09 Apr Kashruth Question of the Week: Granite Vs. Quartz Countertop on Pesach

When we speak about granite versus quartz, the issue is as follows:

Stone can be kashered for Pesach. However, it has to be pure stone. Granite is indeed a pure stone, however, as much as granite is pure stone, a counter in your kitchen doesn’t necessarily have a piece of stone that is the dimensions of your countertop. So they take two pieces of stone and put them together. How do they put them together? They seal them together with some sort of glue and that glue may not be able to be kashered for Pesach. The glue is in the same category as plastic. So therefore, many people cover granite countertops. As much as you should be , in my opinion, machmir on a granite countertop, quartz is even worse because what is a quartz countertop? Quartz is smaller pieces of stone that’s put together with this glue. So on a granite countertop you’re not going to have that much of a sealant involved. On a quartz countertop, you’re going to have a lot of sealant involved. Since you’re going to have much sealant involved, which maybe cannot be kashered, my feeling is you should properly cover such a countertop.

Rabbi Moshe Elefant is Chief Operating Officer of OU Kosher and the maggid shiur of the Orthodox Union’s Daf Yomi webcast (whose 1,800 learners a day around the globe make his lectures one of the most popular Daf Yomis in the world). If you have a kashruth question for Rabbi Elefant please email Jewishvues@gmail.com and put on the subject line Kasruth Question.