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Set Your Table With A Nice Cutlery Set
In preparing a place setting for a meal, whether that be an everyday lunch or an elegant dinner party with friends and family, cutlery is essential to your dining experience. Cutlery refers to the utensils you need to enjoy your meal, including dinner knives and forks, as well as dessert spoons.
Often available in sets, a coordinating selection of cutlery allows you to create a cohesive dining experience and exudes an effortless elegance. In this guide, we detail everything you need to know about cutlery, including their specific uses, materials and handy accessories you can use to make your life in the kitchen easier, as well as frequently asked questions such as how to set cutlery. Explore our full selection of cutlery and update your selection of kitchen essentials.
Quick Links
- Decorate Your Dining Table With Gorgeous Cutlery
- What Cutlery You Need For Table Setting
- Choose Quality Cutlery Made From Durable Materials
- Cutlery Accessories For Your Kitchen & Dining Room
- Cutlery FAQs
Decorate Your Dining Table With Gorgeous Cutlery
An essential element in your table setting, cutlery also contributes to the styling of your dining room. Styling your table with a matching cutlery set helps to establish a sense of cohesion that instantly elevates the ambience of your dining experience. It demonstrates to guests that a high level of planning has been exercised and makes them feel accommodated. If you're dining by yourself, it helps you to recreate that enjoyable restaurant experience in the comfort of your home.
Whether you're moving into a new home or simply wanting to update your selection of cutlery, a nice cutlery set typically includes everything you need for your meals. Let's take a look at a few of the cutlery essentials you should think about adding to your collection.
Dinner Knives
Dinner knives are an essential piece of cutlery and are often present in formal dining experiences. With a subtle, curved blade and serrated edges, dinner knives are used to cut cooked foods, such as poultry and vegetables, into smaller bite-sized portions.
Steak Knives
Steaks are naturally thick slices of meat, making them harder to cut through with a regular dinner knife. That's where steak knives come in. Steak knives are sharp knives with serrated edges that can precisely slice through thick, cooked meats such as steaks. These knives often feature a thicker handle when compared to regular dinner knives to provide you with a comfortable and sturdy grip.
Butter Knives
Shorter than regular dinner knives, butter knives are designed with a duller, round edge and are intended for serving butter and other spreads and applying them to breads and crackers. Butter knives can also be used for serving up soft cheese, making these knives an essential in the serving of entrees, appetisers and platters.
Salad Forks
Designed for dishes preceding the main course, such as salads and appetisers, salad forks are shorter than dinner forks and often feature wider or flatter tines. This design makes it easy to cut through lettuce without using a knife.
Dinner Forks
Much like a dinner knife, a dinner fork is an essential piece of cutlery. These forks are larger than salad forks and are typically used for the main course. Usually featuring four tines, dinner forks can be used for both everyday meals and elegant dinners with friends and family.
Dessert Spoons
Dessert spoons feature a similar design to a tablespoon with an oval-shaped bowl, however, they are slightly smaller. These spoons are designed for eating desserts such as cake and ice cream, but are often also used for soups and cereals.
Choose Quality Cutlery Made From Durable Materials
In offering a range of versatile designs, at Spotlight, you can also enjoy shopping from a variety of materials to find the perfect cutlery set for your event. Where cutlery for formal dining experiences requires a sturdier construction, you may prefer a disposable material for parties to aid in your clean up. Explore some of the most common materials for cutlery right here.
Stainless Steel Cutlery
Stainless steel offers an affordable and durable construction for cutlery. A stainless-steel cutlery set is an excellent option for both daily use and for dinner parties due to its ability to handle daily wear. This type of cutlery is also typically dishwasher safe, making it easy to clean without requiring polishing to uphold its shine.
Silver Cutlery
Silver cutlery exudes elegance and is perfect for elevating your dining experience. In addition to silver's aesthetic benefits, silver cutlery is also long-lasting and offers antibacterial properties that make this type of cutlery quite hygienic when compared to other constructions. Some silver cutlery may require polishing to maintain its sparkling appearance.
Plastic Cutlery
If you're after a lightweight selection of cutlery, then plastic is the material for you. While you can find a selection of reusable plastic cutlery, you can also shop from a range of single use plastic cutlery that make cleaning up after a party a breeze due to their disposable design. Check out our helpful party tableware buying guide for more inspiration on the best party cutlery for your next event.
