CorningWare

Original Corning Ware logotype. The stylized burner icon indicates pieces that are range-top safe.

CorningWare (also written "Corning Ware") was originally a brand name for a unique pyroceramic glass cookware resistant to thermal shock, that was first introduced in 1958 by Corning Glass Works. CorningWare is notable for the fact that it can be used directly on the stovetop.

History

In 1953, Dr. S. Donald Stookey of the Corning research and development division invented Pyroceram, a white glass-ceramic material capable of withstanding a thermal shock (sudden temperature change) of up to 450 °C (840 °F). It evolved from materials originally developed for a U.S. ballistic missile program, and Stookey's research involved heat resistant material for nose cones.

Patterns and products

CorningWare's oven-to-table service first featured the little blue Cornflower decoration, designed by Joseph Baum, an artist at the Charles Brunelle Advertising Agency in Hartford, Connecticut, which became the trademark of Corning consumer products for three decades. Following the Cornflower pattern, several addition patterns were offered by Corning over the years. Care must be made to distinguish between CorningWare patterns for cookware made of Pyroceram and patterns for tableware marketed under the Corelle brand name by Corning. Making things difficult is the fact that CorningWare patterns were also used for Corelle tableware. Those patterns which included cookware made of Pyroceram are: Abundance, April, Beige Coupe, Black Trefoil, Blue Dusk, Blue Hearts, Blue Trefoil, Blue Velvet, Callaway, Country Cornflower, Country Cottage, Country Festival, Duck, English Breakfast, English Meadow, Evening Song, Farm Fresh, Floral Bouquet, Forever Yours, Fresh Cut, Friendship, Fruit Basket, Garden Harvest, Lynwood Green, Lyrics Black, Medallion, My Garden, Natures Bounty, Oceanview, Orchard Rose, Pastel Bouquet, Peach Floral, Peach Garland, Peony, Pink Trio, Provincial Blue, Quilt, Rosemarie, Shadow Iris, Shangri-La, Silk & Roses, Simple Lines, Spice of Life, Strawberry Sundae, Summer Blush, Sunsations, Symphony, White Coupe, Wildflower and Winter Magic.

More than 750 million pieces of CorningWare's oven-to-table service have been manufactured since its inception. A partial product list includes: browning skillet, casserole dish, coffee pot, frying pan, grabit bowl, gravy boat, loaf pan, pie plate, ramekins, roaster, sauce pan, skillet, and teapot.

Discontinuation

Originally manufactured by Corning Glass Works, the CorningWare and Corelle brand names are now owned by World Kitchens Incorporated of Rosemont, Illinois, which relaunched the brand name in 2001. CorningWare is sold worldwide, and it is popular in Canada, United States and Australia.

Several of the Corelle patterns have been discontinued since 2010. One of these was the very popular 'Abundance' pattern.

The original pyroceramic glass version of CorningWare was removed from the U.S. market in the late 1990s. It was re-introduced in 2009, due to popular demand. The company's 2001 annual report shows that the stovetop and dinnerware product lines were halted at the end of the century "as part of a program designed to reduce costs through the elimination of under-utilized capacity, unprofitable product lines, and increased utilization of the remaining facilities." Facilities in Charleroi, Pennsylvania and Clinton, Illinois were closed.

Reintroduction of CorningWare and Pyroflam

In 2009, the stovetop line of CorningWare was reintroduced by World Kitchens. The cookware is manufactured by Keraglass/Eurokera (a subisidiary of Corning also specialised in vitroceramics for cooktop panels and equipment for laboratories) in Bagneaux-Sur-Loing, France. This is the only factory in the world still manufacturing vitroceramics (aluminosilicate glass) for cookware. At the time it restarted the production of CorningWare, Keraglass/Eurokera was able to abandon the use of arsenic in the manufacture of their vitroceramics, thanks to the technology of their new-built modern oven.

In Europe, it is ARC who sells equivalent cookware to CorningWare under the name Pyroflam with a slightly different design. Since 2009, Pyroflam has been manufactured in the same French factory as CorningWare.

The lids of CorningWare and Pyroflam are not made of vitroceramic material. The lids of pieces in the Visions and Pyroflam Amber lines are made soda-lime glass, and lids for the white collection are made of borosilicate glass. Unlike the vitroceramic cookware, these lids cannot touch burners or fire directly, but they do fine in the oven (if not touching the source of heat) or on the stovetop, as long as they are over their vitroceramic bases.

Other manufacturers of similar oven-to-table products

World Kitchens sells similar looking products under the CorningWare brand name that are common white glazed stoneware. The packaging for these newer CorningWare branded cookware products say specifically that they are not for stovetop use. World Kitchens does still sell Pyroceram Corning Ware to its Asia–Pacific market. These items can be purchased in local department stores there. Additional patterns have been created for this market, including Bliss, Blue Elegance, Country Rose, Dainty Flora, Dandy Blossoms, Elegant City, European Herbs, Herb Country, Lilyville, Lush, Petite Trio, Plum, Salad Seasons and Warm Pansies.

Corelle is the brand name for the highly break-resistant glass dishware, using a special hub lamination process that thermally bonds three layers of glass — a core center surrounded by top and bottom layers of "skin" or "glaze" glass. The glass was decorated using unique enamels that actually became a part of the glass, creating durable, scratch-resistant designs. Both of these products were originally developed by the Corning Glass Works in Corning, New York, USA.

External links

• Corningware official page
• CorningWare FAQ at World Kitchens
• Possibly the Corning Visions Patent
• Heat-Resistant Glass at Bookrags.com
• Corning Ware showcase at BlueCornflower.com