# When Cookware Goes Bonkers



## mossystate (Feb 10, 2009)

Since this is a safety issue, and I don't know where else to put it....figured the Health board was best.


Last Wednesday I was making dinner. I had a couple of chicken breasts in one Pyrex dish and in another, some veggies. When I went to check on everything, I opened the oven door...pulled the rack out a bit...and then I was stunned by a very loud noise and immediate smoke.

The largest of the Pyrex dishes had exploded. At first I did not know what had happened. I just saw all the smoke and heard the sizzle of the grease that had hit the bottom of the oven. I clicked the stove off...was ready to go silence the smoke detector, and I stepped on a big chunk of glass. I hobbled down the hall to the detector...dribbling blood and tripping over my scared cat...going down on an already bad knee.


Now, this pan had not been hit...the oven was preheated...I added no liquids...etc...etc..

This happened to me once before, probably 7 years ago. My roomie said he also had it happen to him, and I have since talked to 3 other people....same story. On Sunday, I made a pasta dish and I seriously was feeling great anxiety, as that pan was also Pyrex. I am going to replace them with something else, but I can;'t really do that right now. When I was making dinner on Sunday, I was scared and actually jumped when the oven beeped, after preheating.

I went online and typed in ' exploding Pyrex '. I immediately clicked on this site...


http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/pyrex.html


It is CRAZY, the number of people this has happened to. People who have to go to plastic surgeons...glass embedded in walls 15 feet past a person...explosions 20 minutes after the pan has been removed...Pyrex going off in microwaves. Even people who are washing a pan in the sink have had this happen. I have also read that the company has changed its glass ' recipe ' over the years. Seems like the stuff is getting cheaper and cheaper.

I would just hope that people who use Pyrex are very careful and not only follow the manufacturer guidelines....but consider just not using the suff. I am not a stupid person and there is just no way that so many of these items should be such ticking time bombs.

BE CAREFUL!!


Signed, 

Scared of her cookware...and in limping pain


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## imfree (Feb 10, 2009)

Check out this link, Guys. Looks like the manufacturers
switched from borosillicate in the Pyrex formula to the 
almost certainly cheaper soda-lime. Thanks for a great 
heads-up, Mossy and sorry you were injured as a result 
of bad manufacturing technique and piss-poor 
manufacturing ethics.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Exploding-Pyrex


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## toni (Feb 10, 2009)

WOW, that is so scary. I just made a huge Pyrex purchase over the weekend. I picked up the whole set plus the cook and go travel accessories. I love the way they cook but it is not worth the risk. I am going to rethink my usage. No wonder everything was on sale. :doh:

Thank you for posting this, Mossy!


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## Risible (Feb 10, 2009)

Thanks for the heads up, Mossy. I'm sorry to hear that you had to learn about the treachery of Pyrex the hard way!

I had an 11 x 9 glass baker explode on me in our trailer's oven; I figured it was because I had it on the shelf in the oven rather than the rack. Now, not so sure. Oy, the mess. French toast bake all over the place.


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## Fyreflyintheskye (Feb 10, 2009)

Awwww  I'll take care of you, salad shooter. {{{{{HUGS}}}}}

I am so truly sorry that happened to you and hope you heal ASAP.


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## LalaCity (Feb 12, 2009)

Wow -- and here I thought I was all alone in my fear of Pyrex! Once I dropped a Pyrex bowl, one of the porcelain-looking type, and it literally _exploded_ from just hitting the counter. And I don't mean like a regular glass item would break, but like a bomb detonating with thousands of razor sharp microscopic shards projectiling in every direction. It took days to get all the bits cleaned up -- I basically don't use it anymore outside of measuring cups.

Stay away from that stuff!


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## vardon_grip (Feb 12, 2009)

It was through exploding Pyrex that I took out 2 top Al Qaeda operatives. I made some delicious kebab with all the trimmings and put in in a pyrex dish and gave it as a "welcome to the neighborhood" gift. Little did they know the part they played in their own destruction by throwing the dish in the microwave for 10 minutes. At least they got to enjoy a last meal before the exploding shards of glass, kebab and hummus ended their reign of terror.


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## olwen (Feb 12, 2009)

I've had pyrex dishes that cracked and split while washing them. I had no idea they could explode. 

Even more scary: what about people with pyrex dildos? You can boil them to sterilize them and now I wonder if anyone has ever had a pyrex dildo crack or explode while heating. Also, they retain heat while in use...scary.


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## olwen (Feb 12, 2009)

I had another question for everyone who's pyrex exploded - how many uses did you get out of them before they broke down?


