White Corningware vs Visions Amber/Cranberry For Stovetop Use

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vintagekitchen

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Ok guys, the new stove, (new to me) is arriving tomorrow. It is labelled Monarch, but has the real Corningware top, just like Frigidaire, and is beautiful harvest gold! I have decided to part with my old set of Wonder Ware waterless pans, and switch to either vintage Corning Ware, (preferrably spice of life, but probably blue cornflower), or Corning Visions, (preferrably amber, never cared for the cranberry).

So which do you guys recomend? I have seen both in use at various times, but it has been years past, and was always at friends or relatives houses, never in my own home under regular use. Can you guys list the benefits or drawbacks of both sets for me to help me choose? I know an aunt who had the Visions set said pasta would stick, but she was not the worlds best cook either, so I'm not sure if that was user error or the fault of the pans.
 
I like traditional Corning and Visions

about equally, and they perform about equally in my experience. I happen to be a good home cook, and a good home baker. However, I have never used traditional Corning or Visions on a smooth top electric.

Both absorb heat easily and hold it well, but my experience is that they do not distribute heat very well (hot spots, if a person does not stir regularly and/or has the heat too high.) They tried to remedy this with the Rangetoppers line, which had a decent bonded metal bottom....

I may be wrong, but on a structural basis, I believe that Corningware and Visions really are the same item, just that Visions is see-through.

Does your new old range have a self-cleaning oven?

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Unfortunately no self cleaning oven. It had the panels which sort of slide in on the sides, back and bottom, that could be removed to clean in the sink, but the previous owner removed all but the bottom panel for some reasons. I know a scrap dealer who is keeping an eye out for another stove with the panels, so I can replace mine. Without the panels it is just a regular oven, and can be used normally, but the panels will make cleaning it sooo much easier.

From what I understand, the Corning top uses ribbon type elements, that eliminate the issue of heat distribution and hot spots. So no issues with sticking etc with these sort of cookware? How are the waffle bottom Visions skillets in regular use?

I see some immidiate benefits to the Visions type cookware, since one can see whats going on without lifting the lid, But I love the look of the white Corningware pans on the White Corningware stovetop. However one wonders if the square shape would be hard to get used to rather than the traditional round shape of the Visions cookware.

The only type of cookware I absolutely refuse to even touch is the old Pyrex flameware with the chrome band and glass handles, I once owned a few peices, but one saucepan shattered on me when I was using it to boil pasta, sending boiling water all down through the stove, and scaring me half to death.. After that I gave away the remaining peices to a friend who uses them just for display.
 
On a side note, does one dare to use the Corningware or Visions for deep frying? Being a southern boy, deep frying is a semi regular occurance here, but I'm not sure if using either set of cookware for that would be safe...
 
I had a set of the amber Visions cookware for awhile, but never cared for cooking with it so gave it away. I can't recall if I ever used it on a smooth top range. As Lawrence mentioned, my experience is that it didn't distribute heat well up the sides, and the bottoms tended to scorch easily. It was frustrating trying to cook anything that was tomato-based or had dairy in it. Boiling water was ok.

 

My impression is that Corningware is great where you have even heat distribution around the sides and bottom, like in an oven or slow cooker, but not great on the stove top.

 
 
Corningware or Visions

From my limited shopping experience for certain pieces in either type,  I have found Visions to be more expensive.

 

Can't Corningware/Visions be used in a 400 degree oven (or even hotter)?  I don't know how that would translate to heating oil in it on a cooktop, but I'm sure someone here does.
 
I don't mean to scare you...but there are stories of Visions shattering while boiling water, too.

I remember my mother had some Visions. No problems that I can recall, although her style is not something I'd use today (non-stick bottoms--I avoid non-stick. Although the nonstick did make cleanup easy, and appeared to hold up as well as one can hope.) The manual had a list of Do Nots. I don't remember if deep frying was on the Do Not Do list, but it might well have been. Making popcorn was, as I best recall, on the Do Not Do list.

Personally, I liked Visions in the past. In fact, I considered the pan to be a pretty good value. But it is NOT a pan I'd want to be my one and only. My sense (based on memory) is that Visions is good for some tasks, like long, slow cooking. But it is limited/hopelessly bad/unacceptable for some tasks. Of course, this is true to some extent of any pan design...which is why you'll never find only one matching set of pans in my kitchen.
 
