Dinnerware is an integral part of your dining table. Not only does beautiful and stylish dinnerware enhances the appearance of your meals, but it also improves dining experiences for you, your family, and your guests.
A dinnerware set usually includes multiple items to accommodate the whole table. It includes dinner and salad plates, bowls, teacups, mugs, saucers, etc., depending on your needs and preferences.
You can find dozens of brands and hundreds of dinnerware sets made of different materials, such as earthenware, Bone China, melamine, porcelain, and stoneware. However, the most famous option for homeowners is a porcelain dinnerware set because of its durability, versatility, stylishness, and affordability.
Not all porcelain dinnerware sets are created equal so choosing the perfect product for your dining table is daunting and time-consuming. Today's article will discuss a few factors you can consider when shopping for a porcelain dinnerware set.
Most homeowners prefer porcelain dinnerware sets and dishes because they look beautiful and require less maintenance than other materials. Here is what to look for when choosing a porcelain dinnerware set for your dining table. Read on!
Most dinnerware sets come with traditionally styled items. For example, classic dinnerware sets contain plates with flattened structures in the middle and edges or rims around them.
However, we recommend choosing a dinnerware set with straight edges and straight sides. For instance, these plates are slim enough to easily fit on the table and the dishwasher. Likewise, they are generous enough to stylishly accommodate and represent a wide range of the heartiest meals.
Remember, a straight edge or side adds a unique touch of modernity and stylishness. So, plates with straight edges and straight sides are aesthetically pleasing, but they also have enough space to serve food. Your family members, particularly kids, will find it easier to handle plates with straight edges.
Bowls are essential components of a porcelain dinnerware set. However, a strong trend homeowners witness these days are an all-purpose dinnerware set with a thick bottom on the bowls.
While you can find tall and wide bowls to ensure proper food layering, the thick bottom makes it easier to hold in your hand and enjoy your favorite hot soup for dinner. You can also accommodate them on the table without needing underplates. The thick bottom of the bowls protects the dining table from heat and balances the place setting. Similarly, they are durable, reliable, and long-lasting.
Porcelain dishes or dinnerware items are usually lightweight with delicate edges. These products are lighter than other materials, such as earthenware and stoneware. However, this does not mean you choose porcelain dinnerware with lighter pieces.
Look for a porcelain dinnerware set that features good heft with a solid weight. The reason is that hefty dinnerware is durable and ideal for everyday use. However, it would help if you avoided dinnerware with too much weight because they are cumbersome to store and retrieve from a cupboard.
Dinnerware with a balanced weight has an upscale look, making it perfect for formal dining and parties. Porcelain dinnerware is slightly heavier than Bone China and highly resistant to breakage, and you can wash them comfortably and conveniently in the dishwasher.
A low-quality porcelain dinnerware can crack and break quickly. You can shatter a porcelain dish in the dishwasher during cleaning if it is lighter and thinner. Likewise, a porcelain coffee mug with light walls and narrow 'bottom' labeled as 'microwave-safe' can quickly blow up in the microwave.
Therefore, you must look for porcelain dinnerware with heavy construction and durability. Perform thorough research, ask around, and visit the store to check the construction and durability. Ask the staff whether they have tested the products via thermal shock, stain resistance, water leakage, dishwasher resistance, and microwave adaptability tests.
If you are shopping online, make sure you look for customer reviews before purchasing dinnerware. The purpose is to see what other people say about porcelain dinnerware and how durability and sturdiness matter: the thicker, heavier, and more durable the porcelain dinner, the higher its longevity.
Choosing durable dinnerware is long-lasting and resistant to chips and cracks. Thus, you can use it for a long time without compromising quality, making it perfect for fine dining, banqueting, and family dinners.
Design, style, versatility, and price are crucial factors to consider when looking for or purchasing a porcelain dinnerware set. Depending on your needs, you can choose colorful porcelain dinnerware, but we recommend simple, minimalistic designs with white color.
You can never go wrong with white porcelain dinnerware because they are stylish, classic, minimalistic, and versatile, making an excellent base set. The good news is that you can accent the dinnerware with colorful mugs and bowls. Similarly, white porcelain plates look beautiful with all sorts of glasses.
