Jugs

Milk jug or water jug: choosing the size

Start with what you pour. Milk jugs are the small end of our range, the jug passed round with tea and cereal at breakfast, and one or two come paired with a matching sugar bowl. The larger jugs carry water or juice to the table and hold up to 3.3 litres. Heights run from 7.5cm to 25.5cm and diameters from 7.5cm to 20cm, so measure the cupboard or fridge shelf where your jug will live. Most of our jugs list their capacity in millilitres, which makes it simple to match a jug to the number of glasses you fill at a meal.

What is a ceramic jug made of?

Ceramic is clay that has been shaped and then fired in a kiln. Most of our jugs are ceramic, and many of those are stoneware. Stoneware is fired hotter than earthenware, which is more porous, and that heat turns the clay dense and hard. A glaze is then fired over the top to seal the surface and give it colour. Because a jug spends its days holding milk, water and juice, the glaze matters, and most of ours are marked food safe.

Hand-painted, reactive and crackle-glazed jugs

We stock jugs in white and blue, along with a few multicoloured designs for a livelier table and a couple in rose. Some are painted by hand, one or two of them with stripes in a runny glaze. A few carry a reactive glaze, which shifts as it fires, so the colour can vary noticeably from one jug to the next. One or two have a crackle glaze with a hand-stamped pattern, and the crackle can intensify as the jug is used, which is expected with this glaze. A few others are embossed, with the pattern raised from the surface.

When a glass jug is the better choice

We also stock glass jugs, a few of them in clear glass that puts the water, ice and lemon on show and makes it obvious when the jug needs refilling. One or two are mouth-blown, so small irregularities from one jug to the next are part of the glass. As a rule of thumb, ceramic brings colour and pattern to the table, while glass suits iced water at a summer lunch, where the drink itself becomes part of the setting.

Washing, warming and caring for a jug

The care rows on the product page tell you where a jug can go. Most of our jugs are dishwasher safe. Most are microwave safe too, but some are not, which matters if you warm milk for coffee. More than half are marked oven safe, handy for warming a jug before hot custard or gravy goes in, while some are marked not oven safe. Rinse a milk jug soon after use so nothing dries in the base, and keep a bottle brush for reaching into a tall jug.

Pairing a jug with teapots, cups and mugs

A milk jug earns its place beside the teapot, and on a breakfast table it sits as happily with a row of mugs as with cups and saucers. A larger jug can anchor the dining table, filled with water for the meal, then refilled with tulips or garden stems for a hall table. Pick up a colour already in your plates or bowls, or let a multicoloured jug carry the pattern while plainer pieces sit around it. One or two Christmas designs suit the festive table.