[Sca-cooks] Soap stone dishes & bowls - a question

[Stefan li Rous]

Was written:
 > During my afternoon shopping endevour to conquer the Evil Beast of 
Giftmas
 > Descending, I discovered that our Oxfam World shop have some lovely
 > soapstone dishes in stock.
 >
 > They're the perfect size to be used for drinking cups for my viking 
honey
 > but I wasn't sure if soapstone could be used for that sort of use.
 >
 > Can anyone advise me on this? - does soapstone react badly to such 
things as
 > mead or ale or ?
No, soapstone will not react with food items. If untreated it can 
absorb liquids. This is something you have to be careful of when using 
it for casting. Having moisture in the pores of a mold and pouring in 
molten brass can cause the moisture to explode catastrophically, for 
instance. Most of the soapstone in counters has been heat treated 
and/or sealed. Something similar can probably be done to utensils. This 
hardening process also makes the counter scraps a poor choice for 
soapstone molds, but if that is all you have access to, it can be 
carved.

The biggest concern with soapstone is the chance that it might contain 
asbestos fibers. This is going to be much more of a concern if you are 
sanding or carving the soapstone than simply cooking in it. As with 
other materials, such as wood or pottery, be careful of rough spots 
which can trap food and such and thus give breeding grounds for the bad 
beasties.

Any warnings that I've come across would likely have been put in this 
file in the CRAFTS section of the Florilegium:
soapstone-msg     (25K)  7/23/04    Use of Soapstone in period. Modern 
sources.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/CRAFTS/soapstone-msg.html

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****