Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
Few other brands are associated with Cajun cooking quite like Magnalite. Black pots and cast iron have a very important place in the regional culinary landscape — but Magnalite roasters, fry pans and rice pots are so ubiquitous throughout Louisiana home kitchens, locals are often surprised to learn that the company stopped producing cookware in the United States over 25 years ago. They are also frequently surprised to find out that Magnalite was never a Louisiana product. The famous aluminum and magnesium alloy pots, prized for their heat distribution, were manufactured in Sidney, Ohio, by the Wagner Manufacturing Company, which introduced the Magnalite brand in 1934. The Ohio plant closed in 1999, the brand was sold, and production of Magnalite-derivative cast aluminum cookware largely moved to China, where brands like McWare (owned by Cajun Classic Cookware out of Mamou) are manufactured. McWare, and similar products like Magnaware, preserve the distinctive look and cooking feel of Magnalite, and the home cook won't notice much of a difference in their gravy, according to Jude Artigue — also known as the "Magnalite Man." Artigue, who lives in Lafayette, is a chemist and lifelong Magnalite lover. He said the difference in quality is more subtle and comes down to poorly controlled variation in these brands' production and materials. "When production of everything in the world moved over to China, quality control got harder," Artigue said. "We can scan these pots using X-ray diffraction, and it gives you the exact content of aluminum and magnesium. In old-school Magnalite by Wagner, the compounds are so exact — so precise every time. "When you compare the Chinese products, for example, the percentage of aluminum will be less consistent. They might make them a little thicker to make up some of that quality, but it's all over the place. You're mass-producing a million pieces and mixing all these metals in a giant vat, and there's just less quality control." These topics, and other quality- and care-related issues, often come up in the Facebook group Artigue opened in 2022 as a home for all things Magnalite: "Magnalite Community (Cleaning, Cooking, Collecting, etc.)," now almost 80,000 members strong. The group is a passion project for him, started as a way to help people learn about and appreciate these culturally and personally significant pots and pans. "I remember my grandparents cooking in them on my mother's and father's side, and I just grew up always seeing them. It really hit me that these pots were special when there was a death in the family on my father's side, and my dad was lower on the food chain, so he didn't get the pot. "I could tell that he was really bummed. That was one of the first times I'd ever seen him sad or upset. I was like, this is something more than just a pot. And I was only 7 or 8," Artigue said, explaining how Louisianans tend to create core memories in the kitchen — whether it's Mawmaw's gumbo recipe, or the pot she made it in. In the early years, Magnalite produced everything from tea kettles to drip pans, as new-fangled cast aluminum cookware rode a wave of popularity across post-World War II America. Louisiana gradually became its dominant market, and enthusiasm for the brand has continued almost unabated ever since, thanks to a thriving secondary market stoked by generations of shared Magnalite memories. When it comes to these pots, nostalgia can fetch a hefty price. An 8-quart roaster in mint condition, perfect for making a family-sized jambalaya or crawfish étouffée, often sells for $300 or more at flea markets, vintage shops and online. Artigue's friend and Magnalite co-aficionado, Bryan Deslatte of New Iberia, has his own Facebook group devoted to buying and selling the brand. "Vintage Magnalite Swap Shop Buying or Selling" has 65,000 members, all on the hunt for the increasingly rare cookware. "People love to cook their meat and gravy in them," Deslatte said of the pots. "The way the heat distributes is different. The other day I did some roux in a smaller roaster, and within 20 minutes, I had my roux from start to dark." Over the past four years in Deslatte's group, the average price of a large roaster has gone up to $375 from about $250. "Some people charge $500," Deslatte said. "If someone says, 'I have to have it,' they'll pay any price. Don't mean it's worth that much." One lingering myth continues to lurk in Magnalite communities, suggesting a link between aluminum cookware and memory loss. According to the Alzheimer's Association, that link emerged in Alzheimer's research in the 1960s and 1970s, but studies failed to prove that everyday aluminum exposure causes Alzheimer's. Magnalite fear has never withstood the devotion people continue to feel for the brand, especially in Louisiana. Artigue and Deslatte say that resellers and home cooks have lately taken notice across the country, and people are hunting for Magnalite all over the U.S., but before Wagner Manufacturing closed down in Ohio, they did about 80% of their business in the South. "Now it's just blown up," Artigue said. That popularity is partially thanks to the way Cajun families have themselves grown, dispersed and disseminated their generational cookware outside of the region. The wedding sets of Magnalite that Louisiana couples started off with in the 1950s and 1960s have long been broken up, and are now aging into the homes of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, wherever they happen to live. Sandra Corne of New Iberia recently passed on her mother's Magnalite set to her daughter, Lauren, who lives in Austin. Her family's history with Magnalite is a typical one for the area, with roasters, fryers and pots moving around on both sides of the family, while each new generation keeps an eye on the best specimens.
