A Heavy Knife and Fork Affects How Your Food Tastes

© Vladislav Zadjko / Alamy

A new study shows that heavier cutlery increases diners’ enjoyment of food, and makes them rate their meal as more valuable, better plated and even tastier. So next time you’re stuck eating Kraft Mac & Cheese, try eating it with the heaviest spoon in the house.

Researchers from Oxford University gave 130 diners at a hotel restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, identical meals of trout, mashed potatoes, spinach capers and brown ship butter; however, half of those experimented on were given cutlery that was three times heavier than the cheap knives and forks the other half received.

Those with the heavy cutlery said they liked their meals about 10 percent better and were willing to pay 15 percent more for that same trout dish. “It is likely that the positive or negative values that we attribute to the cutlery gets implicitly ‘transferred’ to our judgments of the food – a phenomenon that is often called ‘sensation transference,’” lead researcher Charles Michel, told Wired UK. Michel also said that using heavier cutlery may also make us more aware of the entire dining experience. “It’s interesting to think that the heavier weight of cutlery could be making us more mindful, without us realizing it.”

One major takeaway, if you want to feel like you just saved 15 percent on your next meal, instead of bringing a coupon, bring your own extra heavy fork.

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