Descoware is a discontinued brand of porcelain- or enamel-coated cast iron

cookware Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookware ...

Among notable Descoware pots are dutch ovens. Although Descoware is now little-remembered, specialist sources hold that it was the favorite cooking ware of legendary American cooking instructor and television personality Julia Child, more so than

Le Creuset Le Creuset (, meaning "the crucible") is a maker of enameled cast-iron cookware. The company's first model was manufactured in the town of Fresnoy-le-Grand in France in 1925 and was similar in function to a dutch oven, but with T-shaped handles ...

whose association with the chef has been widely reported. Child regularly used Descoware on her television show

The French Chef ''The French Chef'' is an American television cooking show created and hosted by Julia Child, produced and broadcast by WGBH, the public television station in Boston, Massachusetts, from February 11, 1963 to January 14, 1973. It was one of ...

. The

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's installation about Child's kitchen featured a large orange Descoware pot on top of Child's own stove. It was created by David E. Sanford of the D.E. Sanford Company, later known as Desco Corporation. Sanford purchased the manufacturing rights to the Bruxelles Ware process from General Housewares Corporation in the 1940s, giving him the right to sell the products in the United States. Bruxelles Ware was originally manufactured in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Sanford changed the brand name, and contracted to have Descoware manufactured in the 1950s. After forging in Japan, the wares were sent to be porcelainized in updated colors in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Descoware weighed about 35 percent less than competing brands of cast-iron cookware, giving it a decided advantage. Descoware also offered matching porcelain-coated aluminum accessories. The economic growth that Descoware helped generate helped both the Belgian and Japanese economies recover from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and Sanford was Knighted in the name of Belgium's King Baudouin I in 1958 for his role in trade relations. Descoware remains a sought-after brand of cookware and has a loyal fanbase; single pieces are often found in thrift stores, and may fetch from $20 to over $150.00 USD on

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. Two of the original colors were originally called cherry flame and citron, but are referred to as orange flame and yellow today. While yellow and orange were common, there were pieces made in other colors, including blue, as well.

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Descoware
Belgian brands Kitchenware brands Cookware and bakeware

See also

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