Is this porcelain that has been well-fired and is suitable for use in the microwave?

Antoinette Badenhorst demonstrates just how effortless and enjoyable a quick meal can be. She shows viewers how to whip up a delicious breakfast bowl in the microwave using one of her small porcelain casserole dishes — pieces she has affectionately renamed Brunch-lets.

These single-serve Brunch-lets casseroles are specifically designed for busy people who want a hot, home-cooked meal without the fuss.

Why the Handles Stay Cool While Your Food Gets Hot
One of the most impressive features highlighted in the video is how the porcelain handles remain cool to the touch even after several minutes in the microwave. This happens because Antoinette uses high-fired porcelain with almost no absorption. During the firing process with the making of the casseroles, the clay reaches temperatures high enough to fully vitrify, creating an extremely dense, non-porous material. As a result, the dish doesn’t trap water or moisture, allowing the food to heat evenly and quickly while the handles stay comfortable to hold. The video also thoughtfully highlights the risks of using regular ceramic or porcelain dinnerware in the microwave. Many pieces have porous clay bodies that can absorb and trap water, causing the dish to overheat dangerously while the handles may remain cool. This uneven heating can lead to cracked dishes or even burns.

Porcelain: The Best Choice for Microwave-Safe Dinnerware
Antoinette strongly recommends porcelain — particularly bone china or fine white clay — as the superior medium for durable, high-quality dinnerware. Thanks to its vitrification, true porcelain offers excellent microwave performance, strength, and elegance that lasts for years.Looking ahead, Antoinette plans to dive deeper into clay and glaze chemistry to further improve safety and performance. She acknowledges that technical challenges remain in creating the ideal dinnerware: pieces that are truly chip-resistant, consistently microwave-safe, and of the highest quality.

Beautiful, Practical, and Made for Real Life
The Brunch-let's solve a common problem beautifully. They allow you to prepare everything from savory breakfast bowls and mini casseroles to quick lunches or light dinners in minutes — all in one elegant dish. Because they’re made from premium vitrified porcelain, you can confidently heat your meal and carry it straight to the table without burning your fingers.Whether you’re making eggs, oatmeal, pasta bakes, or reheating leftovers, Brunch-lets deliver food exactly as ordered: perfectly hot, while the dish remains easy and safe to handle. Elegant enough for weekend brunch with friends, practical enough for hectic weekdays.
Ready to upgrade your microwave meals?
Bring Antoinette’s beautiful, high-performance porcelain into your kitchen. These handmade casseroles are the perfect blend of elegance and everyday practicality.
Contact Antoinette for if you are interested in getting this for your kitchen.

Examples of Antoinettes  brunchlets

Defining Brunchlets:
​Antoinette came up with the fun name “brunch-lets” for these little casserole dishes—they’re so much more than just egg cookers! These bowls are perfect for making a full breakfast, lunch, or a quick snack for one person. ​

One of Antoinettes earliest brunchlets, resembling an egg cooker.

Cup-sized brunchlets with long handle, large enough for a single meal in the microwave.

Cup sized brunchlet with two handles like a regular casserole dish, suitable for the microwave.

What are the primary distinctions between hard-paste porcelain, soft-paste porcelain, and bone china? ​​

Kinds of porcelain 
Historically, there are three types of porcelain: hard-paste porcelain, soft-paste porcelain, and bone china.
Hard-paste porcelain is made from clay that becomes glass-like when vitrified. It primarily consists of kaolin, silica, and Feldspar. The firing temperature of the clay depends on the temperature range of the Feldspar, and it is typically fired between 1200-1400 °C.

Antoinette, a renowned potter, teaches many potters worldwide in either online or hands-on classes to work with porcelain clay.

Soft-paste porcelain was developed in Europe during the time alchemists were searching for porcelain, which was originally imported from China. It was made from fine clay, sand, and glass. Unlike earthenware, soft-paste porcelain does not withstand high temperatures and will begin to collapse before reaching vitrification. It was often used for making ornaments.
​
Bone china was developed in England when cattle bones were used to enhance the properties of soft-paste porcelain. The result was a very dense, strong, and glass-like, white, and translucent material. Historically, bone china contained 25% clay (kaolin), 50% bone ash, and 25% Cornish stone. In modern times, bones are replaced with a synthetic calcium phosphate, specifically dicalcium phosphate or tricalcium phosphate, which serve as powerful fluxes. Some artists, such as John Shirley, create artistic bone china bowls. Most people recognize bone china as the dishes displayed on their grandmother’s special shelf, commonly referred to as “chinaware.”  
There are other porcelain types that came along later, like Belleek porcelain, which is still crafted in Belleek, Ireland. America really helped shape this porcelain, and I’m writing about it in my book that’s still in progress. Also, there’s parianware, which is a different kind of porcelain made to be used without glaze, which I addressed in one of my Ceramic Monthly articles. Curtis Benzle creates his own version, so he can leave his sculpted bowls unglazed. 

This porcelain casserole dish, designed by Antoinette Badenhorst, is great for microwaving and, under specific conditions, can also be used in the oven. Antoinette is also a porcelain instructor at TeachinArt.com

John Shirley, a teacher at TeachinArt.com, makes beautiful bone china vessels by painting them with soluble salts to create vibrant colors.

Curtis Benzle, a teacher at TeachinArt.com, has created a porcelain piece that’s quite similar to parianware. He’s also using the Japanese Nericomi techniques to bring out the luminosity and color in his work.

Clarifying some terminology

Vitrification
Porcelain turns into vitrified glass when it’s fired for a long time at a high temperature, which fuses the clay particles into a dense, non-porous material. When the clay has a .01% imperviousness, it becomes food safe. This glassy bond keeps liquids from seeping into the handles, so there’s no steam buildup that can burn your hands when you use it in the microwave.
Besides making it microwave-friendly, this also makes it more durable because steam inside the walls of pottery can shorten its lifespan. 
Just a heads-up, porcelain can get pretty hot, as the heat from your food will transfer to the bowl or cup. That’s why handles are so important—they let you grab it safely from the microwave.

Water absorption in clay
If your pottery isn’t watertight, it might mean it needed a higher firing temperature to make sure the clay particles fusetogether. Or, if it was fired at a lower temperature, the melting agents (fluxes) should have melted at a lower temperature too. If the glaze doesn’t fit perfectly, liquids can also sneak into the clay. You might see tiny cracks on the ceramic container. When liquid seeps into the clay walls, it can take ages to dry out. So, if you use it in the microwave, steam might escape and burn your hands. Also, if you wash it in a dishwasher, harsh chemicals could damage it. The real danger comes when bad bacteria from dirty dishwater gets into the clay walls.

Bone China Versus Porcelain 
Bone China, because it is not plastic enough, needs to be slip cast, while all pottery techniques can be used to create porcelain. 

Recipe for Creme Brûlée in a brunchlet: ​
Enough for 4 servings: 
3 large eggs
3 table spoons of sugar
3/4 cup of cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla essens
A pinch of salt
Instructions: 
​Mix all ingredients together and divide in 4 brunchlets
Place in the microwave for 45 seconds. Stir and put back for another 30-45 seconds ( different microwaves will cook differently)
Sprinkle sugar or spread a jelly of your choice on top. Place under broiler until golden brown. 

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