How to choose ceramic tableware?

        Firstly, let's look at the porcelain quality. When purchasing ceramic tableware, it is better to choose bone china and reinforced porcelain, both of which are superior tableware materials. Bone china is a recognized high-end porcelain type in the world. It has a natural milky white color, high translucency, and a lightweight and delicate texture. The formation and color of bone china mainly rely on silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, and calcium oxide. The higher the content of calcium oxide, the better the color. In nature, there are not many sources of calcium oxide, so animal bone powder is often used as a source. This year, new bone china, represented by Zibo, which uses mineral-synthesized bone powder as the source of calcium oxide, has emerged as a new force in the high-end bone china market. When the content of bone powder reaches a certain proportion, the porcelain quality will be greatly improved, which is mainly reflected in the gloss and moistness of the utensils. It is as white as jade, crystal clear and moist, making it an ideal product for various households, and its price is lower than that of bone china.
        Let's look at the decoration methods of the flower surface. Based on the characteristics of the flower surface, it can be divided into overglaze, in-glaze, under-glaze, colored glaze porcelain, and some undecorated white porcelain. Under-glaze decoration is mainly traditional blue and white porcelain and blue and white exquisite porcelain, with relatively monotonous colors and moderate prices; in-glaze decoration has richer colors than under-glaze decoration, and the product grade is higher, but the craftsmanship requirements are strict, and the cost is high, so the selling price is also high; overglaze ceramic decoration has rich colors, strong three-dimensional effect, but low surface smoothness, and is easy to process, so the cost is also relatively low. In addition to their different artistic effects, the main difference among these different decoration methods lies in the content of heavy metal elements such as lead and cadmium. Among them, the lead and cadmium content of in-glaze, under-glaze, and most colored glaze porcelain and white porcelain is very low. However, if inferior pigments are used during the processing of ceramic flower paper for overglaze decoration, or if excessive amounts of pigments with high lead and cadmium content are used in the flower surface design, or if the temperature and ventilation conditions during firing are insufficient, it is easy to cause excessive lead and cadmium leaching.
        When buying back ceramic tableware, soak it in vinegar water and boil it first, which can remove most of the toxic substances and greatly reduce the potential harm of ceramic tableware to the human body. Do not use ceramic tableware for long-term storage of acidic foods and beverages such as juice, wine, and coffee. Because the longer the ceramic tableware is used to store acidic foods or beverages, and the higher the temperature, the easier it is for lead to leach out, which equals to increasing the toxic side effects of lead leaching.
        It is important to check whether the shape is regular, whether there are damages, spots, bubbles, and whether it is smooth. Ceramics with prickly, spotted, or even cracked surfaces are prone to lead leaching from the glaze, making them unsuitable for use as tableware. The glaze on the surface of porcelain is fired at a temperature of over 800℃. If the temperature does not reach 800℃, the low-temperature glaze will contain harmful substances that are harmful to the human body. Porcelain that reaches 1350℃ is the best.