Porcelain dinnerware is more versatile and affordable than other materials. For instance, you don't need to purchase two dinnerware sets. Instead, you can invest in a nice, durable, long-lasting set to save space and money. White porcelain dinnerware is feasible for everyday and formal dining, letting you enjoy the beautiful tableware all the time.
Porcelain is a non-porous ceramic manufactured with premium-quality clay. Porcelain is heated at 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit to make it challenging to break. Materials' durability, dishwasher safety, microwave-safe usage, style, color, pattern, thick bottom, straight edges, straight sides, and maintenance are things you should consider before buying dinnerware.
In researching this guide, I interviewed William Carty, PhD, a professor of ceramic engineering and materials science at the Inamori School of Engineering at Alfred University. I also spoke at length with Jono Pandolfi, potter and owner of Jono Pandolfi Designs in New Jersey, who has created dinnerware for a long list of notable restaurants around the world. He was kind enough to give me a tour of his pottery studio in Union City, New Jersey, so that I could see how dinnerware is made firsthand. The American Ceramic Society provided me with resources about ceramic production and terminology. For a rundown on dinnerware trends and how they've evolved over time, I spoke to Bob Page, founder of Replacements, Ltd., and Margaret Carney, PhD, ceramic art historian and the founding director and curator of the International Museum of Dinnerware Design in Ann Arbor, Michigan. To better understand glass dinnerware, I reached out to Jane Cook, PhD, former chief scientist at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. (I also toured the Corelle factory in Corning, New York, to see how Vitrelle dinnerware is made). To learn more about ceramic production in the US, I visited The Met Museum in New York City to see its permanent collection of American ceramics in The American Wing and attended the exhibit Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina in January .
I also talked to experts about what they look for in a basic dinnerware collection, including Eddie Ross, the co-founder and chief content creator of Maximalist Studios and the former design, decorating, and food editor for Better Homes & Gardens, Food Network, Martha Stewart Living, and House Beautiful; and chef Candy Argondizza, the vice president of culinary and pastry arts at the International Culinary Center at the time of our interview. (The ICC has since been acquired by the Institute of Culinary Education.)
Finally, I spoke with Regina Santella, PhD, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, about lead and other potentially harmful metals found in certain dinnerware.
As a senior staff writer on Wirecutter's kitchen team, I've reviewed all kinds of tableware items, including wine and Champagne glasses, drinking glasses, and flatware, as well as other kitchen gadgets and equipment. I've spent over 200 hours researching hundreds of dinnerware sets for our guide to the best dinnerware. Prior to joining Wirecutter in , I was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York City, and I worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade.
Before you start shopping, decide how many place settings to get and how much you want to spend. We recommend four to six place settings for a two-person household, and eight to 12 settings for a household of four or five. If you entertain only occasionally, you can go with a smaller main set for everyday use and pick up a handful of cheap plates for when your guest list swells.
Dinnerware can cost anywhere from a few dollars per piece to hundreds of dollars for a five-piece set of fine china, depending on the quality. Sometimes pieces are cheaper bundled in a complete place setting or open-stock sets, so be sure to weigh your options. You can find a decent, good-quality place setting for $30 to $60, which is the price range where you begin to see better materials and craftsmanship. Keep in mind that some retailers reduce the price of the individual place setting when you buy multiple settings.
You can find dinnerware sold piece by piece (open stock), as individual place settings, or in preassembled box sets. Some dinnerware collections are available all three ways.
Generally we prefer open-stock sets because they offer you the flexibility to pick and choose the pieces, such as a few extra plates for big holiday dinners. And you can replace a single chipped or broken plate without buying another complete place setting. Buying open stock also lets you add pieces like bread and butter plates (if they're available in the collection) outside the main place setting. All of our recommended sets in our guide to the best dinnerware are sold as open stock.
If you have low vision, choosing contrasting-color dinnerware can make eating easier'open-stock collections also allow you to mix and match colored dinnerware to suit your specific needs. You can read more about adaptive dinnerware in our guide to the best dinnerware.
Place settings typically include three, four, or five pieces. Many place settings are also available open stock, and some collections include additional serving pieces sold separately. Some retailers reduce the price of dinnerware when you purchase a full place setting, so doing that is often less expensive than buying pieces open stock. Every manufacturer assembles collections differently, so be sure to double-check what's in each place setting before you buy, and choose one that's appropriate for your lifestyle. In other words, don't get a set of dinnerware with soup bowls if you're more likely to use cereal bowls.
