Visions glass cookware is the most versatile tool in any kitchen. Whether the glass cooking stock pots, saucepans, and skillets are on the stovetop, oven, broiler, microwave, or freezer, Visions glass cookware is the answer to your cooking needs. From polish sausages and macaroni to chicken marsala and parmigiana to lasagna and casseroles of every variety, to culinary delicacies from around the world, this is by far the most useful set of cookware at the chef’s disposal.
The Calexium material that makes up this cookware is not only responsible for its transparency, it also is responsible for its durability under various kinds of heat, stresses, and trauma. Convection, conduction, microwave, broiler and stovetops, gas or electric, all heat Visions glass cookware by different methods but the versatility of the Pyroceram family of glass ceramics, where Calexium is found, is built to withstand them all. Its high thermal shock resistance allows it to be used from the freezer directly onto heat. They are heavy enough to be durable and withstand small falls and impacts but light enough to be maneuverable for any chef. They are stain, acid, and detergent resistant and dishwasher safe to make clean up a breeze and stay looking brand new even after decades of usage. Visions glass cookware is an all-around asset in the kitchen for nearly every meal.
Types of Vision Cookware
Visions glass cookware has every type of cookware you can imagine. From the waffled skillet to saucepans to casserole dishes to normal skillets to baking pots to dutch oven stock pots, every size and combination of cookware can be found sold separately or in convenient set piece packs. Styles vary throughout the near 50 years of production for this product and Visions glass cookware can be found in many different tints, sizes, sculptured or non, nonstick, and several other varieties. Beware of similar brands that have copied Visions’ design and aesthetic but not its structure and therefore have very different levels of heat retention and thermal shock resistance.
What to look for when purchasing new glass cookware
The durability and longevity of Visions glass cookware makes it a worthwhile and long-term purchase. If warranties are available, they should always be considered, but unlike inferior products, they are not a requirement for this well-made cookware. Visions glass cookware can be used with a multitude of cooking books from every corner of the culinary arts. Availability for this product is in high demand and short supply, resulting in prices for individual pieces ranging from $10-$75 and sets in the range of $100 and considerably higher. Visions glass cookware however is perfect to buy second hand because of its longevity and durability, so garage, estate sales, and used products online are great places to find discounted deals without losing any of the quality of the product.
Construction and Design of Vision Cookware
Visions glass cookware products are made from Calexium of the Pyroceram family of glass ceramics. Created by Corning France, this product was introduced to Europe in 1970 before making it to the United Sates in 1983 where it became the #1 top selling cookware set for several years.
Calexium is a transparent, beta-quartz material with an extremely high thermal shock resistance. This means that it can be instantly transported from the freezer to the stovetop. Its nonporous surface allows the boiling of water and makes it resistant to food odors, acids, detergents, and other baked on food debris.
Its original patent in 1958 described it as being “A semi-crystalline ceramic having unique and useful properties such as coefficient of thermal expansion so low as to be negative in character, a true porosity of zero, and the unusual characteristic of being transparent despite a substantial crystal content (often greater than 75% by volume).” With a following patent in 1976 describing it as “An ideal material for cookware and kitchen materials and unquestionably better in the areas of infra-red transmittance, stain resistance, and chemical durability than [the] two existing Pyroceramic glasses…”
Visions glass cookware is compatible with any standard heating method used in the kitchen. Conduction, convection, or microwave oven, broiler, or stove top, gas or electric, and will help deliver delicious meals through all these methods. This glass cookware should be handled with the same care when hot as a heated metal pan but has convenient handles for safety and mobility. Glassware ranges in size from .5 liter sauce pans to 10 inch skillets to 12 inch waffled skillets to 4.5 liter stock pots to up to 4 quart casserole dishes. There is a size to fit every meal, big or small. Visions glass cookware sets are made to be stackable for easy storage and all appropriate dishes come with transparent lids of the same Calexium material and lovely coloring. European glass lids in the 70’s and 80’s were reversible to use as skillets but when the product moved to the United States the knobbed top and spiral design were added for comfortability in lieu of versatility.
A stroke of brilliant advertising helped push Visions glass cookware into the #1 selling cookware in the USA and it was a video commercial of an ordinary metal pot being melted inside a Vision glass cookware product touting the products durability to heat will “Turn ordinary sauce pans into sauce.” Though the standard brown tint can be found on most of the products ranging from the 70’s to the 80’s, in the 90’s there were sculpted high end model products created, varying colors, and a nonstick surface featuring a Silverstone coating. The most popular tints being the brown, cranberry, and white, brands like the shatter resistant Pyrex have copied this design and the consumer must be careful in choosing because both products have very different heat retention and thermal shock resistance.
