War on drugs casualty, or spontanious combusion?

[infrogmation]

The story of Corning Visions glass cook ware (see previous post) gets more interesting and bizarre, from a thread on Ellen's Kitchen site "I messed up on a few things like the very large Visonware pots, and a few have been broken and finding them turns out to be very hard. I love that stuff and never did understand why they stopped making it. You

Comments

[jecook]

Shall we go back to cooking by holding food on a stick over an open fire now?

But the sticks are pointy and could hurt someone, and then the person who made the pointy stick could get sued for a Million Billion Bazillion Dollars!

My guess is that over time, the glassware developed pits or bubbles which caused the stuff to crack/explodiate over long periods of time. Of course, the drug angle was something that I never considered.

[seide]

Never thought of the drug angle. The prohibition against using Corningware on the stove is not a recent development; I remember my mom putting a casserole dish full of carrots on top of the burner in the 70s and it exploded all over. I looked at a matching piece and was like, Mom, there's a warning right here that says don't put on the stovetop!

I used to have a couple of the VisionWare pans in the 80s and they were fine; now I use Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized and love them, but I know you're not down with the aluminum. I have a stainless steel Calphalon for acidic foods and I dig that too. It has a clear glass lid so I get some visibility.

[glitter_ninja]

Mom's Corningware is from the 50s or 60s, without such a warning. It's got the neatest design on the side, very atomic age. Anyhow, her Corningware came with this contraption that fits over the small handle on the side of the casserole. The contraption is plastic and metal and when clamped on, it works like a skillet handle, effectively turning her Corningware casserole into a skillet.

The early 90s Corningware mom bought me has the warning. The box also warned against take the glass lids directly from fridge to oven or they will shatter. Mom's old Corningware lids specifically said you COULD go from cold to hot, and they appear to be made from the stuff Visionsware is made of.

[petalbreeze]

My set of Visions pans, which I bought in the early 90s, don't have that warning on them, and I have been using them on the stovetop for almost 15 years with no ill effects.

I have had a lid break, and one pan bit the dust when I dropped it on the kitchen floor. Not a bad record, after all.

enamel

[vardissakheli]

My sister's one Christmas request last year was for enamel pans made by a German company called Prinz. They're very flat, which is essential for use on glass cooktops, and heavily enameled to last a long time. They're rebranded by several English and Italian companies, and you can often find them at T.J. Maxx for about half list price.

[doctroid]

the U.S. government told the manufacturer to stop making them

Froggy, this is what is known as a conspiracy theory. The thing to remember about conspiracy theories, is, if you disbelieve every one you hear, you'll be right most of the time.

VISIONWARE for stovetop use is DANGEROUS

And this is what is known as a one-person consumer crusade. The thing to remember about one-person consumer crusades is, well, pretty much the same thing.

There's a difference, though, in that: VisionWare is discontinued, so whether it's due to government meddling or not is pretty much a moot point. On the other hand, as long as the stuff is available (on eBay, et cetera), the question of whether it will explodiate and sever one of your favorite arteries is not

minor correction

[doctroid]

Where I said "your second correspondent", pretend I said "the third poster".

[glitter_ninja]

Ooh! Vermont Country Store! They have the best stuff -- original Lifebuoy soap, Walnettos, and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo. I guess I am not surprised that they have the original Visionware.

For what it's worth, mom has three Visionware pots, a huge Visionware pasta cooker, and two Visionware skillets with nonstick coating on the inside. She's used them almost daily for 20-odd years, and the only problem has been that the nonstick coating is wearing off. Corning makes good stuff. That said, I think that an extreme temperature difference probably can cause breakage, even with Visionware.

The only problem I've had with my Visionware is that it's not Ed-proof. The man can break anything. It's a gift.

[mcmatz]

Come to think of it, I used to have Corelle ware dishes explode into powder in my cabinets.

--Madeline