# Help finding a foodsafe material that can withstand heat!



## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

I have been asked to make serving trays for a nice restaraunt in town. The trays are for a dish they serve called "The Rock Fillet"; it's fantastic, I digress. Basically its a tray (12" x 18") that recieves a 450 F flat rock, a raw steak fillet is placed off to the side of the rock and you cook your own steak at your table. They currently have some that were made 10 years ago and the company who made them is long gone. My challenge is to find a product that will hold up to the temperature and allow the diner to cut the steak on one half of the tray and cook it on the rock on the other half. I found this product, Richlite, I think it'll work but it costs about $1000.00 for a 3/4" x 4' x 8' sheet. I haven't given the owner a cost yet as I'm just doing the research now. If anyone has any ideas to help me lower my material costs I'd appreciate it.
This is roughly what the tray will look like.


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## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

We use unglazed clay tiles from a big box store's flooring section to cook our pizzas on. They're cheap and can stand the heat in the kitchen.


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

Thanks Captain, but this needs to a product that I can machine to hold 3 sauce containers and a hot rock. The server brings this thing to your table with a 450F rock on it, it can't slide off into the customers lap.


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

I put a better picture in


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## mynoblebear (Nov 22, 2009)

I had not seen Richlite before I will keep it in mind for materials that we have at our disposal. According to the specks this product takes a temperature of 350 and you mention 450. Because of this I might recommend lining the area that this 450 degree flat rock sites in with some unglazed tiles. The main tray I think I would go with maple impregnated with food grade mineral oil.


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

Do the old ones offer any more hints as to what they might have been made of or finished with?


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

The old ones look MDF, but much heavier and denser; also the area that holds the rock is definitely burnt. However, they've lasted ten years of daily use despite the burnt area, my thought was to get a sample from Richlite and set one of the rocks on it and see what happens.


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

The maple is not a good choice since it must be run through a commercial dishwasher. My goal is to try to find a similar product to the one they are currently made of, unfortunately no one at the restaurant knows what material it is. I'm hoping someone here has used a material similar.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Why not use solid wood and put some tile on it to hold the rock. You could machine it but not have joints ot contend with.


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## DerekL (Aug 18, 2008)

I'd test the Richlite not just to see how it responds to the rock, but also to see how it responds to being cut on daily (and whether or not it tears knives up), and to how it responds to being run through a commercial dishwasher. Three things it needs to do, and precisely none of them are in its design specs.


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

Derek - I chose Richlite as my baseline because it is expressly made for cutting and commercial dishwashers. The company makes Epicurean brand cutting boards and Richlite Foodservice cutting surfaces. I originally linked to Richlite's site that offers full sheets that allow me to custom cut to specified size. Sorry for the confusion. It's also NSF certified. I think i want to use a manmade product just wondering if their are other manmade alternatives.


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## DerekL (Aug 18, 2008)

I think where the confusion arose (on my part) is because you linked to their line of counter tops.

FWIW, I've owned one of those Epicurean cutting boards… It went in the goodwill donation box after about a month because it was hell on my knives.


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## hootr (Mar 28, 2009)

maybe check out "ipe" 
i've read here it's suppose to have a fire rating like concrete
never used it tho


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## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

I used to work in a foundry and we had flat fire brick that would withstand the heat of molten iron 2800 degrees F. You may try that for the hot rock, it could be screwed to whatever material you use for the food service. No meat is going to slide off the brick. You could get firebrick in any size.


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

The restaurant already has the hot rocks. They use soap stone, it doesn't have many internal stresses so it can be repeatably heated. As far as the dulling the knives goes, I don't think the owner is two concerned as people tend to cut their steak on the rock itself. They use restaurant grade steak knives.


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

I wonder if Ipe is food safe? I know its very oily.


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## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

IPE information:
http://www.woodsthebest.com/ipe_decking/ipe-wood.htm
http://www.advantagelumber.com/ipe.htm
and much more on Google.


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## pleipzig (Nov 26, 2009)

If I understand correctly, you need some material that will withstand the heat of the hot soapstone. You could use wood for the tray, but line the indents with silicone pads to set the stone upon. Silicone is used in cooking and can withstand high oven temperatures. It is also food safe.

A quick search found these links:

If you're just looking for material, try this: http://www.rubbercal.com/Silicone.html
You might find you'll need to order too much quantity for your needs.

Otherwise, you could buy a ready-made pad here (search term = silicone hot pad):
http://www.chuckwagonsupply.com/catpage16.html


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## pleipzig (Nov 26, 2009)

Also, if you're going to use wood as your cutting surface, keep in mind that the best butcher blocks use the end grain to cut on. When the knife cuts cross grain, it has to cut the wood fibers. When it cuts into end grain, it's more like cutting vertically into the bristles of a brush, which is much easier on the blade.


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## pickles (Jan 20, 2009)

Thanks guys for all the input. I'm going to try the Richlite material as it best fits the restaurants needs. I'll upate with my findings.


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