Dinnerware box sets are very affordable'many cost under $100 for a 16-piece set'but we suggest avoiding them unless the dinnerware is also sold as open stock. Without open-stock pieces, replacing items will be hard: If a plate breaks, you have to purchase another entire box set to get a new one'and at the end of the day, you still end up with an incomplete setting. Usually you can't buy serving pieces outside the main set, either. Also, most box sets are cheaply made, with quality issues such as uneven rims, pinholes, or drippy glazes.
You always get what you pay for when it comes to dinnerware, so we encourage you to spend more if you can. But you don't need to purchase all of your dinnerware at once. If it's expensive, you might prefer to buy just a few pieces at a time until you've acquired a full set. You can also be strategic with your purchases and wait for after-holiday sales.
To ensure you know what you're buying, get familiar with the materials used in dinnerware.
Manufacturers can make ceramics using a variety of materials, but not all materials are equally durable. We recommend getting porcelain, bone china, stoneware, or Vitrelle glass for everyday use because such pieces are affordable, easy to care for, and sturdy.
China, the material, takes its name from China, the birthplace of porcelain making. It's an umbrella term defined in the Dictionary of Ceramics as 'any glazed or unglazed vitreous ceramic dinnerware used for nontechnical purposes.' (Vitreous means the product is glassy and brittle with little ability to absorb water, as in most dinnerware, toilets, and sinks.) The term fine china has a somewhat ambiguous meaning but generally includes any porcelain or bone china made from higher-quality clays. Fine china is particularly expensive because the quality is perfectly consistent from piece to piece. It's an elegant choice for formal occasions, but it often needs hand washing, so it's not ideal for daily use. See our section on fine china below.
A note for the newly engaged: Our research showed that couples often regret registering for a set of expensive fine china because they don't use it often enough, it takes up too much space, and the style can become dated. We recommend starting with one set of dinnerware that's casual enough for morning cereal but still elegant enough for a dinner party.
Porcelain, a type of china, is the most common type of dinnerware. It primarily consists of a combination of clay, feldspar, and quartz, fired in kilns at very high temperatures. Porcelain varies a lot in weight and color'basic whiteware can range from bright white to blue-gray. Bluish porcelain can look odd next to pure-white linens or serving pieces, so when you go shopping for white porcelain dinnerware, we recommend bringing a white napkin into stores to see how the colors compare. Porcelain is also sold in a wide range of colored glazes.
Bone china is made with the same ceramic materials as porcelain but with the addition of calcified bone (up to 50 percent). Calcified bone, or bone ash, is derived from animal bone and gives bone china a creamier color and more translucency than porcelain. Bone china is typically more expensive than porcelain and a bit more difficult to manufacture. Even though bone china is generally thinner and lighter and appears more delicate than porcelain, it's surprisingly durable (see the section on durability below).
In the US, ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) allows use of the term 'bone china' for china with a bone-ash content as low as 25 percent. However, according to William Carty, PhD, a professor at Alfred University, the quality of bone china isn't necessarily dependent on the amount of bone ash it contains. He told us that 'the quality is based on the quality of the surface and the glaze, translucency, and the aesthetics of the body.'
Stoneware encompasses any vitreous or semivitreous pottery made from the same ingredients as porcelain but in different ratios. According to Carty, 'With stoneware, typically, your interest is not in a pure white body, but an off-white body. Sometimes it has speckles in it. Those have to do with the clay in the raw materials that are used.' Potter Jono Pandolfi told us that although most stoneware is thicker than porcelain, it doesn't need to be. Thicker stoneware, like that of Jono Pandolfi, Heath Ceramics, or East Fork Pottery, gives the dinnerware a rustic aesthetic that some people prefer.
Earthenware is a type of glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that dates back thousands of years. Makers fire earthenware at a lower temperature than bone china, porcelain, or stoneware, so it isn't as durable, and it's not suitable for daily use. Also, according to the FDA, unsafe levels of lead may be present in the glazes or decorations on the surface of some earthenware pottery, so it's best to avoid using it for eating. You can read more about lead and other potentially harmful metals in dinnerware in the section below.
