocolate work (which was mostly dessert and decoration related, not molded or slabbed chocolates) at a restaurant I used to work at on SS tables. It's what was there so it's what I used.

[Lisa Shock]

Steel is fine, unless the table is shared with some sort of hot cooking like sugar work. The main difference is that steel is pretty conductive of heat and stone is not. I'd worry more about maintaining the room temperature than anything else.

[keychris]

I have a large piece of stone that I use for tabling, I can do up to about 3kg (what's that, about 6lb?) easily. I can lift it, it's about 10mm thick (about 3/8" I think). I contacted a kitchen stone bench manufacturer and asked if they had any offcuts, they polished the top and sides, cost about $50.

If you're tabling your chocolate, the steel bench won't have enough thermal mass to reduce the temperature of the chocolate. If you're just going to put put a sheet onto your granite bench... that might work.

[pastrygirl]

I agree with Chris, stainless isn't great if you're tabling, but perfectly fine for dripping chocolate on while filling molds.  And easy to clean.

 

Also agree with looking for remnants of stone.  I'd like to find a few pieces about the size of a  sheet pan that will fit in the fridge to chill.

 

 

[Avachocolate]

+1 for marble...awesome for tempering and general chocolate work....make sure you get it at least 2.5-3 cm thick (1 inch or more)....thicker than that would be even better to keep the temperature down but then it gets real heavy, real fast

[Rajala]

I'm using a countertop from Dekton and I think it's amazing. Kind of expensive though. I'm going to buy some more of that material and glue it to a table on wheels so I can move it around in my little kitchen.

 

Prior to getting my new kitchen, I had a 100 cm x 100 cm x 1 cm marble piece that I placed on my kitchen countertop.  

[Jim D.]

7 hours ago, keychris said:

I have a large piece of stone that I use for tabling, I can do up to about 3kg (what's that, about 6lb?) easily. I can lift it, it's about 10mm thick (about 3/8" I think). I contacted a kitchen stone bench manufacturer and asked if they had any offcuts, they polished the top and sides, cost about $50.

If you're tabling your chocolate, the steel bench won't have enough thermal mass to reduce the temperature of the chocolate. If you're just going to put put a sheet onto your granite bench... that might work.

Thanks for that idea. What are the approximate dimensions of your stone?

[Jim D.]

Thanks for all the ideas. In doing more looking, I have come across something called "ultra-thin stone," which is slabs of marble or granite 1 cm (about 3/8") thick. That sounds promising as it would not weigh what a normal piece of those stones would. I don't table my chocolate, so that is not an issue. I want to be able to scrape molds without worrying about where the excess chocolate is going. But I'm still exploring this idea since I don't know how quick I would be at cleaning off the slab between filling molds--and speed is required because of the crystallizing of the chocolate. With parchment, I can just get out another sheet. Stainless may be the way to go since it can be cleaned better for what the food inspector looks for. It would have to be food-grade stainless--if there is such a thing.

[keychris]

If I'm emptying molds onto the stone, I definitely use a piece of baking paper, it's just easier! But I usually empty back into a melting tank.

Dimensions are 50cm x 80cm x 14mm thick.

I find it faster to table now than any other method.

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

It would have to be food-grade stainless--if there is such a thing.

 

Definitely, to the point that I wonder if any stainless steel isn't food-worthy.

 

I did get a large remnant of stone that I believe is quartz, so quartz is an option also.

[tikidoc]

Another thing to keep in mind is that all granite is not alike. Some are much more porous than others, and would be more likely to stain than others. The stuff I have in my kitchen is not porous and seems virtually impossible to stain. I have had oily things on it many times and there is no staining. What is the granite in your kitchen? 

 

I also second those who say to get a remnant. Granite comes in big slabs, so often there will be decent sized pieces left over from large projects, and they can often be had for very little. We have used remnants for the counters in our bathrooms, and got great deals for less than the price of formica. Don't go to the big granite showrooms, go talk to the fabricators, the guys who actually cut and finish the granite. We had quite a bit of work done in our home, and so the granite guys gave me a good deal on a nice sized remnant, I think about 4' x 2', that sits on a big table in my basement where I do chocolates. I asked for something that would not likely stain or crack (was not concerned with looks), and ended up with something that looks similar to uba tuba or verde butterfly. Super easy to clean, I just run over it with a hair dryer to melt any chocolate spatters, and wipe it off. Mine is fairly thick, which is fine because it's not meant to be moved, but granite comes in various thicknesses. We have some on the walls of our master shower, and it's quite thin, maybe 1/2".

 

 

 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, tikidoc said:

Another thing to keep in mind is that all granite is not alike. Some are much more porous than others, and would be more likely to stain than others. The stuff I have in my kitchen is not porous and seems virtually impossible to stain. I have had oily things on it many times and there is no staining. What is the granite in your kitchen? 

 

I also second those who say to get a remnant. Granite comes in big slabs, so often there will be decent sized pieces left over from large projects, and they can often be had for very little. We have used remnants for the counters in our bathrooms, and got great deals for less than the price of formica. Don't go to the big granite showrooms, go talk to the fabricators, the guys who actually cut and finish the granite. We had quite a bit of work done in our home, and so the granite guys gave me a good deal on a nice sized remnant, I think about 4' x 2', that sits on a big table in my basement where I do chocolates. I asked for something that would not likely stain or crack (was not concerned with looks), and ended up with something that looks similar to uba tuba or verde butterfly. Super easy to clean, I just run over it with a hair dryer to melt any chocolate spatters, and wipe it off. Mine is fairly thick, which is fine because it's not meant to be moved, but granite comes in various thicknesses. We have some on the walls of our master shower, and it's quite thin, maybe 1/2".

 

My granite is Verde Borgogna. I think it is not one of the porous types but am not sure about that.

 

Good to hear that granite comes in various thicknesses. I have written to a natural stone seller and fabricator outside Charlottesville to see what they might have lying around.

[tikidoc]

I'm not sure if you ever get to Richmond, but I got our granite at http://www.bestgraniteinrichmond.com. They directly import much of the stone, instead of going through middle men, so prices are often really good. They have lots of remnants in the shop. Talk to Alex, and tell him I sent you. They did a LOT of work for us (he did some non granite stuff for us on weekends for some extra work, so we know him pretty well).

[dhardy123]

I once went to a marble store and asked if they had any throw away pieces. I had my choice of many sink sized cutouts (and broken pieces large and small) and none of it cost me a dime. Worth a try

[GRiker]

Happy to once again have found this useful information on the forum. 

 

Also decided to try a fabricator in my area looking for a scrap piece.  I was looking for a particular color on which to take some pictures of chocolates then was planning to have it on the table in my workspace. 

 

Found a 33" x 27.5" x 1 1/8" just the right color, Alaska White.   Looks like it was going to be installed - all the edges are polished and the corners are softened - but there was a chip on the bottom of one of the edges.  Wasn't free, but at only $20 was a bargain. 

 

So grateful for everyone who shares what they learn!

[RobertM]

Before I got a full size slab of marble I would go dumpster diving at the local marble/stone fabricating companies.  They always had cutouts from sinks (etc) from kitchen work.  Some companies will sell the cutouts and polish them, others just say take what you find.  On those that haven’t been polished on the downside (back side) I bought some cork and glued it to the backside.