Hello everyone. I need some input from all that are willing to share thoughts.

I am going to purchase/have made an island/table for my kitchen and am wanting to know what is the best counter top material to use for it.

The island will be on wheels, have storage underneath, be approx 3'x3' but that could change and will double as an eating space when we have company.

It seems like most home bakers I see have marble and commercial bakers have stainless.

Which surface area is easiest to work on, the most durable and has the best ambient temperature for working with fondant, gumpaste, dough and possibly candies?

I read somewhere that marble is too cold? For some reason "cold" seemed like a good idea to me but maybe I am wrong.

Cost isn't the deciding factor because it really wont be that big of an area. If I go stainless I can always cover with something.

Please help me on this...I would love to know your thoughts and "if it were me" type comments.

I have granite and love rolling out my fondant right on the counter with a bit of ps/cornstarch. I have no experience in stainless though, so I can't compare for you.

Thank you for the reply. I love the look of granite and I am sure it would be nice to work on as well
Have a great day!

I use granite also... same thing, throw out some cornstarch and roll away.

Granite here too and I do the same.

Granite seems to be very popular. I wish I would have done my kitchen counters in granite when we built this home

I am having a hard time finding a photo of what I want. I was thinking it would be nice to have one side with an edge...kind of like a bar where we could put stools.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I have granite in my kitchen and also a stainless table in my studio, both work great for me, just a dusting of cornstarch!

I have formica counter tops right now (will be replaced when we do our kitchen remodel...in about 10 years ). We had staninless steel at the bakery. Of the 2 I prefer stainless. That being said, I seriously want a marble slab for rolling pastry and fondant (when we do the remodel, counter tops will be butcher-block and stainless).

I had posted a topic on this, but it might come in handy for those reading this thread:

I was looking for a nice size granite tile to make my own rolling surface and ended up calling a local tile place near me. I asked if they had granite tiles like 18 x 18. The guy told me not tiles, but he might have something in the back. I told him I wanted it for a rolling board. So he went in the back and told me he had about 5-6 pieces of granite samples... the biggest about 36 x 28. I asked him how much for it and he said "come over and see me". So I did, and he showed them to me and I picked the one I wanted (the biggest one) and asked again how much. He said I could have it. All the slabs were from floor samples of granite counter tops they no longer sell. Thought that was pretty nice of the guy and I got one heck of a rolling board now. It's heavy, but it's worth it! So you never know, give it a try and call some local shops for left over samples of outdated granite.

That's a good idea Darthburn! I'm totally going to do that!

I have stainless. Love it.

I actually have an old friend that could help me with this. Her husband owns his own stone (marble/granite) counter business.
He is the one I was going to call if I went with a stone top on the island. It never occurred to me he might have some samples.

If he did have samples...I could do stainless and then have a big granite "board" to move if I wanted.

decisions ..decisions...

Sounds like you might just get the best of both worlds!

GRANITE !!!

Well I have a little rollable wooden island as well that my husband got me at IKEA. And one of my friends husband as well is in the Granite business and he gave me a beautiful piece of stone that my husband has adapted to the top of my table . I just dont like that its round , but hey I cant be picky lol !!!

I love it though .

Wood. I always roll on wood. I have birch.

Oh yes, Darthburn is so right. Many people give away their samples and scraps...although I haven't really gotten the chance to get some for free.

Anyways, I usually roll mines on a silicone mat, on top of my granite countertop. The type of granite I have is very porous so I don't like it very much. I also have a Marble slab and sometimes I get lines from the veins. I personally like to roll on stainless steel or just on top of my silicone mat.

If you are looking for granite or marble, make sure you get a really nice smooth one.

Good luck.