Corning ware - a guide of whats what

I have seen in a great many posts people curious of what corning ware will work, and what wont. I am going to try to consolidate the plethora of information that I have found online.

This is thanks to Necromancer, who posted a great link that lead to another and another. I will do the shorthand for those who only want answers. And then the long of it, for those who have an insatiable quest for knowledge.

Corningware dishes that are made of pyroceram were manufactured between 1958 and present (yes, present. I will get to that). Alot of posts I have seen say only the P marked bottoms and PYROCERAM marked bottoms are the great dishes that will withstand hell and high water simultaniously. That is only a SMALL fraction of them. In fact, there are very few that cannot.

A brief history of the markings.
1958-59: embossed stamp
1960-61: blurry blue stamp (÷/- pyroceram)
1962-72: P-series stamping (other stamps began in this time frame also.)
1969-72: "For Range and Microwave" added to stamps
1972-79: the horrible hologram, almost impossible to see
1979-86: the block stamp

I will have pictures posted of all of these, they are ALL pyroceram and can withstand anything you can throw at it.

some here advocate the use of the Visions brand made by corning. While I personally use it in my kitchen.. I do not use it in my lab. Anectode below if you care.

If you dont want to know the nerdy stuff, scroll and look at the pictures, the last one that says STONEWARE is NOT PYROCERAM, NEVER USE IT IN LAB. EVER.


NERD ALERT:

Corningware was a happy accident in 1952/53 when Don Stookey had an oven malfunction, when he checked the temp, he thought it was ruined. Out from it comes an opaque beauty, in his haste, the glass dropped and surprisingly bounced....This lead the age of a new era.

Corningwares pyroceram became quickly put to use to defend our countrys borders and honor, by covering the nose cones of missles and helping shield the brave souls we blasted in to the blackness of space. In 1958, they marketed it (like many, MANY other of cornings GREAT inventions (from the lightbulb for edison, to state of the art bio-tech being experimented on today and literally EVERYTHING in between)

They initially were going to go with either the cornflower, or wheat, cornflower won out, but there are a couple great wheat pstterns. In fact, there are MANY patterns...

Ill post more in between later. But, in 1999 corning sold out, their buyer went bust, reformed as world kitchen, and started producing utter trash. They pushed the french white line but it was in stoneware instead of pyroceram...such a travesty..

Quick way to tell: rub your hand on the bottom,rough marks=kiln firing ring... Smooth...then thats pyroceram. Look at the bottom... Stoneware warns against use on broiler or microwave... Corningware can take a torch and keep smiling.

While here in the states, we stopped making it, in france they still yet produce it, and ship it back here now.

Im tired and losing my train of thought, so I will post the pictures, i hope this helps any one needing to know.

*why i dont use visions, there are some counts of it exploding, whether it was from small scratches causing stress fractures during thermal expansion, or the people just dropped it... I dont want to take the chsnce of losing values, so i still stick to pyroceram.

More markings, and types of corningware (only ket me post 4 pics)

Words or advice/caution.

Dont buy if it is chipped...not for lab use... Home is okay...but it will break if you sre incinerating and crushing in it.

The glass pour ripples on the bottom mean its the real deal...if you csnt find a mark...look in the right light for the hologram image.

There are alot of corningware freaks besides me out there...the percolator and other rare designs / items (lou mentioned a corning hot plate....THE BEST IN THE WORLD) they can be worth some big bucks.. I spent 11 bucks on 2 10 cup percolators that are valued at 150 bucks because of the pattern and fact of the recall.

I have a great much else to say, but it will have to be another time. I have some work to do.

Thanks for reading. This would not be possible without necromancer who posted this site initially

Www.corningware411.com shane is brilliant with his knowledge of corning

Bluecornflower.com more based on the standard pattern
And
Corellecorner.com

More importantly, everyone here at grf. You are all gods amongst men.

Further breakdown of the letter codes for corningware pyroceram dishes.