Ceramic glazes are impervious silicate coatings that fuse to the base clay in the final firing stage and make the finished ceramic impenetrable to liquids. Porcelain and bone china are always fully glazed (except for an area on the underside known as 'the foot'), but stoneware may be only partially glazed depending on the design. Choose whichever style you like best, as long as the areas that come in contact with food are fully glazed.
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Glazes are either glossy or matte, but Carty recommends avoiding matte-glazed dinnerware because it's more susceptible to damage. He also told us, 'The potential to trap or imbed food particles, grow bacteria, etc., are all higher with a matte glaze due to surface texture and roughness.' And the rougher texture of matte glazes makes them prone to metal marking from flatware.
Most of the glaze chemicals that manufacturers use for ceramics today are either insoluble or have low solubility in water, and pose little to no risk of leaching from the dinnerware to you.
Other common materials for dinnerware include glass, plastic, and metal. However, we don't recommend using everyday dinnerware made from the latter two materials because the pieces are too impractical for daily use.
Vitrelle, a type of glass laminate, is a lightweight, proprietary material made for the Corelle brand. Three thermally bonded layers of glass make the material impressively durable (check out this video to see how it's made). Since it's so resilient, Vitrelle is a great option for kids, college students, or anyone who isn't fussy about their dinnerware and wants something affordable and durable.
Milk glass is a type of opaque glass that's pressed or blown into shape. Anchor Hocking's green milk glass known as Jadeite was a popular choice for dinnerware in the s. Although it's less common today, you can still find some fun reproductions. According to Jane Cook, PhD, chief scientist at the Corning Museum of Glass, milk glass isn't as durable as Vitrelle glass because it lacks mechanical strengthening.
Melaware is a generic term for any hard plastic resin tableware made from melamine-formaldehyde resin. It's a great option for kids or for outdoor entertaining since it's so durable (see our favorite dinnerware for outdoor dining). The FDA recommends against heating melaware in the microwave.
Enamelware is a type of lightweight dinnerware coated with a vitreous enamel. It's ideal for camping or for dining al fresco, but some people may find it too impractical for daily use since it can be noisy in combination with metal flatware, it can't go in the microwave, and the enamel is prone to chipping.
Before you settle on a set of dinnerware, we recommend looking at it in person to determine if the weight, size, shape, and pattern of each piece is right for you (we have a checklist of things to look for in-store at the end of this guide). Ceramics historian Margaret Carney, PhD, stressed the importance of taking your time when selecting dinnerware and not rushing into a purchase you'll regret later. Avoid buying superfluous pieces you won't use, and stick to what's appropriate for your eating habits and lifestyle. Ultimately, you should 'pick something that you personally like'it doesn't really matter what anybody else thinks about it,' said Replacements, Ltd. founder Bob Page.
Dinnerware varies considerably in weight, so we recommend handling sample sets of different materials and thicknesses to get a sense of what you like best. It's also a good idea to pick up a stack of plates or bowls to see how heavy they'll be when you're retrieving them from a cupboard. Also consider the weight of the dinnerware while you're washing dishes, particularly if you don't have a dishwasher and will be washing it by hand'heavy plates can make the chore more tedious. Keep in mind that heavier dinnerware isn't necessarily higher-quality or more durable: Bone china, for example, is lightweight and slightly translucent when you hold it up to the light, but it's just as durable as thicker porcelain or stoneware.
As you handle sets in the store, also pay attention to the size and shape of each item to see that they're appropriate for your eating habits. We also recommend measuring the dimensions of your cupboard space, dishwasher, and microwave to confirm that the dinnerware will fit. Bring a tape measure or ruler to the store so that you can compare the dimensions.
Before committing to a set of dinnerware, compare it with the size of your existing flatware to be sure the proportions agree with you (it might help to bring your flatware into the store with you). If your plates dwarf your forks and knives or vice versa, they can make for an odd-looking place setting.
Beyond general size considerations, here are the factors to consider for each piece:
Plates: Wider rims reduce the overall capacity of a plate's eating surface, which is nice if you're looking to decrease food-portion sizes. If you want a lot of negative space on your plate or more room for larger servings of food, we recommend getting plates with narrower rims. Some rimless, coupe-style plates slope slightly from the outer edge inward, which causes sauces to pool in the center of the plate. If that bothers you, get plates with flat surfaces.
