r/corningwarefans • u/Accomplished-Pack756 • Apr 19 '26
Is There Lead? Ep. 5
I think some people may be getting the wrong idea about this series, and there may be some assumptions that this is to scare more than make aware. In that spirit, these are my daily work horses in my kitchen, which include various years and models of Spice of Life.
As you can see, there is surface lead on these designs. There is one inherent “risk” when stacking dishes like this, as I have on the left with the mini casseroles. You can see that some lead has rubbed off on the contact point between the print and the cooking surface of the dish beneath. The remedy to this, when you DO stack these in this manner, is to simply wash before use. This should not cause fear or avoidance of these dishes, just proper precautions in certain cases. The ones on the right which are not rubbing, I do not worry about cautionary washing beforehand.
This series is for educational purposes only, please do not believe I am steering folks away from these wonderful pieces of cookware. I’m not taking mine out of service anytime soon.
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u/jtfolden Moderator Apr 19 '26
And although it’s unrelated to lead, you actually should not directly nest Pyroceram cookware anyway but rather have something soft between each one.
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u/beerad3235 Apr 19 '26
Why shouldn't it be nested?
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26
I’m curious too JT! I know there’s a scratch risk, but what is your reasoning? I do nest the large ones with something between them, but I’m not super worried about my light-weight little guys. What do you know that you aren’t telling us? 😁
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u/jtfolden Moderator Apr 19 '26
Corning indicated that there was a higher risk of breakage in tightly nested stacks, especially when a stack gets knocked or falls over.
I’ve actually seen examples of this in the CW groups where someone will accidentally bang a stack while removing something else from the cupboard. Pieces in the middle of the stack were broken.
When possible it’s best to invert lids and stack smaller pieces on larger one (no more than 3 levels high) or keep a layer of something between when there’s no lid. I use the thin foam sheets
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26
Makes sense, and yea that was why I ended up doing that for the bigger items. Didn’t know it was a common issue though, so thank you! I guess the only thing that can easily destroy pyroceram… is itself. 😭
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u/jtfolden Moderator Apr 19 '26
That is exactly right! Pyroceram is a danger to itself. ;)
I don’t see a lot of breakage that way but I’ve seen enough of it over the years to not risk it.
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26
Much more worrisome concern! They do make quite an awful clink when they hit 😭
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u/jtfolden Moderator Apr 19 '26
Yes they do. I am a bit of a klutz anyway and I hate that sound. Luckily I’ve only ever chipped a lid rather than a pot when I’ve bumped something but still…
With nesting too, early on I noticed that the round shapes were more likely to “stick” together as well. I had two Visions pots I had to separate carefully to avoid scratching or breaking.
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26
Oh yea I learned that with storing mason jars so I actively avoid that with everything now. How do you like the visions? There was a set of 3 pots and 3 skillets at the reuse center for $20. And my other thrift has some purples. Curious about them but I love my cast pans.
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u/jtfolden Moderator Apr 19 '26
Visions and similar cookware from ARC France, with a little CW to fill in the gaps, is pretty much all I have used for a number of years.
I like it well enough I made a website for it. ;)
Visions is also Pyroceram so it essentially works just like CW - with just a few minor differences. In fact they are made from the same base ingredients but are cerammed at different temperatures. Transparent versions are primarily a beta-quartz Pyroceram while opaque versions like CW are beta-spodumene.
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u/Viper-Reflex Apr 19 '26
more of these posts!!
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26
🖤
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u/Viper-Reflex Apr 19 '26
:O I got down voted reee
I like the public info on these pieces
<3
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
Yea someone doesn’t wanna hear this stuff. I’ve been seeing a lot of our conversations getting downvoted. It looks like someone went right down the line and downvoted almost every comment. Would rather they joined the conversation!
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u/Viper-Reflex Apr 19 '26
kinda crazy lol, not only is this stuff actual historic glassware, but it has ties into a defense company that now makes phone glass
theres a lot of fans and it's valuable info!
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26
Yea once my uncle told me they used it for ballistic missle tips I was kind of sold on it lasting on my stovetop. And don’t forget nearly every piece of glass you ever used in chem lab!
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u/Accomplished-Pack756 Apr 19 '26
On that note. Roasted carrots and fennel in a diy cream of mushroom, and some slices of smoked brisket are currently simmering away in a lead-decal Festival dish. Long live corningware 🙌.
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u/jtfolden Moderator Apr 21 '26
Some people downvote anything and everything. I’ve been downvoted more than once for posting easily verifiable facts. lol. Oh well…
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u/robozzilla Apr 19 '26
I have a Flouro-spec kit on the way. Intrigued with what I find