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## TraciJo67 (Feb 12, 2009)

This is frightening. I have several Pyrex dishes -- once that fell apart (thank God, did not explode) in the oven. I just assumed that it was old. I had no idea that this is an ongoing problem. Mossy the Thing, I'm glad that you weren't even more badly hurt. Have you considered taking legal action? Based on the website information, it seems that this is a well-documented problem with Pyrex glassware ... and there have been a number of reported injuries. I'm definitely going to stop using my glass casserole dishes to bake with.


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## Ernest Nagel (Feb 12, 2009)

Not suggesting this accounts for every incident here but probably more than a few. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_shock

Thermal shock is more likely to happen when the contents of the container is relatively cool or has a high thermal density. The wire oven rack further increases the probability of thermal shock because of the difference in heat transfer rate between hot air and the hot metal of the rack. One way to reduce that risk is to place the pyrex on a baking sheet, thereby evening out the temperature transfer rate between rack and dish.

Be aware that a stress fracture started by thermal shock may be completed when the oven door is opened (introducing a rush of cooler air) or when the container is lifted, adding load stress.

Reducing thermal shock fractures when washing is best handled by not introducing extreme temp variations between the water and the cookware (very hot water, very cold dish) and making sure the unit being washed is immersed or rinsed evenly. Again I'm not suggesting this accounts for every pyrex failure mentioned here but thermal shock is an equal opportunity destroyer and affects many substances, not just pyrex. Your friendly neighborhood geek.


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## toni (Feb 12, 2009)

olwen said:


> Even more scary: what about people with pyrex dildos? You can boil them to sterilize them and now I wonder if anyone has ever had a pyrex dildo crack or explode while heating. Also, they retain heat while in use...scary.



Pyrex brand dildos? I never knew. Very interesting.


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## olwen (Feb 12, 2009)

toni said:


> Pyrex brand dildos? I never knew. Very interesting.



Yes, they can be very beautiful and really expensive. Like art pieces. The designs vary and so do the colors. You can even get glass butt plugs too.


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## toni (Feb 12, 2009)

I've seen the glass ones. However, I didn't know Pyrex produced them. That is a valuable fun fact conversation starter. LOL


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## olwen (Feb 12, 2009)

toni said:


> I've seen the glass ones. However, I didn't know Pyrex produced them. That is a valuable fun fact conversation starter. LOL



Not all glass ones are pyrex. The pyrex ones are supposed to be the best and also the most expensive. I'd always wanted one, but now, not so much.


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## Ernest Nagel (Feb 12, 2009)

toni said:


> I've seen the glass ones. However, I didn't know Pyrex produced them. That is a valuable fun fact conversation starter. LOL



Yes, the giveaway is the little gradations on the side marked 1/8 c, 1/4 c, 1/2 c, etc.. The c apparently does not stand for cup however as the volume is all wrong.


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## BigBeautifulMe (Feb 12, 2009)

Hey Ernest - can you put that in layman's terms?   Seriously - how can people avoid having this happen with their glassware? Thanks.

Mossy - I am SO sorry this happened to you.  How scary/frightening/PAINFUL it must have been! Please take care of yourself, and ask Santa for metal cookware this year.  Much love. ((((((((((((((((((((Mossy))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


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## olwen (Feb 12, 2009)

BigBeautifulMe said:


> Hey Ernest - can you put that in layman's terms?   Seriously - how can people avoid having this happen with their glassware? Thanks.
> 
> Mossy - I am SO sorry this happened to you.  How scary/frightening/PAINFUL it must have been! Please take care of yourself, and ask Santa for metal cookware this year.  Much love. ((((((((((((((((((((Mossy))))))))))))))))))))))))))))



Yes, as long as the metal hasn't been mined by dwarves (as in the fantasy kind). Down with dwarf exploitation. LOL


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## FreeThinker (Feb 12, 2009)

LalaCity said:


> Once I dropped a Pyrex bowl, one of the porcelain-looking type, and it literally _exploded_ from just hitting the counter. And I don't mean like a regular glass item would break, but like a bomb detonating with thousands of razor sharp microscopic shards projectiling in every direction.



Tempered glass breaks that way.

Only use tempered glass in ovens. To find out if an item is made of tempered glass, drop it on the floor. If it shatters into a bajillionty little razor-sharp pieces, it was tempered. If it breaks into large pieces, it wasn't. :doh:


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## Ernest Nagel (Feb 12, 2009)

BigBeautifulMe said:


> Hey Ernest - can you put that in layman's terms?   Seriously - how can people avoid having this happen with their glassware? Thanks.
> 
> Mossy - I am SO sorry this happened to you.  How scary/frightening/PAINFUL it must have been! Please take care of yourself, and ask Santa for metal cookware this year.  Much love. ((((((((((((((((((((Mossy))))))))))))))))))))))))))))



I dunno if this helps but consider that glass is a great thermal conductor kind of like copper is a great electrical conductor. Heat moves into and out of it very quickly. Air is a relatively poor conductor of heat, an insulator. Give the heat in a glass dish a small channel through which to escape (a small surface of another good thermal conductor like metal or other glass) and the thermal shock wave can concentrate too much escaping heat energy at a small enough point of contact that thermal shock disrupts the molecular structure. 

