War on drugs casualty, or spontanious combusion?

[infrogmation]

The story of Corning Visions glass cook ware (see previous post) gets more interesting and bizarre, from a thread on Ellen's Kitchen site:

"I messed up on a few things like the very large Visonware pots, and a few have been broken and finding them turns out to be very hard. I love that stuff and never did understand why they stopped making it. You can use a pot every day for years, burn stuff in it over and over, even leaving forgetting to turn the burner off over night. All you need to do is use a srub pad and it is back to looking like it did the day you bought it. No other cookware will go that, and the lack of repeat sales may be a reason that it was discontinued? :)"

Yep, that pretty much my experience (though I never abused mine quite so much). But further down the thread:

"One of the reasons that the manufacturer discontinued production, I've heard, is that the U.S. government told the manufacturer to stop making them. Apparently, recreational- drug makers of metaphetamines, acids, etc., used to concoct and cook their drugs (made with a wide variety of corrosive chemicals) in large quantities using VisionWare pots, and then they used CorningWare after VisionWare was discontinued. You may notice that, currently, the manufacturer of CorningWare states and stamps on the bottom of the Corning pots that they cannot be used on stovetop (they can be used in microwaves, ovens, dishwashers --- just not stovetops). VisionWare was the perfect tool for the drug makers in their home kitchens because they are corrosion-resistant unlike the metal pots, and they're much for resistant to abuses than the fragile chemistry sets normally used in laboratories."

!!@#$%!?

Another useful appliance may be casualty of U.S. Government Prohibition War On Drugs. This is an anecdotal allegation, but it sounds like something our government would do.

Well, that would also explain why I don't see 'em at yard sales, eh? Gotta grab 'em quick if you see 'em.

But wait! Or is it that they have a tendancy to VIOLENTLY SPONTANIOUSLY EXPLODE FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON!?

" If I could send pictures of my husbands arm where a cool unused pot severed his radial artery and all the nerves and tendons of his right hand, leaving him with no feeling or use in it, you might reconsider buying this product."

"I have posted these dangers on the othe visionware threads, but I see not on this one. So I will say it again: VISIONWARE for stovetop use is DANGEROUS. Please do not use it or buy it! [...] When all the dicussion on visionware started on my site- there have been humdreds of emails- I got serious about the research. I have personally read the Federal product safety reports detailing crippling injuries that occurred when the stovetop pots exploded or shattered both in use and while sitting unused (one was sitting in a dish drainer). This wasn't cracking or breaking, as might occur with labware; it was a disaster with many small pieces of flying glass. It was clear that while the vast majority of correctly used Visions stoveware was safe, some exploded violently and unpredictanly. I really liked my Visionware dutch oven for boiling herbs, but I don't use it any more".

Damn!

Shall we go back to cooking by holding food on a stick over an open fire now?

Comments

[jecook]

Shall we go back to cooking by holding food on a stick over an open fire now?


But the sticks are pointy and could hurt someone, and then the person who made the pointy stick could get sued for a Million Billion Bazillion Dollars! </Sarcasam>


My guess is that over time, the glassware developed pits or bubbles which caused the stuff to crack/explodiate over long periods of time. Of course, the drug angle was something that I never considered.

[seide.livejournal.com]

Never thought of the drug angle. The prohibition against using Corningware on the stove is not a recent development; I remember my mom putting a casserole dish full of carrots on top of the burner in the 70s and it exploded all over. I looked at a matching piece and was like, Mom, there's a warning right here that says don't put on the stovetop!

I used to have a couple of the VisionWare pans in the 80s and they were fine; now I use Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized and love them, but I know you're not down with the aluminum. I have a stainless steel Calphalon for acidic foods and I dig that too. It has a clear glass lid so I get some visibility.

[glitter-ninja.livejournal.com]

Mom's Corningware is from the 50s or 60s, without such a warning. It's got the neatest design on the side, very atomic age. Anyhow, her Corningware came with this contraption that fits over the small handle on the side of the casserole. The contraption is plastic and metal and when clamped on, it works like a skillet handle, effectively turning her Corningware casserole into a skillet.

The early 90s Corningware mom bought me has the warning. The box also warned against take the glass lids directly from fridge to oven or they will shatter. Mom's old Corningware lids specifically said you COULD go from cold to hot, and they appear to be made from the stuff Visionsware is made of.

[petalbreeze.livejournal.com]

My set of Visions pans, which I bought in the early 90s, don't have that warning on them, and I have been using them on the stovetop for almost 15 years with no ill effects.

I have had a lid break, and one pan bit the dust when I dropped it on the kitchen floor. Not a bad record, after all.

enamel

[vardissakheli.livejournal.com]

My sister's one Christmas request last year was for enamel pans made by a German company called Prinz. They're very flat, which is essential for use on glass cooktops, and heavily enameled to last a long time. They're rebranded by several English and Italian companies, and you can often find them at T.J. Maxx for about half list price.

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

the U.S. government told the manufacturer to stop making them

Froggy, this is what is known as a conspiracy theory. The thing to remember about conspiracy theories, is, if you disbelieve every one you hear, you'll be right most of the time.

VISIONWARE for stovetop use is DANGEROUS

And this is what is known as a one-person consumer crusade. The thing to remember about one-person consumer crusades is, well, pretty much the same thing.

There's a difference, though, in that: VisionWare is discontinued, so whether it's due to government meddling or not is pretty much a moot point. On the other hand, as long as the stuff is available (on eBay, et cetera), the question of whether it will explodiate and sever one of your favorite arteries is not.

So it's worth checking your second correspondent's claims. A few minutes of googling failed to turn up anything other than what appears to be the same person making the same claims elsewhere. In particular, no independent signs of any of these alleged "Federal product safety reports". If this stuff really is a potential bomb, you'd think there'd be more discussion of it out there. Unless it's Being Suppressed By The Government. Which is a conspiracy theory.

Or unless I suck at googling, which in this instance is not impossible.

Anyway, aside from eBay and its wannabes, I notice VisionWare is available here (http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=37919609&siteid=36232542&bfpid=43869&bfmtype=standard&itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=12037). If you buy it and it blows your arm off, please not to sue me. Thanks.

Oh, and my perspective: I for one would be leery of putting a large piece of glass in direct contact with a red hot electric burner, or its gas equivalent. But that's just gut feeling with no relevant data backing it up.

minor correction

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

Where I said "your second correspondent", pretend I said "the third poster".

[glitter-ninja.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Vermont Country Store! They have the best stuff -- original Lifebuoy soap, Walnettos, and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo. I guess I am not surprised that they have the original Visionware.

For what it's worth, mom has three Visionware pots, a huge Visionware pasta cooker, and two Visionware skillets with nonstick coating on the inside. She's used them almost daily for 20-odd years, and the only problem has been that the nonstick coating is wearing off. Corning makes good stuff. That said, I think that an extreme temperature difference probably can cause breakage, even with Visionware.

The only problem I've had with my Visionware is that it's not Ed-proof. The man can break anything. It's a gift.

[mcmatz.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, I used to have Corelle ware dishes explode into powder in my cabinets.

--Madeline