I’m getting my kitchen redone & want to know why copper alloys like brass isn’t used more. It seems perfect for counter space and prep areas with its self sanitation properties.
Am I missing something bc I’m stupid or maybe just ahead of the curb ?
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Brass is quite a soft alloy relative to materials in modern use, meaning that scratches, dents etc will occur quite easily, and the amount of maintenance required to keep it in good condition is again, excessive compared to modern materials.
Finally, the colour of brass fades fairly quickly as it reacts with the air, so ends up looking quite aged quite quickly.
Btw, it’s to get ‘ahead of the curve’ rather than curb. 🙂
Stainless steel is better. More durable, doesn’t go making a patina ASAP, and easily sanitized. Which it doesn’t matter that brass has antimicrobial properties because best practice is to clean and sanitize anyway, it’s not perfect.
Brass and copper are very soft metals, which means they dent and scratch easily and repairing them is complex and expensive. Also realistically we’re talking about sheets on top of other materials because a pure brass counter top would be really heavy. Also both brass and copper rust, and they would rust in a kitchen with all the water and fluids and salt involved with cooking.
In general with kitchens it seems like durable and hard but easy to clean surfaces are the way to go. Granite or marble are typical for home use and stainless steel is preferred for professional kitchens.
Ultimately whilst copper and brass have anti bacterial properties this does not mean you don’t have to clean them, so there’s no real benefit, at least for kitchens. They are used though in other applications in which they may not be cleaned as often so their anti bacterial properties reduce the overall risk of an object long term. A common one is door knobs.
>maybe just ahead of the curb ?
Probably not.
You have good answers already, but another factor is that brass smells funny!
Some people, myself strongly included, can smell metals in very very tiny amounts, or at least the volatile compounds from skin which react with the brass. If I pull a brass door handle, my hand smells hideous. Some cutlery (EPNS for instance) makes food almost inedible.
One thing on one has touched on yet, any copper-based alloy will react with Aluminum when wet. What that means is that if you leave an aluminum pan on a wet copper counter (or if you, like me, left a lasagna pan in the copper sink of the house you just bought) the copper will turn that aluminum into salt water and “eat” it away. It’s a pretty cool trick, but problematic when all of your sheet pans are aluminum.
Basically stainless steel does all the water resistance and antimicrobial stuff brass does, and it’s cheaper.
You can get things in a brass if you want the aesthetic but polished brass is ugly in my opinion. Most people go with an “oil rubbed bronze” which I don’t think is actually bronze.
Brass can tarnish meaning that , while yes it self sanitizes, it needs ot be polished regularly to avoid going dark.and this loop will in time compromise its properties and the shape.
for the best of both worlds you are better off using stainless Steel
In addition to the other things noted, historically brass has been made with a small amount of lead to help with casting. The amount isn’t enough to worry about transferring in significant amounts via touch, but it seems like it would be unwise to use it for a lot of direct food contact.
All that said, it is possible to make brass without lead, in the US we have basically mandated that for plumbing fixtures that carry drinking water. So if there were other compelling reasons to use brass we probably could safely.
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