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Vintage Corningware Pyroceram for Broiler Use


Shel_B

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There's a very nice vintage Corningware Pyroceram baking dish that I'm considering.  Is it safe for use under the broiler?  Has anyone used their vintage Pyroceram under the broiler and had bad results, such as cracking or shattering?  Thanks!

 ... Shel


 

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I used one of my old pyrex casseroles on the stove top recently and it shattered into a hundred pieces.  Surprised the heck outta me since I'd been doing that for years.  (It was fun getting the peas and glass out of the burners.)  It was a glass one not a ceramic, but I'd still be hesitant to use intense heat like that now. 

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Vintage items can be dangerous: has the surface been deeply scratched, was the item stressed by being dropped on multiple occasions, ever dropped anything heavy (like a cast iron skillet) on top of it?

 

Then, there's the question of how you're going to use it. Will you be putting a big pile of frozen food on it and shoving it under the broiler so that some exposed parts will become hot quickly while other parts of the pan will be closing to freezing temperatures? Will you be pulling it from the fridge and immediately putting it under the broiler?

 

It's rare for those items to break, but, they can break and need to be handled with care.

 

Glass, ceramics, etc. are not allowed in professional kitchens because they can and do break. A metal pan (sheet pan, hotel pan) will last longer and take more abuse. -And will probably cost less.

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Shel_B,

 

I love my vintage Corning Ware, and it has many, many uses in the kitchen. Stove top on direct heat, despite Sylvia Lovgren's anecdote of successful use for years, and under the broiler are not one of them.

 

That said, a fiance I lived with for a couple of years in the 80's had a set of "Visions" cookware we used on an electric stove as recommended by the manufacturer. I loved it, because you could see what was going on inside your pot, and we had no mishaps. Now we have tempered glass lids pretty standard on metal pots, and that is plenty good enough for me.

 

I even like to avoid high heat oven baking of meats or anything where grease can polymerize on your Corning Ware piece. Then how do you get it off? Anything effective you scrub it with is liable to scratch it, which is a definite no no. I cover my Corning and Pyrex pie plates with foil when I use them for the second cook on twice baked potatoes for easy clean up of grease pops from the cheddar cheese.

 

You are going to be much better off with metal under the broiler. I still usually line the broiling pan with foil, because fat will polymerize at those temps, and that makes clean up pretty tough. I have a dedicated stainless broiling pan with its own rack that I use naked, and it looks rough with burned on grease, but I don't really care. I can even throw that one in the dishwasher.

 

Do yourself a favor and save your vintage ceramic bakeware for lower temp cooking. It will become more expensive and harder to replace as time passes. It's amazingly durable, but broiling is unnecessarily pushing your valuable kitchen workhorse beyond its very respectable limits.

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> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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Almost all of my cookware is Vision Ware.  I have eveything from loaf pans to large casseroles.  Some of it has the non-stick coating in the bottom but the majority is plain.  When it first came out, my local grocery store had a deal where you could get one piece per week with a minimum store purchase.  I have picked up additional pieces at thrift shops over the years.  Use it all the time on the stove, in the oven and in the microwave.  I don't use it in the broiler.  Also have many pieces of Corning Ware with the blue cornflower on them.  Again, I use it everywhere except in the broiler.  Hardly ever run across pieces in thrift shops  People must realize what treasures they have!  Sometimes older really is better and vintage, best of all.

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I have both a P-84 and a P-84-B which are identical for all practical purposes except one was made in the States and the other Austrailia. I've used them on the burner before but since they were my mother's and precious to me that practice has been phased out. 

 

When fat polymerizes on them Easy-off oven cleaner takes care of it.

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  • 1 month later...

Tonight I broiled chicken in my thirty some year old Corningware and thought of this thread.  When I wish to broil something I grab my Corningware.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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I too have many old pieces of it, all in the cornflower design.  Most are marked on the bottom as how to use them.  For example, my 8 in. square pan says it is for oven, range or microwave use. I could find no pieces that mentioned using them in the broiler, but I would feel comfortable doing just that.  The new stuff, maybe not  Best coffee I ever had was made in a Corning Ware electric pot.  It was a sad day in our kitchen when the pot was recalled. In return for sending in the lid, I got credit or coupons for all types of their products.  Don't tell anyone but I found another lid at a yard sale,a couple of years later and sent it in as well.  If you were lucky enough to be on my Christmas list that year, there was a piece of Corning Ware with your name on it!

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