See our guide to the best dinnerware if you're looking for adaptive dinner plates that are designed to help anyone with hand dexterity or coordination issues eat independently.
Bowls: Some dinnerware collections offer several styles and sizes of bowls. Decide if you want shallow soup bowls (sometimes called pasta bowls, low bowls, or soup plates) or deep cereal bowls (sometimes called rice bowls). Cereal bowls are more casual than soup bowls, but their larger capacity makes them more all-purpose; they're great for small salads, pasta, grains, soups, and stews. Deep bowls with steep sides are awkward, requiring you to hold your spoon at such a steep angle that it feels as if you're dive-bombing into your soup. Bowls that are too shallow can cause milk to slosh over the rim when you're eating cereal. Soup bowls can be too shallow for a bowl of Cheerios and are better suited to stews, pasta, salads, and risotto.
We prefer round-bottomed bowls to flat-bottomed bowls because their sloped sides are easier to eat from. But some people prefer the look of flat-bottomed bowls and like how they stack.
Mugs or teacups and saucers: Most place settings allow you to choose mugs or teacups and saucers. Teacups and saucers are great for entertaining because they're more formal, and they help keep your tablecloth free of coffee or tea rings. But teacups are polarizing, as they can make one person feel like a bull in a china shop and another like straight-up royalty, so choose whichever style you like better. Whatever you decide, try the handles on the mugs or teacups to be sure they're comfortable to hold. Likewise, confirm that the circumference of the mug isn't so narrow that it hits the bridge of your nose. Some people like smaller mugs because tea or coffee tends to remain hotter by the time they reach the last sip. Others may prefer larger mugs so they don't have to refill them as often. If you're short on storage space, or if your mug collection already has your cupboards bursting at the hinges, all of our recommended picks in our guide to the best dinnerware are sold as open stock, so you can skip mugs entirely if you want. If you like to take your mug with you in the car, be sure to measure the cup holders first to determine whether it will fit (but we recommend using one of our recommended travel mugs instead).
Unless you're getting two sets of dinnerware'one casual and one formal'try to find a single style that works for all occasions. It should be durable enough for everyday use but nice enough for entertaining. Sets with decorative designs can be exciting, but they're also more likely to become dated with time. For this reason, we generally recommend choosing dinnerware with a classic look free of busy patterns or designs. However, if you prefer patterned styles, but you need help getting started, we have lots of suggestions in our section on fine china, as well as in our guide to the best dinnerware.
Good dinnerware should provide a blank canvas for any meal. As chef Candy Argondizza noted, 'Dinnerware should allow the food to make a statement so that the diner's eye is drawn to it with no distractions.' If you like colored dinnerware but are hesitant to choose it as your main set, you can always get serving pieces and platters with more ornate designs to help liven up your basic set, especially if it's whiteware. In other words, don't be afraid to mix and match. Maximalist Studios's Eddie Ross recommends looking for fun, eclectic pieces on eBay or at estate sales, thrift shops, and flea markets, or even raiding your relatives' attics and sideboards. To brighten up a basic set, Ross also encourages using colorful glassware, placemats, or tablecloths, or tying ribbon to the dinner napkins. 'A beautiful colored flower centerpiece can really change the whole table setting,' said Ross. However, if you're having trouble deciding what to buy, Margaret Carney said, 'when in doubt, always choose white.' Whiteware is usually a safe bet since it's free of patterns or colors that may become dated with time.
Choosing a dinnerware set that has been around for a while increases the chances that it will remain in production for years to come, should you need to replace pieces or grow your collection. All of the dinnerware collections we recommend in our guide to the best dinnerware have been in stock for roughly 10 years or more'some have been made for over 80 years. If you're unsure exactly how long a collection has been available, ask a sales associate at the store or call the manufacturer directly; most retailers can tell you what has remained popular and in stock over the years. If the dinnerware is sold online, you can sometimes approximate how old it is based on how many years back the owner reviews go.
If your dinnerware is no longer in production, Replacements, Ltd. specializes in selling discontinued dinnerware. Its website also has a handy camera tool that allows you to take a picture of a dinnerware pattern and search for it in the database. If Replacements, Ltd. doesn't have the dinnerware in stock, the company can often source it for you and ship it once it becomes available.
