and I have learned much from this group. I use to have a black skillet,
purchased in the late 60's. My husband developed heart problems so I
quit frying anything. When we retired and moved I donated the skillet,
corningware and tupperware to salvation army. Now that my husband is
gone, I would like to purchase a new skillet, and some new corning
ware. Sometime ago it was mentioned in this group that corningware was
not made like it was made years ago. Would someone please explain how
it differs. You have discussed black skillets and some say they pick
them up at garage sales or they love the old ones. Are the new ones
inferior to the old ones.
I made the mistake of getting rid of a lot of kitchen equipment thinking
I would not be needing it again. That was a big mistake!!!!!! Seems
like everything you replace today is poorly made. Barbara

You have discussed black skillets and some say they pick
them up at garage sales or they love the old ones. Are the new ones
inferior to the old ones.

Cast iron skillets have not changed; there's really not that much you can
change in them; it's not like they have any special finish or that anyone would
change the weight/thickness of something made of good, cheap old iron.

It's common around here to mouthe off about how things used to be better than
they are now. Take it with a grain of salt. Needn't be sea salt, either.

Neil

On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 21:56:12 -0500 (EST),
(barbara) wrote:

I made the mistake of getting rid of a lot of kitchen equipment thinking
I would not be needing it again. That was a big mistake!!!!!! Seems
like everything you replace today is poorly made. Barbara

You didn't make a mistake because you had more important
things to worry about at the time.

I haven't purchased a cast iron skillet in 25 - 30 years and
the other cast iron pans were hand me downs... so shopping
at estate or garage sales sounds reasonable to me.

There is no such thing as a poorly made cast iron pan and
corning ware is, well - corning ware.



Practice safe eating - always use condiments

Haven't heard this mentioned for a long time. Has it changed? I had a
couple of pieces and everything stuck and burned on. It was *really*
hard to clean.

sf wrote:

On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 21:56:12 -0500 (EST),
(barbara) wrote:


I made the mistake of getting rid of a lot of kitchen equipment thinking
I would not be needing it again. That was a big mistake!!!!!! Seems
like everything you replace today is poorly made. Barbara


You didn't make a mistake because you had more important
things to worry about at the time.

I haven't purchased a cast iron skillet in 25 - 30 years and
the other cast iron pans were hand me downs... so shopping
at estate or garage sales sounds reasonable to me.

There is no such thing as a poorly made cast iron pan and
corning ware is, well - corning ware.



Practice safe eating - always use condiments

I can't really speak about the new cast iron cookware as mine are old
time Griswold but I have heard that Lodge is pretty good.
http://www.lodgemfg.com/

The more you use 'em the better they get. Mine never see soap.

--
Steve

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.

Frogleg wrote in
:

Haven't heard this mentioned for a long time. Has it changed? I had a
couple of pieces and everything stuck and burned on. It was *really*
hard to clean.



CorningWare has changed. There is now a warning label on the botton of the
dishes not to use then on the stove top.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

Frogleg wrote:
Haven't heard this mentioned for a long time. Has it changed? I had a
couple of pieces and everything stuck and burned on. It was *really*
hard to clean.

Anchor-Hocking makes the same sort of thing. I use mine for casseroles or
the small one for microwaving scrambled eggs. If you spray it with cooking
spray first the stuff cleans right up

Jill

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 11:58:30 GMT, Frogleg wrote:

Haven't heard this mentioned for a long time. Has it changed? I had a
couple of pieces and everything stuck and burned on. It was *really*
hard to clean.

I have a Corningware roasting pan that cleans up nicely in the
dishwasher.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

In rec.food.cooking, WardNA wrote:

Cast iron skillets have not changed; there's really not that much you can
change in them; it's not like they have any special finish or that anyone would
change the weight/thickness of something made of good, cheap old iron.

Some are great while others are mediocre. One huge advantage of the old
ones is that you can find excellent quality for tiny prices if you know
where to look. Nowadays, the excellent quality ones are sold in
fancy-shmancy stores at huge prices.

