What Is the Difference Between Salad and Dessert Forks?

As Jerry Seinfeld might say, "What's the deal with so many forks?" Dinner forks, salad forks, and dessert forks may all be on the table with a formal place setting, and they're all equally good at forking the food. The main difference between salad and dessert forks is their shape and size. If they're all on the table at the same time, it's easy to tell which is which based on their locations as well.

If someone asks you to find the salad or dessert forks in a drawer and you don't know which is which, look for visual differences between the two. Both forks are smaller than dinner forks, and the dessert fork is often smaller than a salad fork. A salad fork has four tines and often has an angular cutout between the two center tines and the wide part of the fork. This is also how to tell it apart from virtually any other fork in a hurry, but in some cases, it looks just like the dinner fork, only smaller.

A dessert fork may have three or four tines, and the leftmost tine is shaped a little differently than the rest. It's usually thicker than the other tines and almost looks as though it's chipped at the inner tip. This makes it easier to cut through pies or pastries with the edge or tip of the left tine if holding the dessert plate in the left hand and eating dessert while standing. Pastry and pie forks are the same thing as dessert forks. Dessert forks are not often included in standard sets of flatware, although salad forks are.

Flatware for a place setting ranges anywhere from a simple fork, knife, and optional spoon for casual settings on up through numerous forks, knives, and spoons for a multicourse holiday meal or formal dinner. Forks used for mealtime sit to the left of the plate in consecutive order from left to right based on the course being served. This makes it easier to know when to use which fork; for instance, the dessert fork would never sit at the far left of the other forks unless someone planned a fun event in which dessert comes first.

If salad is served before the main course, the salad fork is the one farthest left. If salad comes after the main course, the salad fork goes to the right of the fork used for the main course, which is typically the dinner fork. If the meal includes a course of fish before the dinner and salad, a fish fork is on the outer left followed by the fork for either the dinner or the salad, whichever comes next.

A dessert fork may or may not be on the table before you sit down for the event. If it is on the table at the start of the meal, it's usually above the dinner plate and aligned sideways with the tines pointing to the right. If dessert requires a spoon, the spoon goes above it, facing the opposite way. In some cases, the dessert flatware may be handed out along with the dessert course instead.