Cordon Bleu Waterless cookware

[jetaction]

A while back I recall a thread about waterless cookware. Yesterday I was in Duluth and went to my best friends estate sale, she passed 5 weeks ago. Not too long ago she had bought a set of Cordon Bleu cookware and loved it. Well now I have it and am intrigued. Any information of suggestions on this stuff? Also, what is the piece with the holes in it, it fits over the top of of one of the pans. Here is a pic of one of the pieces.

 

[joeekaitis]

"Waterless" cookware seems to go in and out of vogue with the regularity of meteor showers. Wash your veggies but don't shake off the excess water. Toss 'em into your "waterless" saucepan without any added water, cover, and heat over medium heat just until condensation floods the channel between the lid and rim, then turn the heat all the way down. Cook for the time specified in your "waterless" instructions.

If all goes well (about as often as planetary grand alignments), your asparagus comes out better tasting and more healthful than ANY OTHER COOKING METHOD (so the ad lit claims)! 9.66368181820080384 times out of 10, your asparagus sticks and burns because all the water evaporated. Sometimes, the lid seals so tightly that you have to heat the pan back up to generate what little steam you can from the remaining moisture to overcome the vacuum, which causes your otherwise perfectly cooked asparagus to stick and burn.

Aside from that, it's usually well-made tri-ply cookware if you don't expect miracles, like cooking vegetables in just the water that clings after washing.

 

[polkanut]

I don't know about the cookware, but would love to see more of the Red Wing "BobWhite Quail" piece in the background. Oh so very collectible, and it sells for big bucks, as I'm sure you're aware.

 

We have some vintage Rena Ware that's been touted as "waterless" cookware since it came on the market many years ago.  We just use it in the usual ways, and it cooks foods beautifully.

 

[sudsmaster]

Any good cookware with tight fitting lids can do the "waterless" trick. It's usually safer, though, to heat up say 1/4 cup of water first to get it steaming and then add the veggies whatever at medium to low heat.

I used to cook with Magnalite cookware. It has very tight fitting, machined, heavy aluminum lids. It's almost like a pressure cooker, because once the water gets up a head of steam, the lid will chatter like a pressure cooker regulator. In fact Magnalite's owner's manual touted this as a way to cook faster, hotter, better.

One time, however, I had guests over for a dinner and one of them turned off the burner where the veggies were happily chattering away. They thought something was wrong!

 

[passatdoc]

Mary Tyler Moore parody of waterless cookware

In an early episode, Rhoda related to Mary that she had fallen for a door-to-door saleman's schtick and had purchased an entire set of "Waterless Thunderware". I don't remember if the episode actually portrayed her using the pans, or whether it depicted a meal prepared with Waterless Thunderware.

 

[mixfinder]

Bob White

Red Wing from Bob White. Can't believe how valuable it has become in the past 5 years.
Kelly

 

[Panman]

Jetaction - I can help you with your "waterless cookware" as I have sold it for 40 yrs. The piece with the holes is a "trivet" used as a divider inside a piece of cookware. Usually you have some food in the bottom of the pan then the trivet and some other food on it, then the cover. The lid you are showing with the saucepan it too shallow to use the trivet in....you need a dome cover...one with side handles not a knob on top. Your Cordon Bleu cookware is lifetime warrantied by Regal Ware Inc. They no longer make it but it is still under warranty for life. You can email me at [email protected] and I can send you recipes etc.

Joeekaitis - said that sometimes the lid will seal so tight that you have to re-heat it to get it opened....not Cordon Bleu as it has a valve. All you do is open the valve. The exception to this is when you are using a dome cover (no valve). You can cook asparagus with very little water (rinse it off and just what clings is all you need) without burning or scorching...10 out of 10 times. All you is put in the asparagus, rinse and pour off the excess, cover with valve open and place on medium heat. When steam escapes and valves whistles, close valve and reduce heat to low....cook about 6-8 minutes (that is how we like it).

Sudsmaster - said that Magnalite was almost like a pressure cooker....not so....a pressure cooker builds up pressure and Magnalite does not.

Hope this helps.
Panman

 

[norgeway]

I Wish!!

Aristo Craft was still made, the square shape, plus the pouring lip makes it a favorite.

 

[xraytech]

I am very much a fan of me "waterless cookware" from both Guardian Service and Rena Ware.

It has some amazing heat retention, as I once was cooking Halupki in my Rena Ware dutch oven I baked them with the steam valve closed, shut oven off when done and left in oven to cool, well 6 hours later they were still hot enough to serve

 

[rockland1]

rockland1

I live in Wisconsin where Regal Ware is made and occasionally we go to the factory
store. I have some of this cookware and it is awesome. I have a 12 quart dutch Oven we use for making large batches of soup. It is very even heating but I was suprised to find out it won't work on induction.

 

[polkanut]

Hey Rockland, where in WI do you live?  Do you live near Kewaskum?  I'm in Wausau.

 

[jetaction]

Thanks for the feedback, Panman I have sent you an email. Yes, Bob White by Red Wing, one of two patterns I collect. Have a pretty extensive set of this, Red Wing's most popular pattern. Looking for the metal stand for the Lazy Susan, I have the other pieces, stands are harder to find but that is part of the fun-the hunt right?