I found a large round piece of slate in the garden. It would make a good chopping board for the kitchen. I’m just worried that it might chip. Is slate suitable for use as a kitchen surface?
Slate is, IIRC, made up of layers. And not too strong either! I don’t think it would make a good chopping board. Be hard on your knives too. Stick with wood or one of the high density plastics.
Another vote for no. Slate is pretty hard and will chew up your knives something awful. Additionally, unless the surface is very close to flat, you’ll have trouble cleanly slicing through things, since the knife won’t go through at the low points.
Good answers, thanks. Maybe I’ll just use it for rolling out pastry. I found it in an old rockery. Its an almost perfect circle, obviously originally cut to measure, but the surface isn’t totally flat. Thanks.
Slate would be terrible as a cutting board, it will dull your knives in a jiffy. OTOH, I just saw a slate cheese board in Crate and Barrel so using it as a neat serving platter could be an option.
Thats a possibility, Cheesesteak, except its 14" across, and 1 inch deep. Using it to carry food from the kitchen to the dining area could be cumbersome - it ways about as much as a small car. 
How about using it as a pizza stone?
Yes, thats a good idea. It would be the perfect shape for making pizza. Do you think it would make a good surface for cooking the pizza in the oven, also?
If it’s an inch thick, it will add to the baking time quite a bit. However, if: a) you don’t mind the extra time, or b) you can preheat the stone, and slide the pizza onto it, go for it. Is your oven shelf strong enough for the weight?
Yeah, I think so AskNott. Preheating the stone is certainly possible. Who knows - maybe the pizza will taste better?
I’ve uploaded some pics of the slate if you want to see what it looks like. You have to click on the “Slate” link:
I’d think of it more as an ‘in the stove’ pizza stone. You preheat it in the oven and place the pizza on top using a wooden peel. Slate should be able to take the heat (they use it in fireplaces), but I can’t find anyone selling slate as a pizza stone.
Thanks Cheesesteak. Its definately worth a try, good idea.
Well, you might want to check a little bit before you use slate as a pizza stone. I was taught not to use layered rocks (especially) wet ones to make fire rings, because they might have water trapped between the layers. Heat rock, make steam, steam expands with nowhere to go. BOOM!
IANAGeologist, so I’m just saying, be careful.