10 Best

Flatware Sets

of September 2023

Whether you’re serving a meal to guests, or you just want to make sure that everyone in your family has all of the eating utensils that they need at mealtime, buying a flatware set is a big convenience. A 20-piece set will typically include place settings for four people, where each person gets a dinner fork, knife, and spoon, as well as a salad fork and teaspoon. You can also find flatware sets with as many as 65 pieces with service for 12 people, as well as a few special utensils for serving. And most sets are made from a stainless steel alloy that won’t rust or tarnish after years of use!

However, you’ll see vast differences between flatware sets. They can differ in their finish, whether it’s a hammered finish, mirror finish, or matte. Flatware sets can also come with a convenient sorting tray so that each type of utensil is in its own compartment. And they come in all sorts of aesthetically pleasing designs as well!

We’ll go through some of the options in the Best Reviews Guide list of the most popular flatware sets. Whether it’s for day-to-day use or something that you’ll only take out on big occasions, you’re sure to be able to find the right flatware set for your needs!

What items are included in a flatware set?

The basic cutlery items most commonly included in a flatware set include

• Dinner forks will be the larger of the two forks in a flatware set, at around 8” in length, which is intended for eating the main course.

• Dinner knives, which you’d use to cut through soft or dense foods. They’re usually 9-¼” long. (It’s not recommended for cutting steak. For that, there are steak knives. Steak knives can be included in flatware sets, or be sold separately.)

• Salad forks, which are usually smaller and lighter than dinner forks, measuring 6-¾” in length.

• Dinner spoons will be the larger spoon in a flatware set, at around 8” in length, and

• Teaspoons that are intended for eating dessert, such as ice cream, or for mixing sugar into tea.

There are other flatware items that may come along with the 5 basic items.

• Steak knife, which is distinguished by a sharper, serrated edge and a pointed tip,

• Serving spoons, which are typically used as serving utensils that you place in the food so that everyone can serve themselves. One of them may be slotted, to let any liquid drain out,

• Bouillon spoon for broth, or a soup spoon, for chunky soup,

• Butter knife, with a blunt edge for spreading butter on bread,

• Cocktail fork, a small fork with 3 tines, or a dessert fork, for baked goods that you can eat with only a fork. One tine is typically wider than the others. That’s the one that does the cutting. The Knork Original Collection has a flatware set that includes cocktail forks.

Knork Original Collection including Cocktail Forks

Flatware sets will differ in the number of place settings and can include additional serving utensils. But we can distinguish between two main designs of flatware sets:

• One-piece flatware: These will be molded entirely from a single piece of metal. They can come in a variety of finishes.

  • Mirror finish: The Lianyu 20-piece Stainless Steel Flatware Set comes in a mirror finish, in a number of exquisite colors: black, copper, gold, silver, and even rainbow-colored!

Lianyu 20-piece Stainless Steel Flatware Set

• • Brushed metal: The Knork Original Collection Cutlery Utensils come in a brushed metal (or “satin”) finish. They sell it in 18/10 and 18/0 stainless steel, depending on the amount of nickel in the alloy.

Knork Original Collection Cutlery Utensils

• • Hammered finish: Another option is a flatware set with a hammered finish on the handles, such as the Liberty Tabletop Providence 45-piece Flatware Set. It’s enough for 8 places, plus a serving spoon, slotted spoon, butter knife, sugar spoon, and cold meat fork.

Liberty Tabletop Providence 45-piece Flatware Set

• • Matte finish: The Radley & Stowe Silverware Set is really made from stainless steel, but you can purchase a set of 20 pieces, 40 pieces, or even 120 pieces (for 24 people)!

Radley & Stowe Silverware Set

• With attached handles: There are also flatware sets with handles made from a different material. For example, the Jean Dubost 24-Piece Everyday Flatware Set is a stainless steel set with ABS handles. You can select handles in pink, red, blue, black, ivory, or even multicolor!

Jean Dubost 24-Piece Everyday Multicolor Flatware Set

Here are some customers’ impressions about the flatware set that they purchased:

• Curvature: The forks in some flatware sets have a “bowl” to them, much like a spoon. Customers expressed their pleasure with the Knork Original Collection Flatware Set for the construction of their forks because they have this property. Also, the cutlery has a very sturdy construction, which is becoming rare nowadays.

• Good stuff is more costly: You’ll notice a dramatic difference in price between sets. Some, such as the Jean Dubost sets, are made in France, while the Liberty Tabletop Sets are made in the USA. They are significantly more expensive, but customers say that they are more durable and therefore worth the extra money.

Here are some tips to help you select the best flatware set:

• Arranging cutlery: The convention is that dinner forks should be placed to the left of the plate, and dinner knives to the right. Place the dinner fork next to the plate, and the salad fork to the left of the dinner fork. Dessert forks and spoons should be placed above the plate.

The conventional way to arrange a flatware set

• 18/10 stainless steel: Most of the flatware sets that we reviewed advertise that they’re “18/10 stainless steel”. This means that the flatware is an alloy of steel with 18% chromium and 10% nickel. Chromium protects the steel from being damaged by acids, and nickel is added to stave off corrosion.

• Warranty: The best quality flatware will serve you for many years without tarnishing or rusting. The Liberty Tabletop Sheffield 65 Piece Flatware Set offers an amazing 25-year warranty on their dishwasher-safe set.

 Liberty Tabletop Sheffield 65 Piece Flatware Set

Final Verdict

We went through the features of some of the best flatware sets available nowadays. You can find affordable sets where each item of cutlery costs around $1, as well as American-made sets that cost around $9 per piece of cutlery. Take note of the size and purpose of the flatware set that you need, and select one today!