I believe that Corningware and Visions really are the same i

Correct. As the glass is heat-tempered, its structure changes from vitreous to ceramic and it begins to change color. Stop the process when it's amber, and it's Calexium a/k/a VISIONS. Keep tempering and it turns white under reflected light but amber when light shines through it (present day Pyroceram). Heat it some more and it turns opaque (original Pyroceram) but all three have the same thermal shock index (840 degrees F) and tensile strength.
 
deep frying

Well, after a Google search, I can say Visions instructions say no deep frying, candy making, or popcorn making. This means I will need at least one metal dutch oven, and I can handle that as I keep an enamel dutch oven about the kitchen anyway for those times one needs an extra dutch oven while cooking for crowds.
 
I find that when using a Visions frying pan everything sticks to the bottom no matter what kind of grease/oil is used. Take for instance frying breaded pork chops.
You can use some Canola oil but by the time you get it to temperature for frying the chops instantly stick to the bottom. Scrambled eggs are always a disaster with this pan. You end up with more eggs stuck to the pan than you do on your plate. I have tried reduced heat. Used butter, lard and oil. Nothing works.

We have found that the 10" Visions (amber) frying pan works great for Dutch Apple Pancakes where you bake them. So that's what we use it for mainly. One thing you have to be very careful about it is that when you pull it out of the oven and set it on the stovetop it doesn't look like it's hot. A few days ago I forgot it was hot and went to grab the handle 5 minutes after it was out of the oven.Fortunately only one finger touched the glass handle and only for a milisecond. It hurt until the next day. It could have been much, much worse.

And I have found that people say the biggest problem with Visions is the weight of it. You do have to kind of schlep it around the kitchen. And when draining water out of it when boiling potatoes it takes a man's strength to tilt it over the sink.

Now the Visions 2qt saucepan we have is just fantastic for boiling potatoes or for steaming vegtables with a steaming insert.
 
I like Visions, and have made candy in various pots over the years, so I either have been lucky or the problem is overstated.

 

Now the issue.... Having owned a Coringware stove for many years,  you may find you are not happy with the results with most pots and pans.  The stoves came with a set of cookware especially designed for use with the cooktops.  The bottoms were ground perfectly flat for maximum contact.  From lots of experience other cookware will sort of work, but the results are spotty.  I still have a number of pieces and use them often -- on my gas cooktop.  One quick test is to get the bottom of the pot or pan wet and set it on a Formica counter-top, if you can't lift it off, it's flat enough - I find I have to slide them off the counter rater than lift due to the suction.

 

I would suggest using the stove for a while before wholesaling out all your cookware, you may love the smooth top, you may not.  Current smooth tops have a different design and are more forgiving of uneven cookware.
 
Monarch ranges were a product of the Monarch Stove Company, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
They made some very substantial ranges in their day, both gas and electric. One thing you will notice on the Corning top is the heat tends to radiate out from the burner area unlike the current ceramic tops whose heat for the most part tends to stay within the burner pattern as indicated on the top. Enjoy!
 
DON'T GET RID OF YOUR GOOD STAINLESS STEEL COOKWARE, PLEASE!

Neither regular Corning Ware nor Visions are ground flat for the smooth cooktop. The Corning Cookmates were ground flat to perfectly mate with the Corning cooking surface. There is some principle of thermodynamics concerning the coefficient of heat transfer between materials of like molecular structure. This is part of the reason why cast iron skillets were so good on a cast iron cook stove. Also, there was little else that was as inexpensive and durable. I know that the Corning stoves had the ribbon elements but not all smooth tops used them so you might find that your particular cooktop does not perform like the Corning ones and it is liable to be slower than your GE range.

You don't say if your elements are thermostatic or just infinite heat, but I imagine they are infinite heat. The Corning ranges' thermostatic units could work successfully because the Pyroceram of the cooktop heated at almost the same speed as the flat based Pyroceram vessel sitting on it. I have some of the Electromatic portables by Corning and the thermostat performs beautifully. Good, flat bottom metal cookware works well on them also, but the materials heat at different speeds so the response is slower. Your metal utensils will probably work well on your cooktop, in fact, if the units are not thermostatic, the units will be higher wattage to compensate for the different coefficient of heat transfer. One thing you will notice is that the Pyroceram surface will stay hot longer than the Calrods of your GE. The fact that the cooking surface turns yellow when heated is sort of a safety device to alert users to the heated area.

When you use metal utensils on the cooktop, do not let them slide. Hold the handle when stirring or using a spatula and lift pans if you wish to reposition them so that you do not leave gray metal marks on the cooktop. Always wipe an area with a dry cloth before placing a pan on it and turning on the heat to prevent burning dust or sugar grains onto the cooktop and likewise, wipe the pan bottom before placing it on the stove. You are going to notice that anytime you fry something there is going to be an area of browned spatters around the skillet. That makes for extra cleanup. If you do not already have it, you will need to buy some smooth cooktop cleaner. A couple of manufacturers market it.
 