It's common around here to mouthe off about how things used to be better than
they are now. Take it with a grain of salt. Needn't be sea salt, either.

Some things are still good quality. But generally, you pay for them
dearly. Personally, I'd rather hit an estate sale.

--
....I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 13:47:47 GMT, (Curly
Sue) wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 11:58:30 GMT, Frogleg wrote:

Haven't heard this mentioned for a long time. Has it changed? I had a
couple of pieces and everything stuck and burned on. It was *really*
hard to clean.

I have a Corningware roasting pan that cleans up nicely in the
dishwasher.

I also have casserole dishes that clean up nicely. I don't use any on
the stovetop, only in the oven.
Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
Haven't heard this mentioned for a long time. Has it changed? I had a
couple of pieces and everything stuck and burned on. It was *really*
hard to clean.


Corningware used to be pyroceram - a glass-ceramic material developed for
the nose cones of missiles. Now the stuff that I see (like their French
White line) looks like common pottery. If soaking won't remove burned-on
food, I use oven cleaner. It works well without any scrubbing.

Vox Humana wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote in message
...

Haven't heard this mentioned for a long time. Has it changed? I had a
couple of pieces and everything stuck and burned on. It was *really*
hard to clean.



Corningware used to be pyroceram - a glass-ceramic material developed for
the nose cones of missiles. Now the stuff that I see (like their French
White line) looks like common pottery. If soaking won't remove burned-on
food, I use oven cleaner. It works well without any scrubbing.



If it is common pottery, oven cleaner can etch it. You ought to see the
crockpot that I made soap in a couple of times; the lye took most of the
glaze off.

Bob

WardNA wrote:

You have discussed black skillets and some say they pick
them up at garage sales or they love the old ones. Are the new ones
inferior to the old ones.

Cast iron skillets have not changed; there's really not that much you can
change in them; it's not like they have any special finish or that anyone would
change the weight/thickness of something made of good, cheap old iron.

It's common around here to mouthe off about how things used to be better than
they are now. Take it with a grain of salt. Needn't be sea salt, either.

Neil

I bought a cast iron chicken fryer a few years ago.
The surface was very rough with bumps and pits. I don't
recall my mother's old cast iron skillet being like that -
it had a nice smooth cooking surface. I hardly every use
the chicken fryer now as it's a pain to try to get it
seasoned and it's hard to clean because of the rough
surface. Maybe I should have bought a more expensive
one - if there even is such a thing as expensive cast
iron vs. cheap cast iron.

Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 09:13:05 -0600, zxcvbob
wrote:

Vox Humana wrote:

Corningware used to be pyroceram - a glass-ceramic material developed for
the nose cones of missiles. Now the stuff that I see (like their French
White line) looks like common pottery. If soaking won't remove burned-on
food, I use oven cleaner. It works well without any scrubbing.

If it is common pottery, oven cleaner can etch it. You ought to see the
crockpot that I made soap in a couple of times; the lye took most of the
glaze off.

Vox wrote "looks like," and the CorningWare site mentions 'from
freezer to oven or m'wave to table' use that I recall as a prime
selling point from old time ads. I don't have any strong pro or con
opinions. The pieces I had just phased out of my kitchen and I never
missed 'em. Nor have I seen them mentioned in cookware threads here.

WardNA wrote:

You have discussed black skillets and some say they pick
them up at garage sales or they love the old ones. Are the new ones
inferior to the old ones.

Cast iron skillets have not changed; there's really not that much you can
change in them; it's not like they have any special finish or that anyone would
change the weight/thickness of something made of good, cheap old iron.

I'm not sure that's true. I see plenty of brand new cast iron pans with
cheap rough surfaces in stores. I don't see many old ones with bad
surfaces.

I can think of two reasons for this 1) rising production pressure leading
to worse surfaces, or 2) folks toss crappy ones and keep nice ones so the
old ones still around are the better examples.