I like our granite peninsula for rolling out pastry because it's flat. Due to a miscommunication, the peninsula is at a lower height than our stainless countertops (we're both tall). It was a lucky mistake because the lower height is great for kneading bread.
When I make chocolate cherry bread, I now rest the dough on my stainless countertops. I started doing that when I noticed the cherries were etching the surface of the granite. The stainless is also great for when I make No Knead Bread and have to put a screaming hot Dutch oven on a counter.
Of course the initial scratches on the stainless counters were painful to see but after many many years of use they have a wonderful soft patina.
BTW, our last kitchen had a stainless backsplash behind the cooktop. The scratches on it drove me crazy because they never achieved the patina level. Now we have a tempered glass backsplash behind the cooktop and it is very very easy to keep clean and sparkly.
I second the recommendation for granite countertop, if you have them. Keeps dough cool for good management when rolling out and forming loaves or pastries. Dough bits can easily be scraped up and counter cleaned. I also use large wooden boards too.
I use a marble pastry board and that works well. I'm not a big baker so having something I can stash away is important to me. Mine is about 20" x 16". Marble is very heavy, so keep that in mind if you decide to go with a board.
Marble is great but will stain, stainless steel scratches. I have composite quartz counters (Caesarstone) and they are fabulous for baking. They look like marble but are so easy to clean.
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When I make chocolate cherry bread, I now rest the dough on my stainless countertops. I started doing that when I noticed the cherries were etching the surface of the granite. The stainless is also great for when I make No Knead Bread and have to put a screaming hot Dutch oven on a counter.
Of course the initial scratches on the stainless counters were painful to see but after many many years of use they have a wonderful soft patina.
BTW, our last kitchen had a stainless backsplash behind the cooktop. The scratches on it drove me crazy because they never achieved the patina level. Now we have a tempered glass backsplash behind the cooktop and it is very very easy to keep clean and sparkly.