Breaking glass pans

You aren't crazy, because honestly, I've had it happen to me too! Only, instead of breaking in the oven or on top of the over, it decides to break while I'm washing it, and I wasn't banging it against anything or mistreating it, or anything. It was insane. I'm also terrified of baking in them. I'm guessing the reason they break is because they aren't as durable as people make them out to be. They get overheated, and they break. Or maybe its during the cooling process, I have no idea. I just know you aren't crazy, lol

Hi bunnybon7, Well, I have never heard that happened as I always cook with all my pyrex dishes for a number of years, so much so they all turning black. Sorry to hear about yours exploding. Tamara

Gee mate, you have every reason to be paranoid I reckon. I use those dishes for casseroles mainly and have never had a problem. It sounds like a waste of good food and a real mess to clean up as well. I would not just be paranoid I'd be very cheesed off.

Pyrex is a good brand. May be for over heating your glass pan exploded. In future be cautious when you use glass pan. To avoid risk it's better to use metal pan.

Pyrex is not made the way it used to be years ago. It used to be made with borosilicate which had excellent heat resistant properties. Nowadays it's made with soda-lime which is cheaper for the manufacturer to make but doesn't have the same heat resistant properties. I have a few old pyrex dishes that have been in the family for a long, long time and I still use them. The newer stuff I'm afraid to use for anything other than reheating (at lower temperatures) or in the microwave.

I am afraid of breaking glass pans but just because I'm afraid the slip off my hands. Pyrex glass is what can heated into the oven and must be marked somewhere, so always make sure you check it is marked before to put it into the oven. My problem is those pans are heavy (especially when there's food inside), handles aren't big and the glass is slippery, I'm always afraid to have one fall on the floor!

I know how that is. I have a whole set of glass pans but rarely use them sometimes years go by without me using one. I had one explode into millions of little pieces about 8 years ago and like you that kind of put me off using them.. that was the only time it happened.. but if I had been any closer.. I would have been digging glass shards out of my body everywhere..cause when it exploded it did so in all directions.

Hello bunnybon7, I never use glass pan as I am too paranoid that it will 'explode'! Reading your discussion makes me think many times again before I can really use one. I remember an incident at my sister's house. She bought a new glass pan and was about to use it. When I saw her put it into the microwave, I quickly ran into my room, closed the door and held on to my pillow tightly! *laughs*

hi bunnybon I have used glass cake pan but never have' had them break. but one day just as I came into the kitchen when we still had our apartment,our glass coffee carafe exploded and scalding hot coffee and glass flew everywhere.I had hot coffee on my hands but dashed to the sink and turned on the cold water, I did not have any blistering or burns. but I had a heck of a mess to clean up and I do not know why that happened. I have a theory that these things might have had an air bubble or flaw in the glass and as it cooled it just broke.

Yeah I"d be nervous about it too, but it has never happened to me either. I do use pyrex now and then and have never had a problem.

That is really weird. I know somebody that had the same thing happen to them. They had just left the room a minute just like you did. The reason i was told about it is because i had just replaced all my pans with glass ones. I remember it when i cook. That was a few years back that i replaced my pans. Im always be carefull not to put the pans throught fast temperature changes. That would be scary.

I don't blame u if this had happened to me i'd be the same way. I use them all the time & have never had a problem w/them, knock on wood.

I think you may have had an inferior brand and not Pyrex at all. My grandmother used Pyrex for many years and I even inherited some and have used them. There has never been in explosions or breakage. The only other thing I can think of is that you used them incorrectly and they got too hot and busted yet I have known them to be very able to sustain great heat and not break. I think you were using an inferior brand.

bunnybon There are alot of pyrex imitations on the market. They look exactly like pyrex but sometimes they are not. Be sure the pyrex logo is embedded in the glass. if its not, dont use it in oven. Although pyrex is ok in oven, it is not ok on top of stove on a burner that is on. When your dish exploded, prehaps the burner was on? if not and you are sure it was a pyrex dish, take it back to where you bought it and they will surely refund your money. Lets face it, this is not cheap cookware and it should last for ever unless you drop it etc. Pyrex would definately honor the return as their motto is oven to frig. etc. Just dont put it on direct heat (burner) Hope this helps

I have been using pyrex for over 30 years... and some of those I have would be 30 years old. I never had one breaking on me. It is most unusual as they are design not to break. Maybe what you had was not the real thing. I don't know if pyrex does that... But glass will break due to extreme sudden change of temperature. I would not put a hot dish coming out of the oven on an extremely cold surface like marble,ceramic tiles or metal... particulary in winter. It is also better to put it on a grill rather than a flat surface. It gives a chance for the heat at the bottom of the pan to dissipate.

it's the temperature difference between the pan and what you set it on/in. my mom did this with a pyrex dish and put it down on the usually quite cool counter and it also exploded.

I've had the same thing happen. I had a very old casserole that I was roasting meat in and it shattered after I took it out of the oven. Not as dramatically as yours, but it ruined the dinner! I think these things are relatively rare and usually because the dish has had a lot of use. Like you, I'm leery of using glass bakeware!

I have 1 glass pan I use regularly and never had a problem. When I was a kid though, my mom had this small glass casserole dish. She took it out of the oven and went to put it straight in the freezer to let it cool, and it exploded in her hands while she was putting it in the freezer. I was standing right there watching the whole thing, but neither of us were hurt at all thankfully. It's something about the glass going from hot to cold or cold to hot. It's not made to do that. If your kitchen is naturally kind of cold, and the glass gets cold then you put it in a hot oven, that would cause it to break.

The answer to what happened here is very simple and is easy to avoid. You set the pan directly on the stove and the glass cooled too quickly. That's why it exploded. Always set hot glass on a tea towel or pot holder to insulate it from what ever you set it on. Glass must cool slowly or it will break. Be sure the cloth you set them on is not damp. Art

Hi bunnybon, I'm reeling in confusion by your use of a glass pan to bake a cake in. I will presume this is another Americanism which we need to clear up otherwise we'll be talking about two different things. A pan is a thing with a handle which sits atop a cooker with things in, such as a sauce pan, for making sauce in. Cakes we bake in cake tins. I do bake a Turkish orange yogurt cake in a glass pyrex dish inside the oven but this requires it to sit in a dish of water for some reason. Otherwise I use pyrex dishes sometimes to put something savoury in the oven. I have never had an exploding pyrex dish and I'm far more likey to drop one and have it shatter into smithereens on the tiles, the way of many of the things in my kitchen. It must have been a dreadful nuisance for you having to pull pieces of cake from amidst the glass.