Our Guide To Choosing Cutlery

Stainless Steel Cutlery—Care and Selection

Although most cutlery is made from stainless steel, the quality can be vastly different. When choosing cutlery for your restaurant, café or staff canteen, it helps to understand the good, better and best quality and why costs differ. 

Steel is an alloy of Iron and Carbon. Cutlery is made from Stainless Steel (often described as stain-resistant steel). To provide resistance to corrosion, Chromium and  Nickel are added to make Stainless Steel.

The percentage of alloys added is reflected in their definitions:

• 18/10 Stainless Steel -  18% Chrome + 10% Nickel—this mix provides the best quality commercial stainless steel cutlery.  18/10  is  actually  softer  than
• 18/0 Stainless Steel   - 18%  Chrome +  0%  Nickel - knife blades are made of the harder 18/0 to enable the edge to be kept sharp.
• 13/0 Stainless Steel - 13% Chrome + 0% Nickel - ok for casual food environments , bit not for foodies

As 18/0 does not contain Nickel this is often used for knives as it is harder and enables the edge to be kept sharp, so the knife blade needs the most care, as it lacks the Nickel protection.

To choose the right cutlery to you, check out our online filters to group the types together. See our range of cutlery online or contact your Account Manager for more advice.

Caring for your cutlery

• Prolonged exposure to food acids, chloride (e.g., mustard, salt, eggs, jam) and moisture can cause pitting and staining. Rinsing in warm water will help to remove heavy soil build up
• Prolonged soaking, and in particular, leaving cutlery in the dishwasher damp for lengthy periods should be avoided, as the resistance to corrosion is reduced while cutlery is wet.
• Cutlery should be removed, dried and stored in dry conditions as soon as possible.
• A mild abrasive or metal polish will remove discolourations, and water stains can be removed by applying alcohol or salad oil.
• To keep the shine on cutlery, use a sponge with white vinegar
• Alternatively use a  cutlery cleaner like our Cutlery & Crockery Reviver