VISIONS 4-pc Cookware Set Reviews
The Visions 4-pc Cookware Set is a great starter or veteran step into the world of Visions glassware cooking products. It includes 2, .5 liter Round Stewpots with Glass Lids and 1, .5 liter Saucepan with Glass Lid. These durable, near indestructible crystalline cookware items can get any burgeoning or veteran chef the start they need in the kitchen. All products are conduction, convection, and microwave oven, stovetop, gas or electric, broiler, freezer, and dishwasher safe.
The products feature heat resistant handles (though care should still be used when hot), comfortable knobs in the center of the lids for easy and comfortable removal and replacing, a decorative spiral on each lid, the standard antique brown tinting, and is certified as a Visions glass cookware product. The nonporous surface of the product makes the retention of food smells impossible and acid and other baked on food debris remove easily in the dishwasher or by hand, plus is detergent resistant.
This product can go straight from the freezer into a preheated oven or onto a burning stovetop and can be used to boil water or any other water-based cooking. The durability of the products prevents utensil markings, staining, and all other obvious signs of wear and tear. The resistance of the glassware to small falls or collisions makes it very difficult to chip, crack, or shatter. The resiliency of Visions glass cookware makes it an excellent purchase at any level. The transparency also allows easy viewing of your cooking process.
Though it is still produced to this day in the same factory under Corelle Brands, demand is still higher than the supply for this outstanding glass cookware. This point becomes a misnomer when you consider the durability and longevity of the product. Antique sculpted pieces can run exceedingly expensive but are also valuable collector’s items, stunningly beautiful pieces, and as useful and new looking as the day they were made. The lack of utensil markings, chips or cracks, and its resistance to signs of wear and tear all make Visions glass cookware the perfect online find or secondhand purchase online or at garage and estate sales.
This product is moderately priced but is either labeled or described incorrectly as it only is described as having three pieces. Even if there are only three pieces and it is an incomplete set, this or similar prices can be seen for individual Visions glass cookware items all over the internet and subsidiary outlets and so still makes this a compelling offer for some great products. If the product does in fact contain the full set, it is a steal at this price. Comparing like products bought singularly has a 16% average increase in price even without the fourth piece.
Corelle Brands offers a full two year warranty on the product and promises to replace any base that breaks within two years of purchase of new product. This warranty is a testament to the confidence that the manufacturers of Visions glass cookware have had in their product for over 40 years. For a piece of cookware that you can pass down through the generations, this is a great set to own.
Conclusion
Visions glass cookware is by far the most versatile, durable, utilitarian purchase a cook can make. Its ability to be used with conduction, convection, microwave, broiler, stovetop, gas or electric, freezer and dishwasher makes it at home in every corner of your kitchen. Its sustainability throughout time with thousands of meals cooked without leaving so much as a utensil mark, crack, or chip, creates pieces that can be handed down through the generations. With a rare transparency compared to its crystalline structure, it affords Visions glass cookware a beautiful aesthetic and the durability to last. It is exceedingly easy to take care of being dishwasher safe and detergent resistant, its nonporous texture prevents stains, cooked on food debris, and food odor from being retained after washing, its versatility in the amount of recipes that can be used to cook with is immeasurable, its tint and aesthetic have been copied the world over by different brands but its patented durability and versatility are without match in glass cookware.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you take care of your glass cookware?
Your glass cookware will nearly take care of itself. With some elbow grease or a run through the dishwasher, stains and baked on food are easily removed and they can be neatly stacked together for easy storage. With little care or attention, this glassware will last you decades.
Does this product contain lead or radioactive material?
This product contains zero lead or radioactive material. Visions glass cookware has been a trusted product for nearly 50 years. It is entirely safe and has never once been demonstrated to have any damaging properties whatsoever. It durability even makes it safer than most other glass cookware, as it is more shatter proof and less prone to sharp points.
Is this product compatible with induction burners?
This product is compatible with induction, conduction, convection, microwave, stove top, and could likely even be utilized over a campfire or barbecue. The high thermal shock resistance and incredible ability to absorb heat to cook the food makes Visions glass cookware the most versatile in the industry.
Is this cookware shatterproof?
Visions glass cookware is as shatter resistant as glass cookware comes. Because of its beta-quartz crystalline structure being near 80% by volume, which makes its transparency even more remarkable, it is one of the sturdiest, most shatter resistant products on the market to this day. This is why it comes with a 2 year warranty for any base that breaks within that time for the purchase of the new product.
Where is Visions cookware manufactured?
Visions cookware is still produced in the same factory today under the Corelle Brand and are sold worldwide, boasting immense popularity in Asia, Europe, and the US for over 40 uninterrupted years. The Keraglass factory in France is still blowing and churning these products out to this day. Headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, Corelle Brands thought that it was important to maintain the history and integrity of the Visions products through its original factory.