A--post 1972
B--bufdet servers
C--classic elegance
CW--french white 2
DC--designer casserole
DO--cookmates dutch oven
F--french white
G--everyday gourmet
H--bake n broil platter
JCP--exclusive for (you guessed it jc pennys)
K--cookmates
KA--counter that cooks
L--flared, casual elegance
M--microwave cookware
MC--microwave casseroles
MCR--microwave cookracks
MW--microwave browners
N--rangetopper
P--1960-1972
PP--petites (cookmates, some petites only have 1p)
S--round saucepan
SK--electro skillet
SM--cookmates saucemaker
SP--cookmates saucepan
TP--cookmates teapot(some teapots have just the p or w or a)
TK--cookmates teakettle(same as above)
U--mystery letter
V--visions
W--wheat

If it is not marked under the lug(handle), or at the bottom (stamp, holo, or embossed), then you must be very wary of its authenticity.

Arcoflame is the label of the french (european in total?) manufacturer of pyroceram, I have only found a couple of these in thrift stores and estate sales, same thing, some have different designs, but still solid as a rock.

Dont get me wrong, corningware is not invulnerable, in fact i had one of my 10 in skillets break on me just a couple days ago when i was incinerating/grinding in it... In fairness, the handle had a chip in it, and that was where it failed...

The ones i have that are in perfect aesthetic condition have never broke...ever..

I have read recently that caustic in them will etch them, but i havent subjected them to that kind of torture yet (or ever).


Cleaning your corningware:

Some people baby them, non scratch pads, no dish soap... Bleh that.

You can use a scouring pad on them...they will be fine.

Best thing to clean them is the same thing that you should be using on your lab glass. Bon Ami. Its wonderful...barkeepers friend is also a great cleaner. Beyond that, if you have tough grey streaks in them (thats from metal sitting on them too long...the metal comes off on the pyroceram, as it is stronger than the metal) use weiman glass cooktop cleaner.

All of these cleaners can be found at your local grocery store....mine is a Dillons, i assume kroger would carry it as well as they are synonymous(i believe). Didnt find it in wallyworld though...but i didnt look to hard as i had already found it.

Welcome to the forum Topher!

Dave

Great first post! 8)

Thanks for the run through and welcome to the forum.

Göran

Thank you guys for the warm welcome... I have been a long time reader and have been refining now for almost a year (includong the 6 months i was doing acquaintance experiments via miss hoke's suggestion.) and became a member to share what little knowledge i had to contribute.

Additionally, the percolators and coffee pots are great... I am making my morning cup o' joe right now in one of the recalled obes. I have 2 more that i use to boil water on the burner directly for my sulfamic additions to denox.

The teapots are great to hold ice for diluting solutions and keeping the AgCl from going along for the ride (the lip is just the right size and shape... Man...did corningware know whats up or what?...like they were mind readers, 40 years ahead of theur time and then some..)

The microwave series of corning is excellent for incinerating... I particularly like the ones wjth the tin oxide layer baked in the glass (acts as the browner in the microwave....not going to give you any purple of cassius ...trust me) it transfers heat very quickly, and maintains it beautifully

Whats even more awesome about corning? They all have handles... Look in thrift stores in theur misc kitchen stuff, where they put spatulas and what not.. You will undoubtedly find at least s couple p series ones...

I love corningware...

Good info - thanks for posting & welcome to the forum - hope to hear more from you - like maybe some pics in the gallery 8) :mrgreen:

Kurt

Looks like we have another new member that's done his homework, good first post and well done on studying before recovering and refining, as Kurt said looking forward to more posts 8)

Topher you seem to be the closest thing this forum has to a Corning ware expert. I have a question for you.

I have 2 corning ware coffee pots and was wondering if they can be used to evaporate sulphuric acid in them.

Daswolter said:

Topher you seem to be the closest thing this forum has to a Corning ware expert. I have a question for you.

I have 2 corning ware coffee pots and was wondering if they can be used to evaporate sulphuric acid in them.

Click to expand...

I have used mine to concentrate sulfuric battery acid for my cell, but, i made sure....VERY sure...That it had no flaws...AT. ALL....

Hot acid is no joke... Hot sulfuric will not only ruin your day, but forseeable future.

But, let me ask a couple questions... What model coffe pots?
Percolator?
Drip?
Tea pot?

What is the number? Is it one of the recalled versions?
They had no screw fastening a worm gear type clasp in addition to epoxy... The ones without a screw, i would not use..

