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 ?
In: 312
In my food plant, we use some sizable brass scrapers to aid in product release from either stainless cooling bands or cooling wheels. Plastic materials are not durable enough and the brass won’t damage the stainless surfaces if properly setup.
Firstly, it’s the “curve” you might be ahead of. Unfortunately brass is very expensive and very heavy, easily tarnishes, and scratches, and for those reasons among probably many others I’m sure are why it’s not popular in high-use environments.
Brass tarnishes, requiring frequent care to stay looking nice.
It’s also softer than steel and aluminum, so regular kitchen tools and appliances can scratch and damage it.
Self sanitation =/= self cleaning. Brass sanitizes itself because the metal reacts with proteins, destroying them and killing cells.
From a cleaning and sanitation perspective, smooth surfaces are the easiest to keep clean and sanitized. That’s why polished stone (granite and marble) are common in home kitchens, why wood composite countertops have a hard polished veneer on them, and why commercial kitchens often use flat rolled stainless steel prep areas. Scratches and gouges on a surface provide safe haven for bacteria.
Stainless steel tables in a kitchen are the best. They can take an *astounding* amount of abuse. Weight, temperature, shock loads (dropping/banging), they’re relatively lightweight for moving and rearranging, they offer storage below the prep surface, they won’t be scratched by kitchen ware like other steel pots and pans, and a brushed finish reflects and diffuses a lot of light making the kitchen better lit and easier to see.
Brass can’t take nearly the same abuse. The instant you slide a metal pan or tray across it, it’ll have scratches on it. A dishwasher drops a pot and there’s a big dent or gouge in the table now. Lastly the brass is just a darker colour, making it more difficult to see clearly.
Also any food prepped on the brass surface is going to taste like brass as brass ions dissolve into the food. That doesn’t happen with stainless steel.
A copper or brass doorknob will over time get a build up of crud from dirt, hand oils, etc that will negate the sanitizing properties. My office building has old brass handles on most doors, and the crud on them has been around since the 70s.
OP I’m not here to ELY5 but rather to offer you a suggestion: use silvet-plated metal. It requires a few rubs with alcohol occasionally, but it’s nowhere near as reactive as brass.
I just redid my bathroom with brass fixtures and accessories, and brass is super popular right now. It’s not used more because it’s expensive. But it’s considered a premium material and finish.
Also, unlaquered brass, though beautiful, requires a ton of maintenance. Polished brass has an 80’s vibe but is coming back in style in some places.
But the answer is that brass is actually the most popular and increases home value so I’m not sure what you’re referring to.
Because the effect only works with clean, unvarnished copper and alloys. As natural tarnish builds up and creates a surface, that effect goes away. and if you varnish or seal it to prevent tarnish, the effect doesn’t work. Plus, the same reactions that are why it self sanitizes WILL occur with lots of foods and equipment in contact with the counter. Do YOU want your philly cheesesteak to taste like pennies?
To answer your question, with my relatively shallow knowledge of the topic;
Brass, and other self sanitizing metals (a casual Google returns results on the oligodynamic effect, if you want to look more in depth) do so over a period of time. This is great for surfaces that are relatively low traffic; the things I read saw timelines in the 15 minute ish range. However, if it sees new or repeat traffic before then, then the self sanitization gets interrupted.
Second, as other people have pointed out, many of these metals are softer than many things you’ll use while cooking (steels, mainly, being the concern). Any scratches or dings you put in your self sanitizing surface create nooks and crannies that can be hard to clean, which is important for our last point;
Schmutz. Basically, the best self cleaning ‘stuff’ is powerless if it gets coated in enough ‘stuff’ to create a barrier between the metal and the germs you want to kill. With the doorknob example, think skin oils, dirt, grease, etc.. This also applies to things like cutting boards. The counter to this is typically ‘just clean it normally’, at which point we’ve kinda overshot why we’d want the surface in the first place.
tl;dr – the surfaces we do use it for, typically, are where it’s useful, and other surfaces would typically not be well suited to softer metals, or would just have to be cleaned conventionally anyway.
Latest Answers