Bamboo Cutlery
Like plastic cutlery with its lightweight design, bamboo cutlery is also a popular choice for parties. Some bamboo cutlery is able to be washed and reused, and in some cases, is biodegradable and compostable. Perfect for those wishing to enjoy a picnic in the park or host an elegant high tea in their backyard, bamboo cutlery often features a charming, neutral colour tone that complements a range of table settings.
Cutlery Accessories For Your Kitchen & Dining Room
An organised kitchen will help streamline your food preparation and your table setting processes, limiting the need to search through your drawers for what you need and ultimately saving you time. Shop Spotlight's selection of cutlery accessories and transform your kitchen into a chef's dream.
Cutlery Organiser
While there are many approaches you can take in storing your cutlery, a cutlery organiser will help you neaten up your kitchen to keep everything in its place. While cutlery trays are a form of cutlery organisation, you can also find more intricate systems, such as drawer inserts or jars for storing your cutlery.
Cutlery Tray
One of the most common ways to organise your cutlery is by inserting a cutlery tray into your kitchen drawers. A cutlery tray is designed with a number of compartments that allow you to separate your cutlery, making it easy to take what you need at a quick glance. This also acts as a safety precaution, separating sharp knives from other pieces of cutlery while reducing the spread of germs that comes with touching multiple items every time you reach into your cutlery drawer. Improve the aesthetic and organisation of your cutlery drawer with a handy cutlery tray.
Serving Utensils
In addition to cutlery, serving utensils also make your food preparation and serving up your culinary creations a breeze. The right selection of serving utensils ensures you're prepared for every meal, including the serving of refreshing salads or heartwarming soups. Check out our Guide To Essential Kitchen Utensils & Tools for more information on the serving utensils that will streamline your food presentation.
Cutlery FAQs
How To Clean Cutlery?
Most cutlery is dishwasher safe, however, it's important you follow any provided instructions to ensure proper maintenance. If your cutlery is not dishwasher safe, you can simply clean it with dishwashing soap and warm water. Make sure to dry thoroughly after washing.
How To Set Cutlery?
Learning how to set cutlery is one way to take your table setting to the next level. One of the most standard ways to set cutlery is by positioning your forks on the left and knives on the right.
If you're setting up for a three course meal, it's a good idea to position your cutlery in order of what will be used - that is, your cutlery for your entree will be placed on the outside, cutlery for your main on the inside and finally cutlery for dessert above your plate.
- Forks are positioned vertically on the left of the plate, with the fork farthest from the plate to be used for the entree, and the one closest to the plate intended for the main course
- Knives and spoons are positioned vertically to the right of the plate. The knife for the first course will be on the far right, with the main course knife placed closest to the plate. Typically, a soup spoon will also be positioned on the far right, should your meal require it
- Dessert cutlery, such as spoons and forks, is placed horizontally above the plate
With this approach, you would use your cutlery starting from the outside, working your way inwards.
Does Cutlery Go On The Left Or Right?
Generally, the dinner knife is placed on the right side of your place setting with the blade facing towards the plate, while the fork is placed on the left side of the place setting.
How To Fold Napkins For Cutlery?
In setting your table, a napkin placed at each setting is essential. There are a few ways you can fold napkins, such as a folded in a way to create a pouch for your cutlery. This showcases your creative skills and is a great way to set the table for guests. This method is best for fabric napkins. To create this look, follow the steps below:
- Fold the napkin into fourths
- Fold the first layer of the napkin diagonally
- Flip the napkin over and fold the right side around halfway to the centre
- Fold the left side over
- Flip the napkin over
- You should now see a neat pocket
- Insert your cutlery into this pocket
- Position on a serving plate at each place setting
Shop The Full Range Of Cutlery At Spotlight Today
Cutlery is essential to any meal. A cohesive selection of cutlery can elevate your everyday meal experience and help you create an elegant dining experience. Explore our full selection of cutlery, including handy cutlery sets and loose cutlery, and transform your dining experience today.
After more inspiration on how to update your selection of cookware or dining setting? Look no further than our selection of helpful buying guides. Check out these factual articles for more information on kitchen and dining essentials, such as How To Choose An Air Fryer and the Ultimate Guide To Chopping Boards.
