I love to collect elegant crockery that includes porcelain and bone china dinnerware set. But I was reluctant to use the porcelain dishes for daily usage. Because they look fragile and elegant and I was afraid to disarray my favorite dishes.
My experience says that expensive will make you cry once is true to be said for porcelain dishes also. You just pay for once and if used with care these dishes can accompany you for generations without wear and tear. Porcelain is the strongest material for dinnerware dishes that you can buy for routine usage. And these dishes stand against daily wear and tear gracefully. Common melamine or plastic dinnerware get cracks when exposing to high temperature while porcelain dishes are chip and crack resistant. But you cannot say that they are also unbreakable.
Porcelain dinnerware has a refined style and can also be used as formal dinnerware. You can proudly present food in these dishes. If you ask which color is best to plate-up high end or luxury food then I will surely recommend while dinnerware or plates enhances the beauty of food due to neutral background. And you will not find any better option than porcelain dishes either with a pattern or plain white theme. If you buy normal white plates they will get de-color after daily usage while white porcelain dinnerware stay in perfect condition due to their double layer glaze. But there is one drawback that porcelain dishes slightly start to develop a hue of blue or grey shade with aging.
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How to identify if the dishes are bone china or porcelain?
Bone china is more expensive than porcelain but both can be categorized as fine dining cutlery assortment. There is a slight difference between the appearance and texture of these dishes. Bone china dishes have a smooth and shiny surface and are lightweight with a thin gauge and have opaque consistency. While porcelain dishes have a textured appearance and if you raise porcelain toward light then the light will pass through it. Actually porcelain is a type of ceramics that is derived from china white clay.
Why I love porcelain cutlery for daily usage despite being expensive?
- Porcelain dinnerware have a fancy appearance and I don’t have to stock different tableware set for formal use. These dishes work fine for all-purpose.
- Minimalist design that complements to serve all variety of food at best.
- Easy to clean. Due to the granular texture of porcelain, dishes are resistant to oil and rinse thoroughly with common dish soap liquid and sponge.
- Easy to stack. Each set of porcelain plates neatly stackable and hence be vested in limited space of kitchen cabinets.
- Dishwasher and microwave safe. Although easy to hand wash but you can use them in the dishwasher. If you own plain white porcelain dishes then you can also use them in the microwave. But be careful if there are any designing with metallic rims then it is better not to microwave them as golden polish gets damage.
Is it safe to cook in a porcelain dish?
325- 350 ° F is the most common cooking temperature that we use in the oven. Or sometimes we use as high as 400 ° F for a short time of period to the crisp upper layer of any food. But you will be amazed to know that porcelain dishes that are specially designed for baking purposes can hold very high temperatures above 500 up to 572 ° F. Every time you will be able to end up will perfectly be cooked food in porcelain dishes because heat distributes evenly in these bake wares. You can cook meat, pies, or deep dish stews in porcelain cookware.
Reason of durability of Porcelain dishes
Although porcelain dishes or plates look delicate due to translucent appearance they are chip resistant and considered as most hard-wearing dinnerware due to high firing temperature treatment during its manufacturing. These dishes are easy to wash as they have a non-porous surface so they do not get dull. No yellow stain underneath dishes or plates that we started to notice after usage of melamine dinnerware.
Easy way to protect porcelain dishes
Porcelain dishes are expensive than common ceramics or melamine dinnerware so just cannot take their usage for granted. If we know how to take care of these pretty dishes then we can use them for many years to come.
Do not over stack them
Because porcelain dishes are heavy so avoid over stack them. Try to make small piles of plates, bowls, and dishes separately and do not overlap them. Then might break due to their own weight. And there is a high risk of breakage as they may fall accidentally during taking out from the cabinet if you would not be able to handle the weight of huge pile of porcelain dishes.
Best dishwashing hack
Porcelain dishes have layers of glaze or polish on them and these protective layers are the reason for the durability of porcelain. Do not wash them with harsh scrubbing tools like steel wool or brush with harsh bristles or strong dish wash with bleach or lemon. Use lukewarm water to remove grease or oil from the dishes and rinse them with foam sponge and enjoy the stunning glaze of these plates or dishes for years.
How to remove spot stains
If your porcelain dishes get hard to remove the colored stain on them. Then use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda for spot stain. Let the paste sit for few minutes on the stain and then rinse the plate with usual dish wash liquid with a sponge. Spotless plates without any effort!
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