I’m trying to make a low poly bowl that will get normal map details from a high poly bowl. I have no problem make the high poly version look decent, but when I map the normals to the low poly, the edges get distorted and weird:
I’m using xnormal to bake the maps. Is there another way to get this detail into the low poly, or should I forgo the edge detail in the normals?
Set smooth is right. But also your low-poly object is way TOO low-poly for such a big dish 
Make more segments if you want some decent result. I suggest to triple it. Straight round cases for baking is a “weak point” as I got by myself. But you may “cheat” by vertical loops (delete one or two). Generally the curvature must be followed by a low-poly. It’s obvious.
Your low-poly mesh is suitable for very small objects. Then there is no need to bake some thin details.