Sulfuric acid has a great affinity for water...even the water in old worn out adhesives (id be willing to bet anyways... But i wont be testing that out... Ill just use my non recalled teapots, or 4 quarts, or buffets, or 10 inch skillet (wider=better for evaporating...surface area can save you huge amounts of time)

...the coffee pots tried to keep the evap to a minimum as to keep the coffee uniformly tasting from first to last cup..(...i dont get paid by corning..but i probably should..)

.That ol' epoxy that was going bad and making a guy spill hot coffee on a person was just from water... Hah.. I dont think mr stookey ever had dreamed we'd be having this conversation huh?..

The long-short of it.

Yes and no.

Use corning for evap H2SO4, but use something in flawless condition, a screwed on handle, and/or deep and wide...or just wide if you dont have much sulfuric... I have more corning than i know what to do with... My garage/lab is about full, so is my kitchen..

I may need to rent a second house soon...

The reason I bought them was #1 the were corning ware and #2 the are kind of shaped like a erlinmeyer flask. I'll have to look up the numbers when I get out to my Garage\lab.

Topher_osAUrus said:

The long-short of it.

Yes and no.

Use corning for evap H2SO4, but use something in flawless condition, a screwed on handle, and/or deep and wide...or just wide if you dont have much sulfuric...

Click to expand...

Whether you end up evaporating in corning ware or something else, you should also have a secondary catch basin in case the first container fails. Especially when heat is involved.

So, if you heat it in a corning ware coffee pot, put it and the hotplate inside another big plastic tub that is big enough to hold the pot, the plate, and the acid--with room to spare in case it reacts with something and starts foaming.

upcyclist said:

Whether you end up evaporating in corning ware or something else, you should also have a secondary catch basin in case the first container fails. Especially when heat is involved.

So, if you heat it in a corning ware coffee pot, put it and the hotplate inside another big plastic tub that is big enough to hold the pot, the plate, and the acid--with room to spare in case it reacts with something and starts foaming.

Click to expand...

Well spoke!, yes. I always have my burners in a big tote, lined with newspaper...then cardboard..then a couple tile THEN my burner, corning, beaker...or, honestly more times than not my 1.50$ coffee pots.. They have juuuuust the right size hole for tubing to lead to a distill rig/nox scrubber/recycler.. ..i have about a grand in good lab glass...but, more times than not, everything i am using...from my fume hood, to incinerator/pyro unit is second hand/MacGyvered to function in my work space, and most things serve more than one function/purpose.

But, i ALWAYS protect my values, any way possible

The 1 pot is the normal blue flower only has the star above the corning ware logo made in the USA with no numbers on it in very good condition doesn't look like it was ever used.

The other is the multiple colored vegetables with the words "Le The" with P-104 number on it the corning ware logo and made in the USA on it. This one has been used a lot very coffee stained But, not cracked or chipped at all.

Both have the screw in the handles.

Daswolter said:

The 1 pot is the normal blue flower only has the star above the corning ware logo made in the USA with no numbers on it in very good condition doesn't look like it was ever used.

The other is the multiple colored vegetables with the words "Le The" with P-104 number on it the corning ware logo and made in the USA on it. This one has been used a lot very coffee stained But, not cracked or chipped at all.

Both have the screw in the handles.

Click to expand...

I would say that those are(without looking at pictures, just from the second pot numbering) that they are the 6 cup teapot/kettle. Since they are not the percolators with only adhesive holding the handle and band, that you would be just fine evaporating your sulfuric in it.

It may just take a little bit longer because of the condensation from the bottle neck portion keeping the water in solution.

I would still choose to use a large skillet (a corningware pan...they call them skillets, unless their volume is larger than 2 quarts...i think..)

See attached pictures and let me know if these are similar to what you have on the pot side. And the skillet that would best serve your needs in this case.

Warning. Complete over elaboration ahead. (yes, even more so..)
Picture one has (fromthe left) 2 spice of life skillets/pans that are a series, french spice of life.. They would do well to evap in. Bottom middle is a 10 inch microwave skillet for sears, bottom right is a huuuge diameter microwave browner, i have 2 identical ones except their stamps are different, where one states its armana. Inside of the browner is an f-3-b souffle/quiche pan (i honestly dont remember which)

Inside those two pans in the bottom right is the plain white 8 cup.coffee percolator that i use to boil water for my sulfamic mix... Its a recalled one but i dont pick it up by the handle unless empty and cool.

