# exploding pyrex?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 1, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958 "2016-01-01T23:47:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/1 "2016-01-01T23:47:24Z")
Good evening all and Happy New Year
All of our extended family had other plans the season, so Christmas dinner was just my wife, two daughters and me. I decided that it should be a spaghetti day. I did well at the butcher shop the day before and made my meatballs with lean beef, spicy Italian pork sausage and ground veal. I added chopped onions, garlic and shallots and some herbs and parmesan cheese. They were perfect!
I put 24 meatballs into a 9x13 pyrex dish and set it aside while I put the sauce base together. half an hour later, I put the meatballs into a 350 degree oven. Half an hour later, we heard a muted crash from the kitchen and, u[on opening the oven found that the pyrex had exploded! The bottom of the oven was covered in shards of broken glass and my meatballs.
Has anyone had pyrex catastrophically fail like this?
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/2 "2016-01-01T23:51:55Z")
Amazon is full of warnings about failing Pyrex.
Air bubbles in the glass expand when heated, & shatter it.
Crumby quality.
Try a different brand.
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### Author:  [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/3 "2016-01-02T00:12:44Z")
And then my poor meatballs rolled right out the door.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/4 "2016-01-02T00:15:31Z")
[From Wiki.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrex)
> [@](#):
>
> The differences between Pyrex products depending on manufacturer has also led to safety issues—in 2010, the Consumer Product Safety Commission received several complaints by users reporting that their Pyrex glassware had shattered at high temperatures. The consumer affairs magazine Consumer Reports investigated the matter after obtaining copies of the complaints, determining that the complainants had in fact been using World Kitchen-produced Pyrex labeled products manufactured with lower-cost tempered flint glass and had incorrectly assumed that they would have the same characteristics and strength as their borosilicate counterparts.
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### Author:  [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/5 "2016-01-02T00:38:58Z")
Interesting! I have been using the same pyrex baking dishes for years. I had no idea there were failures until last week.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/6 "2016-01-02T00:46:12Z")
Happened to me!
I did some reading and discovered the people who purchased the rights to make it change both the recipe and the production process. It’s happening more than you imagine.
Why no one in government has acted I can’t imagine, there is clearly a problem.
All that said I now only use Pyrex I buy at the second hand store and recommend others do the same whenever this comes us.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/7 "2016-01-02T01:36:27Z")
Yep. If you’re looking to replace it, don’t bother with Pyrex anymore. Look for “Borosilicate” on the label. That’s the old stuff Pyrex used to be made of.
Other companies are making it now. It’s still very affordable: [Arcusine Borosilicate 13.75-Inch x 8.6-Inch Rectangular Roaster for $9.99](http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/arcusine-borosilicate-13-75-inch-x-8-6-inch-rectangular-roaster/1040777948?skuId=40777948&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_cookware_&adpos=1o2&creative=43742634349&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAiA5Ji0BRC5huTCyOTR3wISJACH4Bx4K3m7gLjbMuBrCquJzAnGc8KDD3k3SsLg65tEN74nXhoCa5Xw_wcB)
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/8 "2016-01-02T01:42:47Z")
Happened to me. I had a casserole full of chicken explode on me when I took it out of the oven. Our theory was there must have been a deep scratch or hairline crack.
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### Author:  [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/9 "2016-01-02T02:29:28Z")
Yep. A Pyrex pot of hot cocoa on the stove.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/10 "2016-01-02T02:42:37Z")
Glass will fail if it’s cleaned with anything that scratches it such as steel wool or a knife used to cut food.
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### Author:  [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/11 "2016-01-02T02:49:15Z")
Happened to my wife. Big pop, shattered glass everywhere.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/12 "2016-01-02T03:15:27Z")
It’s not from scratches and cracks. Read about how they changed both the recipe and the manufacturing process. This is a known issue.
Also, Pyrex was never intended for use on the stove top. That ones on you I’m afraid.
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### Author:  [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/13 "2016-01-02T04:08:59Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> It’s not from scratches and cracks. Read about how they changed both the recipe and the manufacturing process. This is a known issue.
>
> Also, Pyrex was never intended for use on the stove top. That ones on you I’m afraid.
It was a Pyrex saucepan designed for the stove.
It included some kind of metal thing I had to put on the element (electric stove) before I could put the pan on the stove.
Someone is selling a similar one on etsy, and it mentions the metal heat thing.
[https://www.etsy.com/listing/76543642/vintage-pyrex-flameware-15-quart-double](https://www.etsy.com/listing/76543642/vintage-pyrex-flameware-15-quart-double)
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/14 "2016-01-02T04:27:53Z")
“trivet”
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### Author:  [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/15 "2016-01-02T04:35:12Z")
> [@eschereal](#):
>
> “trivet”
Thank you. I always think of those as things I use for hot dishes on my counter or table. I didn’t think of it as the metal star shaped item that came with my pot.
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### Author:  [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/16 "2016-01-02T04:42:40Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> Why no one in government has acted I can’t imagine, there is clearly a problem.
Why on Earth should government be concerned about bakeware? 😕
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/17 "2016-01-02T04:56:45Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#):
>
> Why on Earth should government be concerned about bakeware? 😕
It turns out some people care about product safety, surprise-surprise.
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### Author:  [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/18 "2016-01-02T04:58:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> It turns out some people care about product safety, surprise-surprise.
That’s not the proper role of government, surprise-surprise.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/19 "2016-01-02T05:27:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Quote:
> It included some kind of metal thing I had to put on the element (electric stove) before I could put the pan on the stove.
>
> Someone is selling a similar one on etsy, and it mentions the metal heat thing.
>
> [https://www.etsy.com/listing/7654364...5-quart-double](https://www.etsy.com/listing/7654364...5-quart-double)
Sorry, my mistake. ( Every piece I’ve ever owned specified do NOT use on a stovetop!)
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pyrex/741958/20 "2016-01-02T06:04:28Z")
'Bout thirty years ago, one of my sisters placed an empty Pyrex baking dish atop a stove while preheating. No burners were on or had been used recently and, _bang_, the dish broke into several large pieces.
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