Quartzite: sandstone, cooked

Quartzite begins as sandstone: grains of quartz laid down in an ancient shoreline or desert. When that rock is buried deep, or caught up in the collision that builds a mountain range, heat and pressure recrystallize the grains until they interlock. The result is a rock with almost no gaps between grains and no cement holding them together.

Because quartz is hard and does not react with kitchen acids, a true quartzite resists scratches, heat and etching better than marble. It can carry the soft, flowing veining of marble because the iron and other minerals that tinted the original sand were folded into the stone as it changed.

One caution: the trade uses the word quartzite loosely. Some slabs sold as quartzite are really dolomitic marbles or other softer stones that look the part. Ask for a scratch test and an acid test on the slab you are buying. We will tell you plainly what a slab is and where it will and will not perform.

Quartzite is also an excellent outdoor surface, which is why it appears in so many of our outdoor kitchens.