Above that is a country festival pan thats one of the larger ones they make readily available in thrift stores with vigilant searching. On it, is a p-104 teapot minus the handle(i use it to carry clean ice out to my work area, and should i one day decide to sell it [doubtful] the buyer most likely wouldnt want a rusted band around it)

So, yeah, you can use your pots... But if its something you are planning on doing alot of/in. You may be better served to find something from picture 3

3bottom left a roaster pan holding a french white casserole, and french white microwave casserole. To their north, 2 percolators, one for my java, one to just heat distilled water.
To their right, a quiche/souffle? Pan... Its shallow..and wide. Would be great. Under it is a "grab-it" line pan, built in handle.. If you had a small cell, it could do you wonders. To its right, a 10 inch p series skillet.

If you are doing alot of sulfuric evaporating, (i would anyways) find one that can evaporate unabated. So, really, i suppose it all depends on a couple things... Amount of liquid to evap... Time allotment... Space... And im sure a couple other things im omitting unintentionally.

Most thrift stores/estate sales/dav/goodwill/second hand store/flea market have them for a very reasonable price... My grandmother still has her entire set from her wedding anniversary in 1960, and has every..single...piece except one lid that bit the dust.

Take care of it, and it will take care of you. Miss hoke speaks of always, habitually, wiping the bottom of your porcelain before contacting flame... I wonder if she ever had the pleasure of using corningware in lab setting. They are so incredibly versatile that its almost foolish NOT to invest in a good variety of pans. They have saved me on 3 different occasions. And, everytime i see one in a 2nd hand shop. I buy it.

Thanks Topher! I think I will take your advice and use a corning ware casserole dish to evaporate the sulfuric acid in.

Daswolter said:

Thanks Topher! I think I will take your advice and use a corning ware casserole dish to evaporate the sulfuric acid in.

Click to expand...

Dont mention it.

Anything i can do to help and contribute to a place that has helped me more than words can describe (without writing a 3 part epic novel).

I will be adding more to this thread tonight or tomorrow after i get my labwork done. It will all be long winded, nerdy, over explained stuff that almost everyone wont care to read.. But, there may be a couple people who find it enjoyable.

Its been a lot longer than "tomorrow" since ive posted on this, and i have much...much more i have to say about the goodness that IS corningware. BUT, this is (primarily) going to go into more detail about the fakes....the phoneys that want to be...but will never be, corning pyroceram.

After corningwares initial release to the public, there was a frenzy of housewives (and weirdos like me) that were shelling out money for these incredible pots and pans that could go from the freezer to the fryer.. Other manufacturers wanted to throw their hat into the ring... So you must be careful to make sure its not anchor, or one of the other cheap imitations, as theur formulas are missing a couple key ingredients that add to the resilience of the pyroceram.. A trained eye can tell the differwnce simply by the opacity of the dish in question... But, even then, there are some knock offs, that even have that pure, pretty, white color.

These may look like fakes...but, it is, pyroceram.

I mentioned previously that the euro market is the only one still producing pyroceram items... These gems showed up in a local thrift, and, naturally, i bought them. They look to be fake...but, they are made by arc, and they are the real deal... They (i assume) are late 80s early 90s (around the time the classic black/french black (french white, but black) came to fruition)

There are a GREAT deal of patterns that are only available to our friends across the pond...these being one of them...sad to say, i dont know the name of them, but, keep an eye out... And look for the ripple pattern of the glass pour... If theres a rough edge or knick, crack...leave it be for someone who wont torture it as we do..

Theres a great deal more on the foreign market that i will be posting eventually, but this one i just had to show now...as i bought it not too long ago

The pic "why corning is the best1" is an old marketing picture for them, to show how they handle to temp differences and can keep on cooking... Not relevant to the foreign market in particular, just a testament to how truly resilient these pieces are.

I have some quite large bit's of what I thought where industrial pyrex.
But they have the Corning stamp.
So am not sure of what they are and treat as normal glassware.