In other words make sure glass containers heat and cool as evenly as possible. Small, slow changes in temperataure are preferable to big, fast ones. Set hot glass or pyrex on cloth or lightweight ceramic trivets. Open the oven door just a few inches at first to avoid a big inrush of cooler air. Does that help at all? If anyone is interested I'll look for some experiments or videos that demonstrate how thermal shock breaks things. That might be clearer?

If you do get a glass cut rinse the are gently and palpate carefully for remaining fragments, especially before walking again on a cut foot. Pyrex tends to make long, sharp shards.


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## cute_obese_girl (Feb 13, 2009)

I'm thinking that it is probably only safe to bake something that mostly fills the pyrex baking dish like a casserole or mac n' cheese. Putting a couple of pieces of chicken in it probably causes uneven heating since there is a lot of surface area of the dish with no food to transfer the heat to. Pyrex should really make this known that kind of thing could cause breakages because clearly it is a common problem.

Sorry you were hurt, Mossy, but glad you aren't having to consult a plastic surgeon like some of those stories. Yikes!


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## LalaCity (Feb 13, 2009)

Here's another story on the ticking time-bomb that is Pyrex bakeware: 

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/08/pyrex.html


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## Ernest Nagel (Feb 13, 2009)

Good find, Lala. I think the borosilicate composition of older Pyrex vs the soda lime newer version (post 1998) pretty much explains this relatively recent phenomenon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borosilicate_glass

Raid gramma's pantry and garage sales for the older stuff but prolly stay away from the 'sploding kind unless you wanna gear up in Nomex and Kevlar every time you use it?


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## Ruby Ripples (Feb 13, 2009)

I hope you are feeling better now, Monique!

I too have had Pyrex break, although not explode. I bought a two pack of round casserole dishes with lids, about three years ago. Each of them broke in the oven , split almost in half, when full of food Id just cooked, grr. Both had been fine beforehand. 

I havent read the articles yet, but I see from the other posts that the "recipe" has changed. Interesting, since I have two rectangular pyrex dishes of my granny's, that Ive used regularly for years, and both are still going strong. 

I can't help feeling that if these were made in China and one exploded in an American kitchen, we would have a thread of horror on here, instead of this calm one.


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## Tad (Feb 13, 2009)

Perhaps such stories are having an effect?

At lunch I walked up to a small near my work, to look for Pyrex. I wanted to see in what country it was made, and how it was labeled.

The first place I looked was Sears. To my surprise they did not have any pyrex that I could find. They did however have a line of glass casseroles and so forth, which even had their price list sign marked as "Pyrex." However Pyrex they were not. I'd never heard of the brand before, but the packaging was very obviously marked with "borosilicate glass" and "tempered." The very things you'd be looking for if you'd read these stories. And I was surprised to see that it was made in Turkey--I thought that was kind of interesting.

I then went to two smaller kitchen-ware stores, but neither of them carried Pyrex or similar products that I could see.

So I wonder if the licensee of the Pyrex brand is managing to kill the golden goose, through either cheap manufacturing techniques or shoddy quality control?

-Ed


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## toni (Feb 13, 2009)

EDX, I still have my pans in the box. This is how it reads.


PYREX glassware made in U.S.A
Parts/Accessories made in U.S.A, Canada, Mexico, China or country marked on part.


The box doesn't list what it is made of.


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## Friday (Feb 17, 2009)

Glad you found the year the ingredients changed Ernest. All my Pyrex is much older than '98 and I think if I long for Pyrex at the thrift store I'll make sure it looks as well used as my own and NOT shiny and new.

ETA: Wolrd Kitchen LLC, the makers of this fake Pyrex can be found online here http://www.worldkitchen.com/ to send them a nastygram. I won't be buying anymore of their products until they go back to safe materials.


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## LillyBBBW (Feb 17, 2009)

Holy smoke. I use Pyrex all the time. Time for an upgrade. Thanks for the warning M and I hope you're feeling better soon.


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## GWARrior (Feb 21, 2009)

hmmm

One time, I was in the kitchen and I had a Pyrex casserole dish on the stovetop. After a good 10 minutes, I realized I had turned on the wrong burner one, and the dish was on the hot one! I barely touched it and it exploded! Freaked me right out.


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