I tried to buy another identical set of cutlery because we needed more and the two version while looking identical on the package and being from the same maker are dramatically different in reality and it makes me crazy.
Yes I did the same, bought a whole set of a big brand so I could easily get replacements and additions if needed. Some time later I decided I needed more spoons so I bought another set of 10 spoons of the exact same brand and set name. Turns out the spoons are slightly different in the handle, bugs the hell out of me.
Yes, one of my most adult-feeling purchases was a full cutlery set for 12, and basically a cabinet full of different types of plates and bowls, all in sets for 8 ppl, from the same design series. I love this stuff way more than I ever imagined.
Trivia. Aluminum was once the most expensive, and thus prestigious metals on the planet. The king of France would dine with aluminum cutlery as a show of opulence.
Taking this post as a platform to rally against cutlery that isn't fashioned from a single piece of metal but has a useless metal or plastic handle. When you take them out of the dishwasher, a pool of warm, stagnant , vaguely soap-smelling water will pour out onto your wrist and wet your sleeve and my week is ruined.
For the record, I haven't experienced this in years but I carry the trauma.
Mine is a butter knife. I had a poor quality and overpriced meal at a restaurant and stole it in revenge. When I got home and started using it I realised that every single thing about that restaurant would always be atrocious and nothing would ever make it OK to eat there.
My wife works in retail and a lot of employees in the service industry have main character syndrome and probably aren't accommodating of people with autism and unusual needs.
I used to think it was insane that people were afraid of getting their food spat in for asking for no pickles but I get it now. My dad would always resist making special requests like that when my autistic sister was a boy because she had a consistency thing about pickles or any other changes in the consistency of food and our dad would always make excuses about it taking a long time. She worked in retail for a long time and there are absolutely employees who are petty enough to spit in food over simple requests like that because "it disrupts their system."
That's bizarrely specific yet accurate. For me it's a spoon, but only because I somehow lost every single fork I own and had to buy a new, matching set.
I've kind of made it my mission to buy orphaned utensils that I like, so my drawer is full of mismatched stuff. I have stuff that matches too, of course.
It's a proportions thing. There's a very specific size and shape of fork that I like, and it shouldn't have decorations on it. Just stamped sheet steel.
A matched set has its own problems. For us, the pattern was discontinued right after we got them. Over the years a bunch of spoons disappeared and we needed more serving utensils but there was no way to keep a matched set. So far we mostly do without, but we have to consider the possibility of having to replace the entire set
For me it's one of the two sets my parents use. One set is smooth, shiny, and nice to hold. The other has lots of detail which looks neat, but is unenjoyable to hold. So I avoid them whenever I can.
I have 2 different sized spoons that don't match the rest. I can't use either of them, even if it's the only utensil I need. I also have no idea why I don't just get rid of them instead of making sad panda face every time I accidentally grab one of them...
I have 3 tablespoons that don't match the rest of my silverware and I have no idea where they came from. I guess someone brought a spoons to my house? They all offend me and I bury them under all the other spoons to reduce the risk of picking one up.
Like you said, I don't know why I don't just throw them out.
We have two forks and two spoons that don't match the rest. We went on a weekend trip somewhere and forgot to bring utensils. Instead of getting a 30 pack of stuff and have a lot of wasted extras, we found individually priced metal utensils (like 50 cents each). But they are much thinner/flimsier. So now I actively avoid them, but also can't bear to throw them away.
I don't have a single metal fork in my drawer because I have some kinda weird issue where metal cutlery touching each other or my teeth makes me want to die :(
Yes and it makes my teeth... Itch? But in an almost painful way. I mostly just use chopsticks and bamboo cutlery at home. I ask for plastic at restaurants lol. It sucks but it is what it is
Sometimes I can smell them and it makes my mouth water in the worst way that I can't really explain. They smell disgusting. Don't even get me started on silver cutlery ugh it's so strong and nasty. I also don't like touching loose change too much because it stinks. Metal has been bullying me my whole life lmao
My largest spoon is just funny. I don't like eating with it, but I appreciate that it's not small enough to be a spoon while at the same time not being large enough to be a ladle.
Is that an American thing? In Australia, a ladle is the kind of scoop-looking spoon with a handle that goes straight up. What you would use to serve soup. We call spoons that look like big desert spoons ‘Chef’s Spoon’.