Tom

Actually there is another reason for me wanting to rid myself of my current cookware. Though it really is wonderful cookware, probably the best I have ever owned, it holds bad memories for me. The only reason I own it is that an ex, with whom I had a particularly rough relationship and rather rough breakup as well, insisted I purchase it to replace the club set I had at the time, "because mother always had waterless, and mother says waterless is the best, and mother knows everything about cooking, and mother says you are gonna kill us cooking in that ratty old aluminum, etc etc etc.."

The waterless cookware is actually the last item remaining in the house that was purchased during that relationship. After the breakup, I sold nearly every stick of furniture in the house in an auction, (most of it at a loss) as we had purchased most of it together, and over half of it wasnt even what I really wanted in the first place. The waterless cookware is the only thing that survived the great purge of furniture and bric-a-brac, I thought I could make peace with keeping it, since it was such good cookware, but I cant, and I really want something different at this point. Cooking is a joy for me, but having to use cookware that brings up unhappy memories makes me put off something I normally enjoy doing.

I know this probably sounds stupid, purging the house the way I did, but to me objects can trigger a flood of memories, good or bad. I want items in my home that bring back happy memories, not unhappy ones.

I will probably purchase or borrow a single piece each of Corning and Visions, to see how they perform on the stove. If I'm not happy with either of them, I will try to get another set of high quality cookware, but one that doesnt look like my current one.
 
So, is this the reason you replaced the old range too? I can tell you that if you enjoy cooking, you are not going to enjoy it as much with the smooth top range and Pyroceram cookware, but only you can find that out.

I am sorry for your awful relationship. I learned long ago that appliances and kitchenware will never hurt you like a "people." What a shame you can't take all of the good cookware down to a lake or stream and have an immersion ceremony or exorcism to cleanse it and not have the bastard causing you to have to spend money to replace perfectly good cookware. Please don't think me insensitive when I was trying to state rational concepts because I was not aware of the emotional reasons behind your switch. Anyone will tell you, usually from bitter personal experience, that rationality cannot beat emotion. Sorry. I hope you can recover soon and learn from your experience.
 
Thank you Tom.

The breakup has actually been near 2 years ago, and I am well over it at this point and have a wonderful guy in my life, but those pans are still a sore spot that just didn't fade like I thought they would. You were not insensitive at all, and rationality is always needed in any situation.

Actually the stove was one of the few things I chose entirely on my own, but it has never really went with the style of this home, since this is a 1970's house. I chose 40s/50s appliances for the kitchen basically out of spite, sort of a "screw you" to the modern styled furnishings invading the rest of the house I guess, lol.

Off subject, but the bonus of the split was that once all the modern furniture was out, I was able to do the house in furniture more suited to its age. I also knocked out the wall between the galley kitchen and dining room, to give myself a large eat in kitchen.
 
We have a flat-top range and I use both my mother's blue flower corning ware and my Pyrex flameware daily. We also use my partners grandmothers turquoise club aluminum set as well as wear-ever aluminum set with the turquoise lids with out any problem.
 
Trial and Error

I looked about Saturday afternoon for some reasonably priced Visions and Corning in the local thrift stores. I found 2 pieces of Visions, the small frying pan and the largest saucepan for 5 dollars each, but flat bottom corning ware was nowhere to be found, just the regular kind, and all of it overpriced. My brother loaned me a set of heavy enamelled steel cookware to try as well.

At this point, I'm fairly sure I wouldnt like the Visions as my only cookware. It is HEAVY. And holds heat to the point that things will keep boiling after the pan is completely removed from the stove. Also, my aunt was right, pasta does stick in Visions. I can see a few things it would be useful for, but no way could I get used to it as my only cookware.

The enamelled steel however performs very well, quickly responds to changes in heat, not overly heavy, and easy easy to clean. Unless I change my mind, I beleive I will look for a good set of enamelled steel cookware. I know it lasts very well if cared for correctly, one of my aunts has had the same set for 25 years and it still looks new. One just has to avoid the super thin cheap stuff, but thats to be avoided in any sort of cookware.
 
Corning Ware Cookware for ANY electric range

As Tom mentioned if you want to use Corning Ware on top of the range look for the ground flat Corning CookMates, these are the ONLY Corning Ware pans I would ever use on ANY electric range, regular Corning Ware is very slow and allows the electric elements to get too hot which is not only very dangerous but can lead to serious damage to the stove.
 

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