Back when I was first married, virtually every bride could count on being showered, literally, with Pyrex or Corning Ware as wedding gifts. The stuff is still popular today. And Corning Ware is making a comeback after a lull in popularity.
Enter, tempered glass
The first great leap forward in glass cookware was specially-made ‘high-temperature’ glass. Today most of it is sold under the names Pyrex or Fire King. Back when I was starting to cook, no kitchen was complete without a set of PYREX measuring cups. PYREX mixing bowls and baking dishes were also kitchen must-haves.
The secret is a special type of glass.
Today, “PYREX […] is composed of roughly 81 percent borosilicate glass material,” the website explains. “This silica stands up well to extreme tem-peratures, ranging from -40° / -40 F to 300 C / 570 F. It has a low level of ther-mal expansion, so PYREX glassware doesn’t significantly expand or contract when you heat or cool it. As a result, PYREX lab glass has a very low risk of breakage.”
Given that it can handle such high heat – well above the maximums specified in most recipes – it’s become a favourite for oven-baking. All the more fun because it’s clear, and you can ‘see’ the food cooking.
Again, thanks to its heat-resistant characteristics, Pyrex also remains the standard in laboratory glassware.
Corning Ware even better
The successor to Pyrex – Corning Ware – expanded the PYREX concept’s horizons, starting just after the Second World War. The new material, brand-named Pyrceram, possessed the benefits of both glass and ceramic cookware. It débuted on the consumer market as ‘Corning Ware’, in 1958. (See photo, above left.)
“Corning Ware was advertised as being capable of being taken from the refrigerator or freezer and used directly on the stovetop, in an oven or microwave, under a broiler, and go into a dishwasher,” Wikipedia explains.
One glam advantage Corning Ware has over Pyrex is, it comes out of its manufacturing process a milky white colour. Someone at Corning quickly glommed onto that as a value-added feature, and branded it ‘French White’. Which dovetailed nicely with the expanded role the products could take on, making it substantially more attractive as straight-to-table ‘serving ware’.
“It makes no sense to cook in one dish, serve in another and store in a third,” says a stern-looking Mom-type in a Corning ware magazine archived at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan…
What happened to Corning Ware?
Corning Ware suffered a major drop-off in popularity – and, thus, sales – in the 1990s. So drastic was its fall from grace that the stuff was taken off the market in the early 2000s. But only for a few years. Lucky for the brand, its sag at home was paralleled by a growing interest in foreign markets including Asia and Australia, where it had only recently become widely available.
One reason for the momentary lack of interest was that home cooking in general was taking a beating at the hands of the Fast Food industry. The younger generations especially, were already heavily addicted to the convenience of Fast Foods. And screentime addicts were increasingly attracted to freezer-to-oven and freezer-to-microwave treats.
At the same time, the trend mavens were starting to notice that fewer folks were getting married. And those who did were not putting stuff like kitchenware, countertop appliances or fancy china on their wedding registry wish lists, anymore.
The younger gens were, in fact, avoiding cooking – in droves.
A change of heart
Now, the pendulum is swinging back. Today’s youngest gens are admitting a renewed interest in healthy eating, fresh foods, and home cooking. And both PYREX and Corning Ware are enjoying well-deserved renaissances in popularity.
Sideshow:
Pyrex and Corning Ware has always been available in relative abundance at yard and estate sales. Because of its non-scarcity, the stuff can still be had at reasonable prices in such venues, if you’re in the market.
Note for Newbies:
Corning Ware has always been opaque, in some colour another. But its clear-glass lids are direct ‘exports’ from the PYREX universe. ALL sizes and shapes are directly interchangeable between the two lines… The lids are far more prone to break than the vessels themselves, for some reason. Pick up extra lids at the sales when you can.
Can you feel the excitement level hotting up in the PYREX / Corning Ware universe?
Next thing you know, the ‘kids’ will be reviving an old tradition: fighting over who’s going to inherit their parents’ Pyrex and Corning Ware when the elders become either down-sized or demised…
~ Maggie J.