What's best heat-resistant galley surface?

pugwash

pugwash

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By heat I mean pans coming off the cooker. My quote for using a fancy stuff called Corian was well over £1000 for a very small area so I have to go another route. Formica is easy to build, immensely cheaper and does all the right things but it won't take a hot frying pan. What about a heat resistant polyurethane varnish - is that better? Or any other suggests? Thanks.
 
You can also cover your working surface with small ceramic tile, stuck in place with the appropriate adhesive.

Another possibility that is less fragile than granite and more hygienic than tiles would be to cover the surface with sheet metal, say, stainless or aluminium. A cheap source for thin, textured, sheet aluminium is the liner that we use in kitchen cabinets beneath the sink unit and under built-in fridges. I am sure that you have them in your country but I don't know what you call them.
 
pugwash said:
By heat I mean pans coming off the cooker. My quote for using a fancy stuff called Corian was well over £1000 for a very small area so I have to go another route. Formica is easy to build, immensely cheaper and does all the right things but it won't take a hot frying pan. What about a heat resistant polyurethane varnish - is that better? Or any other suggests? Thanks.
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Hate to suggest you refrain from putting hot pans on the work surface but......................if your going the formica route what about 7 or 8 quid for a chopping board to stand your hot pans on............
 
Only that it's one more thing to slide around. But there's a top-opening storage locker next to the cooker and SWMBO just came up with the brilliant idea of making the lid out of a chopping board that can double as a trivet. This might have solved the problem. Good old SWMBO!
 
Good laminate can survive quite high temperatures, if your pot has water in it, it should not damage it, but it is not difficult to use a cork or hardwood mat if you need to place the hot pan on the worktop. How often do you need to set a red hot pan down, other than back on the hob. Seems a bit extreme to need to tile the worktop, and you could renew laminate a lot of times for the price of Corian. The hardwood chopping board we have made for over one of the sinks also locates inside the worktop fiddles beside the hob and can be moved to the saloon table for casserole pots from the oven, and being modified Ikea is easily replaced when if ever it shows damage.
Our amazingly expert and imaginative sea cook has managed some cracking hot meals from a multiple of cooking pans without ever marking the galley worktops.
 
pugwash said:
Only that it's one more thing to slide around. But there's a top-opening storage locker next to the cooker and SWMBO just came up with the brilliant idea of making the lid out of a chopping board that can double as a trivet. This might have solved the problem. Good old SWMBO!
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Yup, they have a way about them, just asked mine, what do you do with hot pans, the reply was, QUOTE: either put them in the sink or back on the hob but turn the gas off first....................Doh!!
 
pugwash said:
Only that it's one more thing to slide around. But there's a top-opening storage locker next to the cooker and SWMBO just came up with the brilliant idea of making the lid out of a chopping board that can double as a trivet. This might have solved the problem. Good old SWMBO!
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This is what we have. The chopping board doubles as a sink lid and has battens screwed to the underside to keep it in place over the sink. I suppose I could fix some non-skid stuff to the battens so it wouldn't slide about when not on the sink but, as we never leave our Solent marina ;), there's no real need. A few weeks ago we also found some circular non-skid, heat-resistant pads in LIDL (?) but we have not put them to the test yet. There is also a fatwah on anyone who burns the Formica.
 
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Missis redid ours with those small (1" square) mosaic style tiles. I think she got them in B&Q. Been there about 18 months now. They've taken the damp, wet and the heat and look good too. Perhaps not the easiest to clean if you had a curry spill, though......
 
pugwash said:
By heat I mean pans coming off the cooker. My quote for using a fancy stuff called Corian was well over £1000 for a very small area so I have to go another route. Formica is easy to build, immensely cheaper and does all the right things but it won't take a hot frying pan. What about a heat resistant polyurethane varnish - is that better? Or any other suggests? Thanks.
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How about a place mat - we have a couple on our work surfaces - perfectly feasable solution.
 
Stainless steel sheet, cheap, can be cut and shaped easily even the up-stands splash backs. It can be stuck down with evo-stick or epoxy, it can be nailed down as well if needed. Fitted very quickly as well.

Heat resistant, smell resistant and easy to clean/keep clean. My galley surfaces are covered with it, as are most hotel/restaurant kitchens.
 
Ariadne said:
Stainless steel sheet, cheap, can be cut and shaped easily even the up-stands splash backs. It can be stuck down with evo-stick or epoxy, it can be nailed down as well if needed. Fitted very quickly as well.

Heat resistant, smell resistant and easy to clean/keep clean. My galley surfaces are covered with it, as are most hotel/restaurant kitchens.
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A large local company sponsored mine,laser cut them to fit as well :cool:
 
For a non permanent solution I use a silicone mat/trivet, same stuff they make floppy bakeware out of - ask SWMBO if you haven't seen it, apparently it's all the rage now.

Soft, folds into a small space, soaks up impacts, heat resistant and non slip. £££ from a fancy kitchen shop, or a couple of quid from general household / cheapie store. I suspect this is what the Aldi mat mentioned above was, in which case it should be good value
 
pugwash said:
Formica is easy to build, immensely cheaper and does all the right things but it won't take a hot frying pan.
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I've been looking to buy Formica for my own small worktop but it seems only to be available in large sheets: 8ft x 4ft or thereabouts. Does anyone know where you can get it in smaller quantities?
 
parsifal said:
This is what we have. The chopping board doubles as a sink lid and has battens screwed to the underside to keep it in place over the sink. I suppose I could fix some non-skid stuff to the battens so it wouldn't slide about when not on the sink but, as we never leave our Solent marina ;), there's no real need. A few weeks ago we also found some circular non-skid, heat-resistant pads in LIDL (?) but we have not put them to the test yet. There is also a fatwah on anyone who burns the Formica.
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Parsifal,

I like the arrangement with your cooker, by the looks of it, it slides forwards for cooking?
That arrangement would work perfectly for my boat (Dufour 1800) I'm about to completely rebuild the galley, could you tell me how you built it?
 
seanfoster said:
Parsifal,
(Dufour 1800) I'm about to completely rebuild the galley, could you tell me how you built it?
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Gladly, but PM me with your email address please, and I will send more photos. It takes too long putting photos on here one at a time.

And yes, the cooker slides out for cooking.
 
pugwash said:
I just rang Formica and they do 7ft by 3ft.
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I see you are in SW London so you might be interested to know that I bought my Formica from a very helpful firm not a milion miles from you:

Wey Plastics Ltd
29 Lydden Road
Wandsworth
SW18 4LT
T: 0208 874 2003
F: 0208 874 6470

They have all kinds of laminates in stock, and will also cut it to size and glue it to worktops for you. They also have a showroom with samples.
 
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