Fine china has become less popular in recent years among the newly engaged. For many people, it doesn't see use often enough to justify its high price or the ample cupboard space it takes up'inheriting china can also be a drag. Margaret Carney said, 'I think younger people are way less interested in carting it around or having it in their garage or paying for storage units. And the Baby Boomers, they're wanting to let go of it.' Bob Page said, 'In general, younger people tend to want things that are less formal and that can go in the dishwasher.' While that may be true, we've also seen reports of growing interest in acquiring china among younger generations, who may be nostalgic for the dinnerware their relatives had or simply want to relish dinnertime more post-pandemic.
If your budget doesn't allow for a new set of china and you're up for the hunt, all of the experts we spoke to recommend scouring thrift stores, garage sales, or even sites like eBay or Etsy for significantly discounted dinnerware. You can also buy antique dishes piecemeal or as complete sets on Replacements, Ltd. If you can't find a particular pattern on the site, Replacements, Ltd. says you can make a request, and it will add that pattern to its database'once there's enough interest, the company will begin searching for the pattern.
One alternative to purchasing an entire set of fine china is to buy only serving or side pieces. If your main set of dinnerware has a neutral, classic design, you can easily incorporate more ornate and colorful pieces, and they will still feel cohesive. Not only is this a more economical approach, but also, if the styles you choose become dated or your tastes change, you won't be stuck with a huge collection of china that you've outgrown.
Before searching for a pattern you like, we suggest determining your budget. For less expensive china, which averages between $30 and $100 per dinner plate, we recommend looking at the following reputable brands: Lenox, Wedgwood, Royal Albert, Mikasa, Villeroy & Boch, Spode, L'Objet, Michael Aram, and Pickard (the only remaining fine china manufacturer based in the US).
You can expect to pay over $100 per dinner plate if you purchase from Haviland, Bernardaud, Herend, Royal Crown Derby, Royal Copenhagen, Ginori , Philippe Deshoulieres, Mottahedeh, Anna Weatherley, Aerin, La Double J, Dibbern, Aquazzura, or Raynaud. There are also some outliers, such as Rosenthal, which carry a wide selection of dinnerware ranging in price from about $30 to several thousand dollars per dinner plate.
Many clothing retailers, including Versace, Hermès, and Dolce & Gabbana, also have dinnerware collections. However, keep in mind that this dinnerware is usually seasonal (like clothing is) and typically won't remain in stock for long, so it will be difficult to replace pieces or grow your set down the road.
Lead was once common in dinnerware glazes, but as William Carty told us, 'There are very, very few manufacturers that still have lead in glazes.' Despite its being largely phased out of dinnerware over the past several decades, concerns about leachability persist. In reality, tableware doesn't pose a serious risk of lead exposure'other sources, such as lead in paint, soil, food, or water, are far more likely to cause harm, especially for young children or pregnant people. While there is no safe level of lead exposure, the FDA has calculated a maximum daily intake for lead, 2.2 micrograms per day for children and 8.8 micrograms for pregnant people. California's Proposition 65, meanwhile, allows an exposure of just 0.5 microgram of lead per day. (If dinnerware were to leach more than that, it would have to be sold with a Prop 65 warning in California'though it would still need to be under the FDA's limit to be sold in the US.) But even if a piece of dinnerware were to contain lead, the rate of leachability would depend on the type of food placed on it'acidic food or drink would cause more lead to leach than, say, a dry piece of bread. Also, dinnerware with a glossy glaze has been fired at a high enough temperature to limit the transference of lead and lower the risk of toxicity.
Since there is no safe level of lead intake, you may be wondering why the FDA sets any maximum intake at all. Regina Santella explained, 'The more we study lead, the more we see effects at lower levels. I think in general, it's true that there is no safe level of lead, but that has to be put into perspective. You want to minimize your exposure the same way you want to minimize your exposure to cigarette smoke, alcohol, and air pollution. So while it may be confusing, I think the message is just to minimize your exposure to the extent possible and don't panic.'
Cadmium, another harmful metal, is often present in dinnerware with red, orange, or yellow colorants or decals, but the dose makes the poison. Even if a glaze contains lead or cadmium, the FDA requires it to be a safe level if it is to come in contact with food (though it's up to the manufacturer to complete the necessary testing). Even still, if you want to steer clear of any possible exposure to cadmium, your best bet is to avoid red, orange, or yellow dinnerware. Barium (PDF), another toxic element, is also in glazes, but according to Carty, it's rarely present in functional wares (like dinnerware) and would still need to meet the EPA's test for barium in groundwater.
