Customer Reviews

Complete Guide to Corning Ware & Visions Cookware

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kyle Coroneos has written a lovely, informative book that I find myself using constantly. I originally purchased this large paperback just so I could identify my mother's Corning Ware pieces, in the hopes that I could fill in her pattern set (once I realized Corning Ware was no longer being made!).

Soon, I found myself purusing eBay, book in hand, wondering if I should start my own collection. Now, whenever I visit thrift or garage sales, I leapt upon the Corning Ware items I see, eager to take them home and check them against the pictures and information in the book. Then I sell them myself on eBay!

This book has become my Corning Ware Bible. Not only an almost complete list of every product Corning made through the 20th century, but each item is accompanied by great photos, making it a simple task to identify pieces and match patterns and casserole sets. Furthermore, Coroneos did a through job of giving a history, not only of the Corning Works company, but also of the items made, so that you're learning all those technical, nitty gritty details about an item that adds value to it. He even bothers to translate one pattern's french words, just in case you can't be bothered to look up one online yourself.

Most importantly, a section on how to clean your Corning Ware is in the back, and the book was worth the $15 just for that information alone! I've been saving many scorched pans with Coroneos' tips. Whether you are a collector or a seller of Corning Ware, if you don't have this book, you are losing out.

This is a very nice starting place for review of Corning Ware pieces with lots of photos. It seems there is a lot more research to be done on this product line however. From items I have seen out there, there are many pieces that did not get covered. Includes a very nice history.The book is worth the price.

The book is wonderful. I just started collecting Blue corn flower cookware and some visions it has wonder pictures and prices.It gives you the prices what they are worth.I would recommend the book to any one. It is a must have book.

I bought this book to help me get smart on vintage corningware. I've been on a search to relive my childhood by collecting Corning from the 50's that I remember my mother using in the kitchen. The book does do a good job chronological detailing but is inconsistant helping you distingush vintage from new stuff. Some lines the author provides great detail other lines has little or none. Bottom line after reading you be unable to tell if you piece is vintage or not.

This is a wonderful guide to corning ware and provides a good background on this amazing cookware. There are a few patterns and pieces missing that I have come across, and the values listed are a little high, but overall, it is a must-have for any corning ware enthusiast and collector.

I love my corningware and now even more! This book was well written and interesting.
It would have been nice to have more info on use, i.e., like the microwave browning piece - instruction and care literature, is long gone & was hoping I could find that kind of info here. It was still a great reference and read.

Even if you never venture out to antique malls and estate sales, The Complete Guide to Corning Ware & Visions Cookware is a stroll through the department and discount stores that line Memory Lane. After a quick and concise history of the laboratory accident and marketing blunder* that launched one of the most successful cookware empires of the 20th Century, it's off to the hunt! Wherever possible, photos make it easy to identify specific patterns. Coroneos includes some of the true rarities like exclusive promotional and corporate designs as well as licensed accessories (anyone remember GEMCO Ware?).

Because of its shorter original lifespan and smaller selection, fewer pages are devoted to Visions, the see-through amber cousin of Corning Ware Pyroceram. The book's release was obviously timed to come as close to the 50th anniversary of the Corning Ware brand as possible, but had the author waited he would have been able to expand the book to include the re-launch of CorningWare Pyroceram and the expansion of the Visions line in 2008. Responding to consumer demand, World Kitchen Inc. didn't want to observe the golden anniversary with only the stoneware bearing the "CorningWare" name. But as it is, the book still gets 5 stars for the author's depth of research and the pages of nostalgic eye candy.

*Did you know that market research indicated American consumers preferred a wheat motif over the original Blue Cornflower design? Corning was impatient to get the product to market and went with the second but ultimately iconic choice.

I sell on ebay, and this book has been a life saver. One of the best little reference books I own.

This is an excellent reference book for the collector of Corning Ware and Visions Cookware. Clear pictures and concise descriptions and information make it easy to identify the name of a pattern, and Kyle writes an interesting history of the pieces also. Highly recommended.

The brown and raspberry glass is so seventies and they were created POST seventies. They came in these giant boxes in the stores and they seemed a good idea so people bought them ... for other people as well as for themselves. Well, that's why you see with regularity Visions cookware for sale on ebay (at affordable prices) and sometimes NIP i.e. New in Package. LOL.

The problem with this cookware is that it heats up very quickly and whatever you are cooking very easily burns so you end up with a hard to clean black crust on the bottom. I've heard that the nonstick version is worse because it chips off. *shudder*

Now that I have a dishwasher, I love them because they are good enough that I don't have to go on the torture trail after Le Creuset and the other likely suspects. I use them all the time in addition to a thin metal wok. I like what other people liked about them - that you could see into the pot - but for most people that was not enough to stick with a pretty annoying cooking experience.

The best piece of Visions cookware is the stockpot on the cover of this book. I never need to buy a designated popper or a microwave because with this stockpot all I need do is coat the bottom with olive oil, sprinkle a layer of kernels, lid on and watch them go. I don't get burned kernels and only one or two unpopped kernels. It's deep enough to steam a pyrex bowl of rice and a platter of some savory. It's also the best looking of the set. I also use all the different sizes as mixing bowls with long handles. They are great.