Pretty shocked to see this with how ubiquitous they’ve seemed these last few years. Of all the recent kitchen gadgets this is one of the few that felt genuinely useful to me.
Am I reading this right?
The maker of Pyrex glassware and Instant Pot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection … brands also include Corelle, Snapware, CorningWare, Visions and Chicago Cutlery, …
Pyrex seems like a way bigger deal than instant pot, and those others are also well-known. Is this just a restructuring thing where they will screw creditors and then continue on? Or they will sell off the brand names to some new companies that may or may not keep the same quality?
Only speculating but I think this is a symptom of late stage capitalism. Companies are staking enormous risk on leveraged finances to achieve impossible stock prices. And if they miss, they’re done. They collapse and get rolled into giant multinationals to funnel even more money to the top.
Its always been like this though. Back in the 60s no one would have thought the Victor Company and RCA were approaching deaths door step, but they made a few big mistakes and got out competed in just a short time.
From another article:
The Instant Pot, for its part, is not dead. Cornell Capital has brought in a restructuring crew, and the brand’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing allows it to continue doing business while it seeks relief from its debts.
So likely, we’ll see a bit of divestment, a shift of focus? I dunno, I’m just regular people, I don’t get to restructure and cancel my debts in a way that isn’t personally destructive.
Corning seems like a way bigger deal than Pyrex too… between them and AnchorHawking they essentially own the industrial glassware industry. Pyrex is only a small part of that; it also spans things like smartphone screens and lab equipment.
That said, Corning has bought a lot of companies of questionable quality in the last decade; sounds like now they’re being forced to divest some of those properties.
Corning is not CorningWare. Corning Inc sold their entire consumer products division off. Corning Inc (makers of Gorilla Glass and fiber optic cable) is just fine.
I think the ubiquity is what did it. When it becomes commoditized, the only way to differentiate is to be seriously good (see Kitchenaide).
I guess everyone who wanted one got one and doesn’t need another. That or they realized food in it always turns out just a little overcooked and soggy.
Really depends what you use it for. Being able to make a good beef chili on a weeknight is fantastic, but people certainly try to use them for things that aren’t meant for pressure cooking.
What?! Blasphemy!
I use mine to make bean soups and chilis and stews, and stuff comes out fantastic.
Indian food – so easy to make something like Rajma and Dal in there.
I use mine twice a week just to cook chickpeas to make hummus from… Then the rest of the usage is always something to do with pressure cooking dried beans. Dried beans at ethnic grocers are so insanely cheap as well. I am definitely not a fan of making too many meals in there beyond certain stews.
They should have used a subscription model where it doesn’t work unless you have one.
I hope to god that’s a joke :P
Company went to pot…but not right away.
Instant Pots are amazing if you cooked every single day, but when I started meal prepping, I stopped using mine as much. Instant Pots aren’t great for meal prepping, their capacities are too small.
I got mine to make Chinese beef noodle soup and in an 8 qrt instant pot I could make like 6 meals from it. I guess it depends on what kind of food you like to make. I haven’t used it in a while but I always think to myself I’ll use it again soon…
Before my Instant Pot, I had a Breville Fast Slow Cooker. They’re essentially the same thing, except Instant Pot made smaller versions too.
Nowadays, my Instant Pot is a big part of the weekly meal prep for my family, whether it’s a big batch of rice or dhal, or searing and pre-cooking a full roast, or boiling down a chicken carcass for soup.
I can’t imagine using one of the smaller models though.