Does it count if by 28 I have one fork I like and the rest I only tolerate?
My preferred fork is a plain one, not unlike fourth from left while all the others are more textured than any of those present here. I'm used to them from having forks like that all my life but I like the simple one most.
Is your wife Autistic as well? I’ve found sensory stuff can often be at exact opposite ends of a spectrum. My (also autistic) partner prefers the thin metal stamped forks and I prefer the weightier cast metal ones. We both can’t stand plastic handled forks though!
A couple of years ago I threw out all my old basic cutlery (forks, spoons, butter knives etc.) and bought a whole new matched set of good quality. It cost less than I imagined. Never had a single ounce of regret, I love having a nice matched set and not having to dig through to get out a good pair for dinner.
The old stuff got donated to a local club, who were happy to have it in their big pot of cutlery.
i have a single fork that has 3 prongs that I think I got from a thrift store and i just hate using it cuz the tines are too far apart. Yet I've kept it for a decade
Haha it's true. I've always had hand me downs and I finally got the first time bought a set. It's pretty glorious. Side note, definitely hammy downs in my head)
I have a compulsion... At every restaurant I go to, I inspect their fork. Specifically, I check to see if the tines are aligned. If they aren't, the first thing I do is start bending them so that they are aligned. I do it subconsciously if I'm by myself. But in polite company, often I cover my compulsion by making some sort of joke about being a food blogger or similar.
Mine are a whole category of forks and spoons. I want my forks and spoons to have a completely flat underside with rounded corners. The underside should not be concave because it makes the edges of the fork or spoon too sharp and dig into my finger bones too much. A convex underside puts too much weight onto the center of the surface making it uncomfortable for my middle finger then as well. Oh, and they have to be completely smooth with no texture because I don't like rough textures rubbing against my fingers while I eat.
In my previous house we had utensil fairies who willfully would hide all the forks or spoons around the house to thwart our use of cutlery for eating. They fixated on one or the other, so our draw would be flush with forks but lacking in spoons or vice versa.
Eventually I just gave up and started supplying new infusions of new flatware. As the internet matured (and with the help of girlfriends in the restaurant industry) I'd find restaurant suppliers who'd set me up with just spoons or just forks, rather than full dining sets.
After seventeen years of this, I left, with the war for cutlery ongoing.
... If I had this my home would become difficult to burgle as I'd have invested in a set of security cameras. I'd have to know where they go when they disappear.
Obviously the only sane option here is to keep it in your pocket when you visit a friend, and sneak it into their silverware drawer when they go to the toilet
When I was in undergrad, living in dorm... We used to throw forks at the bulletin board for fun, trying to make them stick. I recommend this as the ultimate fate for your unruly fork.
4th fork from the left - I have 1, this is my favorite fork
Middle fork- I have a handful
2nd to last fork on the right - I have a handful, decent forks.
Not pictured - that piece of garbage that I have no idea where it came from, that's somehow simultaneously too small to fit in with the other big forks, and too big to fit in with the small forks. And to top it off, its shape makes it terrible at twirling spaghetti. I seriously don't know why I still have that piece of junk.
Seeing the commonality of this subject I'm almost thinking I should get a shelf and a few small object display cases (ex those used to hold signed baseballs) and have a shelf of shame for bad objects.
Mine are two very different steak knives. One's got a plastic handle and really fine serration on the blade and it is terrible at cutting steak. The other is effectively a fucking hacksaw with a wooden handle bolted around the tang and it is a horror to behold. They're for when we need a knife and don't want to involve the good cutlery.
, but it's massive compared to everything else we have in the drawer. And it's really, for lack of a better word, rough. The bits don't fit together right and it mangles steaks. Good for getting Nutella out of the bottom of the jar, though, so it gets to stay for now.
I've been using a lot of disposable items. I also require it from the neckbeards who live downstairs, because it never gets washed otherwise. I've had them throw tantrums about how wasteful it is, but I've been buying paper plates and compostable plastic utensils that can be thrown in a compost pile outside.
This isn't me with a specific utensil, but for things like soup/cereal bowls, cups, measuring cups, and pott and pans all go in a specific area for lack of space reasons. I hate a singular pot because we have a set that fits together nicely and then there's the pot that can't fit with the others but fits perfectly in the smallest pan we have. It's not a big deal, but it's the soul reason I hate it (besides when my dad puts away dishes and puts that pot with the others).