Buying Cutlery
When it comes to buying cutlery, there are many types to choose from; many shapes and at a variety of prices. Yet the chosen cutlery has to be comfortable to hold and functional. Cutlery will always remain a kitchen staple; just which type chosen will depend on budget, personal preference and style of the restaurant.
Cutlery comes in three types; stainless steel, silver and silver plate. The most common type of cutlery to be found in a restaurant is stainless steel, while silver and silver plate are usually used for best, so are normally found in upmarket restaurants. If you’re struggling to choose a style, then many sample sets are available to help make a decision.
Stainless steel cutlery
Stainless steel was invented in Sheffield in 1914 by metallurgist Harry Brearley. Stainless steel is iron with chrome and nickel added to make it stainless. Of the cutlery available on the market today, 95 percent of it is made from stainless steel. Well designed and well balanced stainless steel can make an elegant addition to a table. This cutlery is sufficiently robust and durable to be ideal for everyday use. A further advantage of stainless steel cutlery is that it is easy to maintain as it goes into the dishwasher and requires no polishing.
Cutlery grades
The numbers used in describing the type of stainless steel relates to the percentages of chromium and nickel used when making it. Chromium is added to steel to produce stainless steel to enable a mirror polish to be applied to give it an attractive appearance as well as giving a protection barrier for stains. When chromium is added, it makes the steel softer.
Nickel is added to cutlery to give it more protection against water attack and protect against rusting. Water is the number one enemy of stainless steel cutlery; if left on stainless steel for long periods of time, it will rust.
18/10 cutlery
Austenitic stainless steel known as 18/10 is seen as the best quality of the three types of stainless steel cutlery available. Made of 18% chromium and 10% nickel, it is often the most expensive due to the price of the nickel and is least likely to rust than the others available. Ranges include Torino and Napoli.
18/0 cutlery
Ferritic stainless steel known as 18/0 is cheaper than 18/10. However, initially when first purchased you may not be able to tell the difference as both contain 18% chromium, but 18/0 contains no nickel which makes it a harder metal. Ranges include Jesmond and Harley.
13/0 cutlery
Martensitic stainless steel known as 13/0 is the cheapest of the stainless steel cutlery available and the most likely to rust. However, due to the fact that it has less chromium (13%) and no nickel, it is a harder metal.
Forged cutlery
Forged cutlery is made from bars of stainless steel; tube shaped cutlery is made by this method enabling shaped designed cutlery of round, square, or oval. This format has limitations on pattern definitions, so most cutlery produced is a plain design.
Stamped cutlery
Stamped or ‘pressed’ cutlery is made from sheets of stainless steel. A high proportion of cutlery is produced using this format due to the variety of cutlery available from it.
Buffing cutlery
For the finish, cutlery is buffed to polish the steel. In all, there are 27 levels of buffing. The more processes, the more expensive the cutlery; economy cutlery will go through three or four levels, whilst 18/10 could go through all 27 levels.