4 Reasons Why These Are the Best White Everyday Dishes

Inside: The set of every day dinnerware that met every one of my requirements: beautiful, durable, affordable, and absorb less heat in the microwave than stoneware!

Let’s dish about dishes. And how I found the perfect ones to use every day.

I’ve always picked out dishes based on looks, and admittedly, stoneware wins this category hands down. They come in so many lovely different colors and patterns. And my last set of white stoneware dishes was just so stinkin’ pretty. But they were a daily nuisance and the once pretty dinnerware quickly became an eyesore.

They fit my personal style and kitchen so well. Plus, I’d invested in the complete set all the way down to the serving tray. So I was quite reluctant to let them go.

But enough was enough.

The problems with my stoneware dishes.

They chipped if you even looked at them the wrong way. So after a short time of daily use, they were a hot chipped mess. A chip in every. single. dish.

They also got as hot as fire when you heated anything in them in the microwave. It was insane how hot a dish would be and the food was still cold!

This perplexed me because I would say I’ve only had a couple of sets of dishes that this didn’t happen with and I just didn’t know why. So of course, I turned to Google and did some research.

These are the best explanations I found for why this happened so badly with some of my dishes and not others:

Why do dishes get hot in the microwave?

The material the dishes are made out of makes a difference in how much heat they absorb.

While I didn’t find a total agreement on which of the variety of materials for dishes was the best, I did see a lot of opinions about how stoneware was the worst offender. It could be metals in the glaze or moisture in the ceramic of stoneware that absorbs the microwaves and heat up.

I won’t pretend to know scientifically why, but it has been my and many other people’s experience that they get hotter than dishes made from other materials. I’m not saying there isn’t a set out there that doesn’t. I just haven’t ever found it.

During my research, I came across a couple of people that said fine bone china and porcelain dishes solved their problem. I ruled out fancy china right away so I went down the porcelain rabbit hole.

I know I should be skeptical because I read it on the internet, but I needed to try something different. And then I remembered a great set of everyday Noritake that I used for years that we didn’t have much of a problem with. And I was fairly sure it was either porcelain or some kind of durable china.

I learned that porcelain is fired at higher temperatures than stoneware, so it absorbs less moisture. Porcelain dishes almost always come in some shade of white color so most don’t have the fancy glazes that stoneware dishes have, which could also be a culprit.

Bowls get seem to get so much hotter than plates in the microwave.

When I did have a set of dishes that were much better to heat in the microwave, my husband still always complained about the bowls. I suspect this will always be the case because of the density of the food being heated and how it’s distributed in the dish, not the shape or the dish material itself. It takes a lot more heat to get the middle of the food warm, thus more heat equals hotter dish. Please weigh in in the comments if you can explain this better!

After these findings, I began my quest for a new set of porcelain dishes. My favorite dishes are white, so the lack of different color options in porcelain was not a problem for me.

See all the reasons I love white dishes in “Ten Reasons Why White Dishes are the Perfect Decorating Accessory“.

What to look for in everyday dishes.

My criteria for my search could be a tall order. They had to be:

1. Stylish.
2. Durable.
3. Able to be heated in the microwave without absorbing all of the heat.
4. Reasonable in cost.

The best everyday dishes.

So what did a find to be the best white everyday dishes?? Drumroll, please…….

This set of Everyday White® by Fitz and Floyd® Beaded Dinnerware!! They are exactly what I was looking for. I have now had them for a couple of years and they’ve been one of the best dinnerware sets I’ve ever owned. In case you’re wondering, this is not a sponsored post. Just a recommendation to friends about something I really like!

The styling is simple and it’s a timeless design. And with the beading, they still have a little bit of interest. Because they’re white, they’re good for daily use and also special occasions. Which is helpful because most people don’t even buy fine china anymore if they don’t host a fancy dinner party all the time or set a formal dining table.

The best part is they mesh well with any decor style and food looks beautiful on them!

There are also a couple of other simple designs offered if you like them without the beading. They make a classic rim style, and also a more modern look rimless style.

These dishes are heavier than a lot of porcelain dishes which to me makes them feel sturdier and even more high quality.

While not perfect in the microwave, they are so much better!! Believe me, my family and I appreciate this every time we take a dish out of the microwave. At first, we would actually announce, “look at me holding this plate by the rim straight out of the microwave!”

The bowls still get hotter than the plates, but as I mentioned above, I think that’s an issue of food distribution and the amount of heat it takes to get it warm. If you have a bowl that does great in the microwave, please share it with us in the comments.

My last requirement had been to find affordable dinnerware sets. In my search, I found cheaper porcelain dishes that felt and looked really cheap. I found beautiful white dinnerware at Williams Sonoma and French porcelain sets that were way expensive—and didn’t even feel as quality as these. Plus all those porcelain plates tended to be a bit smaller. But these durable porcelain dishes were at a reasonable price point somewhere in the middle and will last for years, so along with the other criteria they fulfilled, they were a winner! 🏆

I started with the dinner plates, salad plates, cereal bowls, and dinner bowls. And I added a set of matching coffee mugs last year. The next additional pieces I’ll probably add are the serving bowl and tray.

If you’d like to check out the different styles and options, I’ve put together some of the links for you:

The Beaded Dinnerware Collection:

• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Beaded 16-Piece Dinnerware Set, Service for 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Beaded 10.5-Inch White Dinner Plates, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Beaded 8.5 Inch Salad Plates, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Beaded 26 Ounce Soup Cereal Bowls, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Beaded Dinner Pasta Bowls, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Beaded Mugs, Set of 4

The Classic Rim Dinnerware Collection:

• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Classic Rim 16 Piece Set, Four-Piece Place Setting
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Classic Rim 10.75-Inch Dinner Plates, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Classic Rim 8.25 Inch Salad Plates, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Plain Cereal Bowls, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Plain Mugs, Set of 4

The Organic Rimless Dinnerware Collection:

• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Organic 12 Piece Dinnerware Set, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Organic 10.75 Inch Dinner Plates, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Organic 8.75 Inch Salad Plates, Set of 4
• Everyday White by Fitz and Floyd Organic 21 Ounce Soup Cereal Bowls, Set of 4

I love the size of the two bowls. I didn’t have a big soup bowl like these before, and we eat so many of our meals out of them now it’s one of my favorite pieces! The big shallow bowl can be used for almost any meal you’d serve on a plate and make awesome pasta bowls.

Can I tell you how nice it’s been not to eat off of chipped plates at every meal? Or to have to get oven mitts every time we use the microwave? (I solved the too-hot bowl problem with one of these microwave cool caddies.)

So next time you’re shopping for a new dinnerware set for everyday use that looks classic and stylish, is durable, and is a reasonable price, these are a good option that you just might want to check out!

Before you go:

As always, I appreciate your visit, comments, and shares here on the blog! I’d love it if you also follow along with me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook so you won’t miss any of my inspiration and ideas.

Don’t forget to sign up for updates to keep in touch.

If you’re not already a member of the SH&H family, I’d love to have you join me! You’ll not only get email updates, but you’ll have exclusive access to all the bonus materials in my free subscriber-only library, like this:

Pin it to remember it!

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please pin and share this on Pinterest:

Sources for this post or similar.