PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

[frobzwiththingz]

Far too many people have had "Pyrex" pans and bowls explode on them in the past 6 months or so, so i feel like this deserves a general warning.

Pyrex brand pans are *NOT* made of what lab geeks think "Pyrex" is!
They are NOT borosilicate glass! Many years ago, they were. But they haven't been for at least 20 years now. They WILL sometimes explode on you if you use them directly over a gas flame, and you'll get showered with boiling water, glass, and (in my case ~10 years ago) sulfuric acid. DONT DO THAT! Buy some REAL borosilicate lab glassware or other cookware that specifically tells you that it's OK to use on the stovetop. All of the current "Pyrex" cookware does tell you not to do this, but usually only on the box it came in, and in small print. Useless.

I'm not much for government intrusion in commerce, but this seems to be one case where that brand name, which now has an impossible-to-get-rid-of association with certain technical properties (like not exploding due to thermal shock) should not be allowed to be used on glassware that cannot be used safely over a flame.

Be careful out there.

Comments

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much in broad agreement with you; but what continues to nag me is that i pretty clearly remember (as much as one can "clearly" remember things from 3 decades ago) seeing TV commercials for Corning Pyrex consumer cookware in which the product *was* shown in use over the stovetop flame, quickly quenched in cold water, etc. This was the very factor on which they were pitching the product. I wonder how i could find out if such commercials actually existed, or whether i'm constructing memories. Does the national TV archive down in DC have a commercial archive as well?

[starphire.livejournal.com]

No, you're definitely correct that it existed, and was marketed like that. I'm not sure about the commercials, but They had all-glass cookware that looked exactly like regular metal cooking pots & pans, with long handles, glass lids to go with them, and everything, and catalog photos and such showed them on the stovetop. They were made of colored transparent glass. And I don't think it's even been more than maybe 15 years since I've seen them in stores.