# Why have glass plates for serving food **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419 "2015-06-02T04:18:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/21 "2015-06-02T17:57:42Z")
Glass plates, chilled, are great for salads. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/22 "2015-06-02T18:45:59Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Yes. There’s a kind that’s basically baked clay or something with a coating. It’s heavy, the coating has lead in it if it’s old, and it chips very easily. And, there’s another kind made of transparent, tempered glass. Even amongst glazed pottery plates there is considerable variance in durability. Earthenware can be quite porous and fragile. Stoneware is tough as nails. Porcelain is also quite tough. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/23 "2015-06-02T19:49:24Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Try Corningware or Corelle. While technically all of the things you mentioned can happen, in practice, you can drop a Corningware plate and it usually won’t break, they never seem to chip, they look nice, are lightweight, etc. They can be used in ovens, but not directly on a stovetop surface or open flame. Ah, yes. They won’t break as easily as ceramic/porcelain, but when they do break, it’s into horrific long razor-edged shards. I’ve picked up my share of broken tableware and glasses, and the only ones I ever cut my fingers on doing so were Corelle and a Corning cake pan. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/24 "2015-06-02T20:17:21Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Ah, yes. They won’t break as easily as ceramic/porcelain, but when they do break, it’s into horrific long razor-edged shards. > > I’ve picked up my share of broken tableware and glasses, and the only ones I ever cut my fingers on doing so were Corelle and a Corning cake pan. Yes. They are like 3 layers of special glass under high internal tension, I suspect. That’s why they explode into sharp shards when they do break - it just isn’t as easy to break them. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/25 "2015-06-02T20:18:22Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Ah, yes. They won’t break as easily as ceramic/porcelain, but when they do break, it’s into horrific long razor-edged shards. > > I’ve picked up my share of broken tableware and glasses, and the only ones I ever cut my fingers on doing so were Corelle and a Corning cake pan. I dropped a corelle bowl with very hot mashed potatoes, and it virtually disintegrated. This forum requires that you wait 60 seconds between posts. Please try again in 1 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/26 "2015-06-02T20:39:51Z")
We’ve had Fiestaware ceramic plates and bowls for over 20 years. In all of that time, we’ve broken exactly one plate. The surface also wears very well; none of the plates are substantially scratched or marred by all of that contact with utensils. Neither my lovely bride nor I are exactly blessed with high dexterity, so our plates get dropped and bounced regularly, with no harm. Yeah, if you dropped one from five feet up, it’d probably break, but short drops happen all the time, and the plates don’t break. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/27 "2015-06-02T21:31:17Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Sorry, yes I am thinking of ceramic plates not glass. They just seem like glass when handling them > > I am just bitching but I think there could be something better but I don’t know what. (no not paper plates) It’s a conspiracy by archeologists. They have thousands and thousands of years of pottery shards to work with and don’t want to deprive archeologists thousands and thousands of years in the future of the same bounty. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/28 "2015-06-02T23:18:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > We’ve had Fiestaware ceramic plates and bowls for over 20 years. In all of that time, we’ve broken exactly one plate. The surface also wears very well; none of the plates are substantially scratched or marred by all of that contact with utensils. Same experience here…except the one broken piece I’ve experienced actually arrived in the mail. I knocked a small Fiestaware vase off of a shelf once; it hit the floor with a sort of rolling motion, and didn’t break or chip. Scuffed the floor a bit though. > [@Voyager](#): > > AMy wife wishes they would break so we’d be forced to get new ones. What condition are they in? My parents donated their '70s stoneware ([see here](http://www.nancyscollectibles.com/metlox-fruit-basket-bread-butter-plate.jpg)) to a shelter that was in need of durable kitchen furnishings. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/29 "2015-06-03T01:57:20Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Actually we have both ceramic and plastic plates. The ceramic ones are at least 40 years old. My wife wishes they would break so we’d be forced to get new ones. > If not plastic, what? Metal? I ate off metal mess kits in Boy Scouts and I don’t recommend it. Metal dishes are really popular in the Indian subcontinent for hygienic & historical reasons. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/30 "2015-06-03T04:17:38Z")
I’ll make it easy: [Corelle](https://www.corelle.com/homepage?gclid=CMX4z9rU8sUCFVKUfgodfXgAhg) Have been a slob bachelor beating on a set for 30 years and still haven’t even dinged one. Put in oven, drop on tile floor, swat flies (OK, last one was stretching it). Damned near indestructible and look like (plain white) china. Has the same heft as well. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/31 "2015-06-03T06:47:34Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > What condition are they in? My parents donated their '70s stoneware ([see here](http://www.nancyscollectibles.com/metlox-fruit-basket-bread-butter-plate.jpg)) to a shelter that was in need of durable kitchen furnishings. Just slightly chipped. Interesting idea, I’ll keep that in mind. We donate most of our used stuff already. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419/32 "2015-06-03T23:53:55Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I’ll make it easy: > > [Corelle](https://www.corelle.com/homepage?gclid=CMX4z9rU8sUCFVKUfgodfXgAhg) > > Have been a slob bachelor beating on a set for 30 years and still haven’t even dinged one. > Put in oven, drop on tile floor, swat flies (OK, last one was stretching it). > Damned near indestructible and look like (plain white) china. Has the same heft as well. Thanks for the responses. Yes, I do have some Corelle plates now that I look a little more carefully and they do hold up fairly well. It is the older antique plates that I inherited that have been broken most often on me [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-glass-plates-for-serving-food/721419.md?page=1)