However, when Consumer Reports conducted an investigation into the issue of shattering cookware in , a Corning spokesperson told the magazine that several of its factories were producing Pyrex out of both borosilicate and soda-lime glass up until Corning licensed the brand to World Kitchen in In an email, the CPSC specified that it has received reports of shattering or exploding in the past seven years. But still, exploding Pyrex incidents do happen, and they keep happening.
Following more reports of exploding and shattering Pyrex containers, Popular Science replicated an explosion incident in , showing in a video how small amounts of stress can lead to dramatic breakage incidents due to thermal shock. After that study was published, Pyrex parent company World Kitchen sued the publisher of the article as well as its authors in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The company claimed that the scientific research made false and disparaging claims about Pyrex cookware—specifically its resistance to thermal breakage—and asked the court to have the paper suppressed.
World Kitchen ultimately lost the lawsuit on all counts. Several Pyrex customers who say they experienced exploding glass incidents themselves filed a class action lawsuit in June alleging that Corelle Brands inadequately warns consumers of the thermal breakage issue and then hides behind warnings and warranties when incidents occur. The court filing details the arguments at length and also contains some troubling images.
In December , Corelle Brands filed a motion to have the case dismissed. When we asked about the class action lawsuit, Corelle Brands said it does not comment on ongoing litigation. Yet, the explosions continue. Around the same time the class action suit was filed, one Gizmodo employee experienced an explosion herself after microwaving some refrigerated black beans in a Pyrex container for a few seconds. The container exploded, though the glass shards were contained in the microwave.
To the best of her knowledge, she followed all of the safety instructions, but the situation does bear resemblance to the defect in Pyrex products others have pointed out.
Even slight changes in temperature can cause the glass to shatter or explode, and when that happens, the consequences can be dangerous. According to many consumers, however, the risks are poorly communicated, and the explosion can be unpredictable and dangerous. What does seem crystal clear on a scientific level is that borosilicate glass is less prone to thermal shock that soda lime glass. And according to experts, the Pyrex glass can explode into small pieces.
This damage can weaken the glass without fully breaking it. If you want to get really nerdy, scientists in fracture mechanics call this kind of damage subcritical crack growth. It sounds counterintuitive, but LaCourse also said that although tempered glass is more durable than untreated soda-lime, it actually scratches more easily because the tempering process makes it less dense.
Handling tempered wares or any glassware with care is of the utmost importance. Thermal stress is another factor that can cause glass to break spontaneously. If one part is expanding or contracting more or less than the other, at the region in between [is] where the stress happens. Manufacturing flaws are imperfections in the glass that develop when the piece is made.
These include:. Some publications such as ConsumerAffairs have cited this weakening as one possible reason for spontaneous fracture. To me, what we have to worry about are the flaws in the glass surface. When it comes to bakeware, most reports of exploding cookware—such as this article by Gizmodo or various local news reports —are largely focused on Pyrex. This is partly because the brand is so popular in the US, but also partly because its bakeware used to be less prone to breaking from thermal shock.
Pyrex pieces used to be made of borosilicate glass , which is more resistant to breakage when subjected to extreme shifts in temperature. And notably, when it does break, it does so suddenly and somewhat violently, shattering into many small pieces. But the percentage of glass cookware shattering unexpectedly is very small, according to Patty Davis, deputy director of communications and press secretary for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Add to Cart. Out of Stock! We will notify you when its available. Available on:. Description Technical infos Usage Description. I was making a pie over the holidays when a few tips from my colleagues—and nightmarish images of Pyrex shatter all over my kitchen—popped to mind. The first pie pointer, suggested by Sam Worley , instructs home bakers to freeze a shaped pie shell for some time prior to baking. The second, from Rhoda Boone , suggests preheating a sheet pan in the oven, then setting your pie plate directly on top of the hot sheet pan as it bakes.
Both tips are meant to help home bakers achieve the crispest crust possible, so I thought, why not combine the two? But just as I was about to place my ice-cold pie plate on the burning-hot sheet pan, I had a serious moment of pause.
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