WHAT IS SOAPSTONE

Steatite, commonly known as soapstone, belongs to the talcschist mineral family. It is considered to be the cookware stone par excellence, due to its property of retaining and diffusing heat, as well as its malleability that enables it to be shaped.

Various kinds of soapstone are found in nature, but just one of them can be considered proper for cooking purposes. This is a grey-coloured quality that, thanks to the peculiar balance of its chemical composition, endows soapstone cookware with all those physical properties so appreciated by professional chefs.

The best quality grey steatite, used by Cookstone in the manufacturing of soapstone cookware, is composed of:

• 40 –50%  talc,  making it easily workable and giving it a non-stick property.
• 40 – 50%  magnesium carbonate  in combination with a few other minerals (clorite, dolomite, actinolite, antofilite), making it resistant and compact in order to bear extremely high temperatures.
• other pure minerals (epidote, titanite, serpentinite, pirite, magnetite, limonite, ematite, ilmenite) to make up the remaining percentage.