Paperstone

November 18, 2013

About 80 people toured Midori Haus last weekend during the International Passive House Days.  There were many insightful comments and questions from the guests about energy usage, heating system, cost, and many more.  One question visitors asked me several times was about Paperstone, our choice of countertop material.  When people asked the question, “Can you put hot things on it?  Will it leave a mark?” I could not answer it because I didn’t know.  Frankly, I was too chicken to try it out.

A few nights ago I remembered that we have a piece of Paperstone cutting board tucked under the sink and thought, “Well, if this one gets burnt from an experiment I won’t feel bad because it’s hidden most of the time anyway.”  Below I will share with you the photos from my experiment.

This is the piece of paperstone cutting board I will use for my test.  Notice there are no marks.

I’m using a cast iron skillet to cook chard at high temperature.  Notice the number “9” on the induction cooktop and the steam under the cover.

Now for the test.  The hot skillet is placed on the paperstone.  To give the skillet the maximum opportunity to make a mark I left the hot skillet on the Paperstone cutting board for 20 minutes.

Voila!  No mark on Paperstone cutting board.  Now I won’t worry about putting hot items directly on my countertop.

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