In , the Chicago Tribune took 21 pieces of dinnerware to a lab to perform a lead and cadmium leaching test. All of the dinnerware was far below the leachable limits set for those metals by the FDA, and just one piece was above California's stricter limit for lead (though it could still be sold with a Prop 65 warning in California). The bottom line: As long as you avoid eating off of nonvitreous earthenware pottery, we don't think you need to be concerned about unsafe levels of lead in dinnerware.
One exception is vintage dinnerware, which may contain higher levels of lead and other metals. That doesn't mean that all vintage dinnerware is unsafe, but keep in mind that such pieces may not have been subject to current FDA standards, depending on when they were made. Chipped or cracked pieces may also increase the level of leachability. If you're concerned, you can always use home lead test kits to determine if your vintage dinnerware has the potential to leach lead into food.
One recent incident of concerns over lead in vintage pieces was related to Corelle, the brand that makes Vitrelle glass dinnerware (which we recommend as the best budget set of dishes in our guide to the best dinnerware). There is a lot of outdated information online regarding vintage Corelle dishes. According to the Instant Brands representative we spoke to, the enamels used to decorate patterned Corelle Vitrelle products were converted to lead-free versions by . Today, all current products have lead-free enamels. Vintage patterns from before that date may contain a small amount of lead in the enamel, but they still meet the current FDA and Proposition 65 guidelines; Corelle tested various vintage patterns dating back to through internationally certified, third-party laboratories to confirm.
Some vintage or antique dinnerware with a red or orange glaze may also be radioactive, since it was not uncommon for manufacturers to use uranium oxide in dinnerware glazes before . You should avoid such pieces for eating purposes.
We recommend looking at dinnerware in person, before you buy, to determine if the weight, size, shape, and design are right for you. It's too difficult to get a sense of the real color and shape of each piece'and impossible to check for flaws'by looking at pictures online. Here's a list of the most important things to check when you're buying dinnerware in the store:
' Are the pieces the appropriate size?
Before you head to the store, measure the inside of your cupboards, dishwasher, and microwave to be sure the dinner plates will fit. Remember to bring a tape measure to the store to double-check the size of the plates. It's also a good idea to bring along a set of your flatware to make sure it's in proportion with the dinnerware you choose. As you consider the size of each piece, also confirm it's the appropriate size for your eating habits.
' Does the dinnerware go with your existing tableware?
If you use white table linens, bring one of your cloth napkins with you to compare its shade with that of the dinnerware. Same goes for any white serving pieces you own: Bring a small platter or bowl to see whether the colors agree. If the colors are slightly off, your dinnerware or serving pieces will look dingy.
' How heavy is it?
Some people are partial to heavy dinnerware, while others prefer lighter pieces. Choose whichever you like best, but lift a stack of plates in the store to get a sense of how cumbersome they'll be to retrieve from a cupboard.
' Are the cups comfortable to hold?
Test the mug or teacup handles to see how comfortable they are to hold. Also, check to see that the cup isn't so narrow that its rim hits the bridge of your nose when you take a sip.
' Are there any glaring flaws?
Minor imperfections are normal for most dinnerware in the $30 to $60 range, but you should avoid any pieces with egregious flaws. Look at a stack of plates and make sure they sit evenly. Examine all of the pieces under the light to check for drips, pitting, scratching, or crazing in the glaze.
' How is the set sold?
Look for sets that are available to purchase open stock; that allows you to pick and choose what you need and easily replace broken pieces down the road. But if the set is also available as a place setting, be sure to compare prices'buying a complete setting may be cheaper than purchasing each piece individually. If you choose to get place settings, confirm that they include the pieces you want and have no extras you won't use.
' How long has the set been around?
Call the manufacturer or ask a sales associate how long the set has been sold to get a sense of its longevity. Dinnerware sets that have been available for at least roughly eight to 10 years are more likely to remain in stock down the line, which will make it easier for you to replace pieces or grow your set in the future.
This article was edited by Gabriella Gershenson, Daniela Gorny, Marguerite Preston, and Raphael Brion.
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