Everyday Systems

I just measured the dinner plates we use at home. Ours are about 10.5 inches across if you measure from edge to edge. But the indented part - where you put the food - is about 7" across.

When people recommend 9" plates, do they mean 9" from edge to edge? In that case, how wide is the indented part where they put the food?

I'm a bit confused - doubly so, I guess, because we usually use metric and so I'm also converting - but also because these are our smaller dinner plates. We do have bigger ones but they look so huge I generally don't use them for our everyday meals.

I looked up 23cm (9") plates on the internet, but it wasn't clear where they were measuring.

funfuture wrote:I just measured the dinner plates we use at home. Ours are about 10.5 inches across if you measure from edge to edge. But the indented part - where you put the food - is about 7" across.

When people recommend 9" plates, do they mean 9" from edge to edge? In that case, how wide is the indented part where they put the food?

I'm a bit confused - doubly so, I guess, because we usually use metric and so I'm also converting - but also because these are our smaller dinner plates. We do have bigger ones but they look so huge I generally don't use them for our everyday meals.

I looked up 23cm (9") plates on the internet, but it wasn't clear where they were measuring.

My dinner plates are about the same and I generally keep the food in the middle of the plate. Occasionally food gets closer to the edges, but that tends to be special/holiday meals. However, not all plates are created the same. Many don't have the raised border.

funfuture wrote:When people recommend 9" plates, do they mean 9" from edge to edge? In that case, how wide is the indented part where they put the food?

9" edge to edge. If they mention a size when they sell plates, it's the diameter, edge to edge. I'm not sure how wide the indented part where you put the food is.

Nicest of the Damned wrote:

funfuture wrote:When people recommend 9" plates, do they mean 9" from edge to edge? In that case, how wide is the indented part where they put the food?

9" edge to edge. If they mention a size when they sell plates, it's the diameter, edge to edge. I'm not sure how wide the indented part where you put the food is.

If my plates were 9" edge-to-edge, I'd have about a 5" spot in the middle to put the food. My salad plates are about like that -- and that's not enough food to get me from one meal to the next. It is enough salad for a side dish, though.

I was intrigued by this thread and so measured the plates we use every day. They are 10" across, but have a wide, raised border which has an embossed pattern. It isn't possible to put food on this part of the plate which makes the 'eating area' 7".

Am I the only one who almost never uses dinner plates? I usually use bowls, sometimes with a side plate, sometimes not (depending on how filling what's in the bowl is). But my dinner plates are rarely used.

I use these a lot because we eat a lot of soup. You can put a salad on that plate if you wanted soup-n-salad. I often have a bit of bread with a hearty soup. But if it were a light soup, you could add a sandwich easily enough.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I think I'll stick with the plates we're currently using. I keep the food within the 7" indentation. I agree with Wosnes that any smaller would be too small (for me), particularly as I eat loads of vegies and fruit.

We use bowls quite often too, particularly if we're eating Asian style.

Out of curiosity, I just measured our salad plates. They are 8.5" edge to edge, and the indented part is about 5.25"...

Now I'm on a mission - will take my trusty tape measure with me to the shopping centre next time and measure some plates.