On The Table

Choosing Cutlery

by admin on 29/01/10 at 1:55 pm

Choosing cutlery is largely based on your own style and taste. A high quality cutlery set can be expensive but they will probably last you a lifetime. Your personal needs in a cutlery set may vary, depending upon your cooking style, available space, and entertaining requirements. If you feel it’s time to upgrade to a more luxurious set, consider the material you require, design, place settings and how much you would like to spend.

Which material to choose?

There are three basic options:

• stainless steel,
• silver plate and
• sterling silver (generally made to order).

Each has its own benefits and costs vary greatly. Eighty per cent of cutlery is 18/10 stainless steel, an alloy of iron with chrome and nickel added to make it corrosion resistant. They are suitable for use in dishwashers and convenient for everyday use.

Stainless steel cutlery generally comes in a wider range of designs than silver-plated cutlery.

Silver is a suitable material for cutlery as it doesn’t react with most foods and is resistant to staining and corrosion. It is a soft metal which makes it unsuitable for knife blades and so these are generally edged with stainless steel.

Sterling silver and plated cutlery will require polishing every so often to keep them looking clean and shiny.

Which design should I choose?

It is all about personal preference, some people prefer heavier cutlery whilst others will prefer feel and be guided more by the style. Consider how well the design will stand the test of time and whether it will still be stylish and functional in years to come?

Classic designs can generally be easily managed however should a more unusual design be discontinued then it will be difficult to source extra items as replacements or accessories to add to your chosen collection. Handles may be wood, plastic, or metal, although this is more an issue of preference than one of quality when choosing your cutlery set.

Robert Welch, Alessi and Maxwell & Williams are well known cutlery ranges available from On The Table.

The beautiful Robert Welch cutlery range is designed by William Welch and available in many designs, Robert Welch Comet Bright is weighty and very comfortable to hold, Norton Bright is a timeless classic design featuring rounded generous heads on spoons and forks and Ammonite Flat Bright comes with a timeless distinctive fossil motif stamped into both sides of the handle.

When buying antique cutlery the most important criteria to consider is condition. The tines on forks should be of equal length and the spoons should retain their original shape and not have sharp tips.

How much cutlery should I buy?

This will be determined by family size, whether you like to entertain family and friends with formal dinner settings and in more practical terms, how many times your dishwasher gets loaded before the clean stuff runs out. Think about how many place settings are required and if you have people round for dinner on a regular basis consider buying two sets of knives and forks so you won’t have to wash up between courses. Designs that allow you to buy individual components are a good idea as you never know when you may need to replace the odd spoon or fork that inevitably goes astray – you can always add to your service bit by bit, which can be a more affordable way to build your collection.

The Robert Welch cutlery range is available as a 24 piece set and contains six basic place settings of knife, fork, spoon and teaspoon. The 42 piece set contains 6 place settings of table knife, table fork, side knife, side fork, dessert spoon, soup spoon and tea spoon.

The 56 piece set allows for 8 place settings and the 84 piece set 12 place settings. Prices start from £84.

The Robert Welch Cutlery Sets can be extended to include, fish knives & forks, salad servers, sauce ladle, steak knives and children’s cutlery.

Robert Welch Children’s Cutlery Sets

The Robert Welch Children’s Cutlery Set Comet Bright priced at £20.00 is sold in a boxed set and makes a perfect Christening gift that can be used and enjoyed for many years.

Cutlery in a Formal Table Setting

For many the family, celebration or festive meal is not complete without the proper cutlery. There are many pieces of cutlery that can grace a table, but the following is the typical setting you will see at a more formal meal:

• To the left of the setting you will see the forks. Traditionally, from the outside there will be the fish fork, salad fork and dinner fork. The fish fork is for picking bones out of fish. Salad forks are smaller and heavier then the dinner fork. The dinner fork comes last and is nearest to the plate. This is a longer fork and is also referred to as a meat fork.
• To the right of the plate lies a service knife and this is for the entre and to cut meat. It is also the largest knife in the place setting. Next to that is a fish knife which is used in conjunction with the fish fork. Knives are always placed with the blade facing in toward the plate. On the far right is a soup spoon and it is a larger spoon then one served with coffee or dessert and is almost the same length as the dinner knife and fork. The place setting may also contain a butter knife to butter bread rolls.
• Horizontally, above the dinner plate are the dessert spoon and cake fork. They are placed with the ends of the cutlery facing opposite directions.

This is the basis to a typical setting and the rule of etiquette is to use cutlery from the outside of the plate inwards. In this way you will always use the proper piece for the correct course.

Care and Cleaning for your Cutlery

Washing by hand is by far the best way to clean all cutlery, but very few people have the time or the patience for it. As a result most cutlery is now dishwasher safe, but there are still a few rules to follow:

• Remove stainless steel from the dishwasher promptly as it is prone to corrosion if left in a moist atmosphere.
• Avoid prolonged contact with very hot fat, salt, vinegar, egg, acidic fruits and wine, as these can cause surface blemishes.
• Avoid soaking your cutlery as mineral salts in the water can attack the surface of the metal.
• Never mix silverware with stainless steel in the wash as it can cause a chemical reaction and leave stains.
• If you buy second-hand pieces with bone handles they should always be hand washed.
• Well-made knives can be sharpened at home or professionally, and should be washed by hand and thoroughly dried to preserve the blade.

Choose a good quality, well made, and comfortable cutlery set when you invest in new knives. If you drop by the On The Table shop we have a comprehensive range of cutlery sets on display.

We still have special tableware sale offers of up to 40% discount on ranges from Alessi, Maxwell & Williams and Guzzini. Delivery on the 56 and 84 piece set may take approximately 30 days. Care for them well, and you will not need to replace your cutlery set for many years.