If you plan on doing any kind of cooking in the pantry, put a sink in there. You'll need it.

I agree with a lower end of the island with a marble top. The island looks crazy long anyway and it will help to break it up.

Thanks - this might be a way for me to get my marble!!! (I wanted that to begin with - but could not deal with the etching)

I will consider working with my stone designer to see how I can integrate this - I just worry about the disparate materials / putting them together and breaking up the plane. It is a huge island - but it's my statement piece, if you will, and wanted to book match 3 cool slabs of quartzite.

I do have a prep sink in the island now, so that will help.

Thanks!

Me too....no butcherblock counters. I have movement granite and it works fine for dough. I roll out pie crusts directly too.....baking powder biscuits....cream cheese danish dough....

What about a rolling cart or pull out, or fold up marble slab on the end of your island? That way it could be lower in height and then hide away when not needed.

If it were a rolling cart it could go under the island and the sides could fold up and down and it could have drawers for all you baking or other needs.

Not sure who, but someone here put their cart under the counter. Maybe they'll chime in with a picture. :)

My husband loves our soapstone for bread and pizza dough. We don't oil that area because the dough picks it up. Cleans easily with dishsoap but you have to be comfortable with some scratches but if you would get the run in look with butcher block too.

Great ideas. My kitchen plan won't allow for a cart or pullout - and I wouldn't want to open up something under there that will be a haven for dog hair.

I guess I could just manage it on the quartzite / granite - but I do feel like I want a different "feel" to the surface

Ya'll have talked me out of butcher block - I think I romanticized the bread baking and the more "earthy" look and feel of the butcher block. Marble or soapstone I think could provide the right "feel" - and I agree the island is the right place - thank you - will advise how I might incorporate that.

I will also look into the change in height and measure my counters - I really don't want the plane broken by different heights - since I don't have customer cabinets underneath the island and that would make the toe kick area odd.

Thanks again!

If you have quartzite, wouldn't that work well as a kneading surface? If it were me, I would just put a step in the toekick drawer underneath my kneading area so I could get a little extra height, and call it a day.

I think the slightly rougher finish of a honed marble or butcher block would "hold" the flour better for some kneading / rolling activities than the high gloss finishes, no? (Maybe I am all wet)

Love the idea of the toe kick step / boost!!!

since I don't have customer cabinets underneath the island

jannicone, what's a customer cabinet? ;)

^^^ ha - too used to typing customer for work when I mean "custom"..... BWAHAHAHA

Honed is a smooth, matte finish. Polished marble is not a good idea, especially if you don't want etching to be very obvious. I love quartzite as a counter material and would use it in my own kitchen. But I wouldn't do food prep on it as it's manmade.

There's a reason marble has been used for pastry for hundreds of years.

Quartzite is NOT quartz. Quartz is manmade and I am not doing that - quartzite is a stone.

And I agree on the marble - honed can still etch (I tested Vermont marble with some lemon splatter and it was obvious even on the honed) - thus it was eliminated for the larger part of the kitchen - but incorporating a honed area for bread makes sense (and I get SOME of my marble!)

Look into the Artisan in 5 minutes a day no-knead method. :) We've been making all our own bread for years using that method. We do pull out a large wooden board when we make pizza or a specialty rolled/filled bread, though, and for that, my husband wants a Boos board when we're done with the kitchen.

For that 'earthy look and feel', get a wood dough bowl. :)

I love my marble for pastry and biscuits, but I have the feeling it's
too cold for bread dough, unless I'm planning to let the dough rise all
day. I'm not usually that far ahead of the game, so I end up proofing
in the oven, and I don't want the marble slowing down my rise. I have a noodle board that I use for bread and pizza dough. (Someone recently said that if you aren't from Ohio, you might not know about noodle boards.) Mine doesn't have sides.

I
made bread for sub sandwiches recently, and tried Paul Hollywood's method for kneading with oil instead of flour, so I used the marble--I
didn't want the oil soaking into the board. I didn't really care for the
results, but YMMV.

My island is 34" tall, which I find comfortable.

I have a 36" wide maple pull out breadboard. I can pull it out just partway or totally remove it and put it on the counter. I do bake a fair amount, but don't knead bread a lot, so the height issue doesn't bother me. I don't let anyone cut any onions or mince garlic on this board. I do roll out scones and cut them, chop nuts, etc.

(In other discussions on the topic, I've noticed these are a polarizing issue, but it's working great for us.)

I started with no knead and have been branching out. Hubby loves soft white sandwich bread - so I am trying to perfect that. Most of my kneading is done in the KitchenAid - but some is by hand.

I do have a slight empty space by the window / desk area and I do have 3 Boos block tables with baskets underneath them in storage.... perhaps that is a decent temporary solution, too.

(FYI - looking at a fall / early winter drive in date - so this is all theoretical at this point...)

Since you'd prefer not to break the visual lines of your island, maybe you could just use a large marble pastry slab. It would give you the functionality of honed marble like you were hoping for, but could be easily stashed away when you'd prefer. You could also get one to test out your bread making on to see if it's something you'd like to consider integrating more permanently into your island, or elsewhere. Same thing with butcher block. Fwiw, I do a ton of cooking and baking and have both butcher block and marble in my kitchen and love them- maintenance and all!

I had a marble scrap that I used for bread for many years. I ended up liking the inexpensive silicon sheets much better. They can be used on any surface and rolled up when not in use. I no longer have the marble...

Another vote for silicone. I use an oversized silpat. The beauty is that you can carry it right to the sink for easy cleanup, and then roll it up and stow it away. And nothing sticks!

Better yet, you could buy one of the silicone sheets and try it out today and see what you think before it costs you any serious money in terms of the kitchen.

checking amazon.... added to cart...