Dinnerware – What type of dinnerware should I buy?
By admin | June 26, 2008
What is the best kind of dinnerware to buy?
It all depends on how you define “best”?
Is the best . . .
- the strongest
- the prettiest
- the best value
- the best colors
- the best designs
- lasts the longest?
What is the best kind of dinnerware for you – depends on what characteristics are important to you.
If best is defined by the most expensive, then you want bone china dinnerware, where the decoration is enhanced by a quality karat of gold or platinum.
If best is defined by the prettiest, that is entirely up to you. There are more decorations on dinnerware than there are flavors of ice cream or colors of crayons. Some people believe that the more decoration on the dinnerware plate means that it is better. If extensive decoration is what you like, there are primarily two types of decoration styles for dinnerware: hand painted dinnerware or dinnerware decorated with decals.
Currently, the more popular style is hand painted dinnerware, because the marketplace has embraced the use of reds and other strong colors in home decor and hand painted dinnerware allows for bolder, brighter colors. Because the temperature that is used to fire hand painted dinnerware is one of the lower temperatures used in a kiln, the bright colors do not burn out in the kiln, allowing for vividly colored dinnerware.
Dinnerware that is decorated with decals is fired at a higher temperature, to ensure that the decoration is fused with plates, bowls, mugs, and so on. The advantage of decal decoration is small fine detailed decorations and designs. The detail of a bird’s wing, or the view of a lighthouse on the shore are easily accomplished through the use of decal decoration. In addition, decal decoration allows a designer to exactly repeat a motif, edge treatment, or create a highly graphic design, for the decal is printed on a machine to the specifications of the designer. So, if highly detailed designs are your preference, than dinnerware with decals would be your choice.
The strongest kind of dinnerware is bone china dinnerware. Most people can put a bone china cup upside down on the floor, step on the cup, and the cup will hold their weight. Bone china is so strong, because it is literally made from bone. Because of all the expensive ingredients used to create quality bone china, it is usually the most expensive dinnerware that one can purchase.
Another very strong dinnerware is vitrified stoneware. Vitrified means that there is no water in the body of the dinnerware. Commercial restaurant dinnerware is vitrified stoneware, for vitrified stoneware is chip resistant, crack resistant, and can handle a wide range of temperature changes. Vitrified stoneware is oven, freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe. Vitrified stoneware is usually more expensive than regular stoneware, for it is more expensive to make.
The best value for dinnerware is probably glass dinnerware, because of its low price point and relatively long life compared to other inexpensive dinnerware. Glass dinnerware is fairly durable and can be oven, freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe (always check the manufacturer’s use and care guide). Unfortunately, glass dinnerware can shatter, when it is accidentally knocked at the right angle against something hard. In addition, the colors and styles of decoration used on glass dinnerware are limited, due to the liquid molten state of glass when it is formed, though there have been great improvements in decoration application over the recent years.
The dinnerware that lasts the longest is the one that sits in a cupboard or cabinet and is never used. Well, that is just wrong. Dinnerware was created to be used, enjoyed, showed off and eaten on, so how dare anyone interfere with dinnerware’s manifest destiny.
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