So yesterday I remarked that I might buy a set of better-quality stainless-steel flatware, since my energy-efficient Bosch dishwasher tarnishes my beloved silverware when run on the endless “sanitize” cycle, the only cycle that will get the dishes clean.
This morning I had to schlep to Scottsdale for a meeting, so while out there I dropped by a Crate & Barrel to look at one of their 18/10 stainless sets.
Good lord.
Feather light. Mediocrity. Junk. All terms that come to mind when you inspect and handle the wares.
Who would pay $280 for a set of this stuff?
Really, I guess young people no longer have a choice, since apparently most flatware is now cheaply made (and junkily made!) in China. People commenting online about choices in stainless rave on about stuff they bought thirty years ago, but those who have tried to replace their pattern’s pieces recently report on poor quality and corrupted design.
Driving home, I thought, Why do I want to waste my time searching for decent (therefore probably nonexistent) stainless or waste my money on something that can’t even begin to compare with what I want, when I have a perfectly good set of real silver that I love? SO WHAT if it has to be washed by hand? When did washing a few pieces of silverware kill me?????
So there you are, dear Corporate America. If you can’t provide an adequate product, some of us won’t buy anything at all.
Really, if I seriously wanted a decent set of stainless, I’d be looking in pawn shops and thrift stores for something manufactured in the 1970s. It would take some time to find it, but dollars to donuts it’d be worth the time.
Funny, have you thought about looking at a thrift store or Goodwill, etc.? My mother lives in a condo community where garage sales are not allowed. She’s already told us to pack everything up and give it away when she dies. You might be able to find some older, better made silverware there.
Duh. You said that in the last line. Sorry! I missed that somehow. 🙂
LOL! You read the same way I do. 😀
Take a look at http://www.libertytabletop.com. I was looking a while ago for not-Chinese stainless, and found this. Don’t know about the quality, really, but the reviews are positive. So far, I’m using the thrifted Rogers (Japan) for scrambling eggs, etc., and the hand-wash silver for real meals.
WOW!!! A whole site of all Made-in-the-USA stuff!
And lookee here: exactly what I’ve been looking for! http://libertytabletop.com/product/mallory/
It’s a little higher than I’d like to pay. But to get something made in this country with a shot that American workers might have gotten paid to make them…that’s probably worth it!