Choosing a Cutlery set

Jesmond 18/0 Cutlery

When choosing a cutlery set it is important to consider some of the following points…

Stainless Steel Cutlery sets

The vast majority of restaurants will use Stainless steel cutlery. It is a mixture of steel, nickel and chromium and in cutlery it is described by the nickel and chromium content in that order by the description of two numbers separated by a forward slash. 18/10 is the most popular restaurant grade of stainless steel, which means of the 100 parts in the steel, 18 parts are nickel, 10 parts are chromium and the remaining 72 parts are steel, which itself is an alloy of iron and carbon. One of the major advantages of 18/10 cutlery, and the reason it is very popular in restaurants, is that it is a hard material. This makes the cutlery dishwasher safe and resistant to scratching. If tarnishing appears on 18/10 cutlery the two likely reasons are that it is low quality or incorrect use of detergents in the dishwasher.

Cutlery handle – Solid or hollow design

This is purely a design preference by the restaurant. Solid handles have a firm, smaller feel in the hand whilst hollow handles feel more chunky and are much lighter. There is no difference in durability and it is rare to find much difference in cost. Traditional cutlery patterns such as Harley, Jesmond, Bead, Kings and Dubarry are known as Parish Patterns.

Cutlery – Buy Online

The above is extracted from the CESA guide on buying cutlery, not some other site : )