Stoneware Dinnerware Sets

When you are trying to decide what stoneware dinnerware sets you want, here are some tips gleaned from reviews consumers have written what they have purchased … from those who were immensely satisfied to those who truly regret buying what they bought.

Most places sell their dinnerware as large sets rather than individual sets. So a 16-piece or 20-piece would be service for four. Service for eight would come in 32- and 40-piece sets. Likewise a 48-piece or 60-piece set would be service for twelve.

Many people like to be able to buy individual sets for one. The reasoning behind this might be because they have a family of 5 or 6 so the service for 4 sets are too small but a service for 8 is more than they need. So they would buy individual sets to make up the shortage from the service for four set. Or maybe they have lost or broken most of one service and they need to replace it.

However, as long as you can afford the higher price, buying the larger dinnerware set would really be the better idea. Then you can either store the extra stoneware dishes for when guests come or when you need to replace broken pieces.

If space allows to keep all the pieces in your cupboard, then you can rotate the usage so that they will all wear evenly. Regardless of the quality of your stoneware, pieces pulled out of storage several years down the road will stand out from the ones you have been using daily. But that’s your choice.

Another thing that was mentioned often in the reviews and comments of stoneware set buyers was the need for completer sets. Some manufacturers don’t provide the supplemental dishes such as a creamer, sugar bowl, platter, gravy boat or vegetable dish. And coordinating stoneware pitchers and crocks will always need to be purchased separately.

While this may not be an issue for the day-to-day sets, if you intend to use your stoneware dinnerware for entertaining, you will find these to be necessary items. Before choosing your set, be sure that a completer set is available if you will be wanting one.

If you would like to be able to mix and match colors, then choose a simple design that comes in many colors. This would likely be a single color dish that has a slight design in the stoneware itself, not something that is painted on. Then you could buy different sets or pieces in different colors.

For example, if you have a family of 4, then you could buy three 12- or 20-piece sets which are service for four … one in red, one in white and one in blue. Then you would have 3 different colors that were a complete set, you could mix and match all 3 colors to celebrate the Fourth of July, you could use just the red and white at Christmas and Valentine’s, etc. The possibilities would be endless.

Keep in mind that stoneware dinner plates are heavy. In fact, some manufacturers produce dinnerware that is substantially heavier than others. While this may not be an issue, if carrying heavy objects is difficult for anyone in your family then you might want to get dishes of a lighter material.

Quality is another issue. You will likely have heard about certain manufacturers and feel confident from the get-go. But if you are not familiar with a name or see both good and bad comments, do a little more research.

Some US-based manufacturers have sold their name and manufacturing rights to international stoneware companies overseas and quality often suffers after such a change.

While most of the reviews raved about their purchases, particular brands consistently had the same complaint over and over again … the surface scratched with the faintest of touches by eating utensils. Granted these were all for the white color, but gray marks on your dinnerware or stoneware bowls will make them look old really quickly.

Another comment about a particular brand was that it was obvious that each piece was handmade and this was considered both a good thing and a bad thing. Since they are made by hand, that meant they were all just a little bit different than the others which made them more unique.

There also seemed to be a quality issue with these in that the bottom of the dishes were rough and could scratch wooden tables or snag tablecloths. Sanding these rough edges down worked for most people … but some of the damage was irreversible.

So bottomline, do your research and evaluate what you read. If all the reviews are negative, find something else. If they’re all positive, make sure you have everything you want in a dinnerware set … including a completer set if you want/need one. Look at the dates of the reviews. If all the complaints were from several years ago, the manufacturer may have taken care of the problem.