Has anyone actually seen Corning Ware Pyroceram or VISIONS cookware explode?

[joeekaitis]

Having used structurally sound Corning Ware Pyroceram and VISIONS amber glass-ceramic cookware on the stove, under the broiler and in the oven without fear and without incident, I'm leery of tales about its perceived, and no doubt exaggerated, "tendency" to fail catastrophically when used as directed.

So I ask you, world:

Have YOU actually witnessed such explosive failure involving an intact piece of glass-ceramic cookware, specifically brands like Corning Ware Pyroceram, Arcoflam, Pyroflam and VISIONS? No second-hand accounts, please, because they tend to acquire embellishment along the way or the facts are tainted, i.e.: accidentally using Pyrex amber bakeware (which was sold for a short time to compliment VISIONS and was clearly labeled "NO STOVETOP OR BROILER") on the stove. Similarly, don't confuse mid-20th century white Pyrex with Corning Ware Pyroceram. Lastly, stories about chipped, cracked or otherwise structurally compromised cookware don't count. Cracked cast iron has been known to explode but no one's circulating internet rumors as gospel truth about the "dangers" of cast iron.

I don't work for World Kitchen and never worked for Corning but I have a feeling if you track down the truth, you'll find misuse, abuse and negligence as the root causes, not a manufactured-in "tendency" to failure.

What say you, world?

 

[joeekaitis]

Oh, and one more thing. . .

Product defects do occur. If you can positively trace a failure to a manufacturing defect, post away.

 

[maytagbear]

The only times I have had a Corning or Visions

"failure" was when said "vessel" met "floor." ONLY times.

I'm on your side, Joe. I miss REAL Made In America Corningware!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[appnut]

Joe I"m not sure this qualifies as to what you are truly seeking, but I will recall my tale.  I had to have been between the age of 9 and 11.  We were visiting some friends of my parents and having dinner.  Her husband was a pharmaceutical drug rep at the time.  I remember he had been given, or had won for some sort of sales goal accomplishment, a complete set (& I do mean complete as in every piece that as available at the time) of BlueFlower Corningware.  But we were about to have dinner and I heard this loud crash and then words out of this lady's mouth I never knew she could utter.  I went into the kitchen and a portion of the meal was all over the kitchen floor as well as the CorningWAre which had contained it.  What I don't remember is if the lady had accidentally dropped it or it for some reason shattered on its own.  But I do remember it being in numerous tiny pieces on the kitchen floor, along with the food.  It took quite a while to clean/pick everything up because of the pieces of dangerous glass involved. Consequently, I am extremely careful of all CorningWare, Visions, and Pyrex/Anchor Hocking glassware I have. 

 

I did have a piece of amber Anchor Hocking/Pyrexware crinckle and crack in the early 1980s that was fairly new.  It was a sort of loaf pan.  I had bread in it and had pulled it out of the oven.  it went on one of the burners on my gas stovetop.  I didn't remember the burner was still set on the absolute lowest setting.  A few minutes after out of the oven, I heard this kinda crinkle/glass cracking kind of sound.  It didn't explode, but the bottom of the vessell had turned into patterns that could look like stained glass sections.  Food and dish werre disposed of.  the vessel was part of a set of twin pieces (always bought stuff in pairs at times).  To this day, I think of the incident when I use the other remaining pan and stil miss the amber colored piece--and this was right before Visions came on the scene or right as it came on the scene.  I have actually 5 casserole/oblong pan pieces of amber colored as well as 3 (of the original 4) little 12 or 16 oz covered casserole/ramekins.  Those little ramekins I bought at a Ralphs (??) supermarket in the Bay Area during an early 1990s family Christmas visit to my sister & BIL.  That little set came back to Texas in my suitcase.  The one piece that broke was my stupidity of letting dirty dishes pile up in the sink and I somehow accidentally broke one of them, still kick myself to thiss day when I wish I still had all 4--but have the 4 little glass lids.

 

[joeekaitis]

appnut:

Sounds like gravity and a tile floor. Otherwise, part of the meal would have still been on the counter or strewn across the stove burners.

 

[joeekaitis]

Maytagbear:

The new CorningWare Pyroceram is made in France as was the majority of VISIONS. You can still buy it, but World Kitchen isn't aggressively marketing it. We may make a pilgrimage to the nearest factory store someday.

http://www.shopworldkitchen.com

 

[ozzie908]

Something I tried and don't reccomend

Seing this thread reminded of the time I used a Pyrex dish to make a batter pudding. I put the oil in and placed it in the oven to get hot when ready poured the batter I had ready and the whole thing shattered into a million shards of glass... What a bloody mess so lesson that I learnt was never make batter dishes in glass stick to metal
Austin

 

[michaelman2]

I mistakenly covered the oven vent on a vintage stove one Thanksgiving with a Pyrex baking dish. It was filled with cornbread dressing and I did not realize that I had set the dish over the oven vent on the back of the range.....OMG...that thing literally blew up....talk about a mess. Shards of glass were everywhere.

This was not a product malfunction, it was a brain malfunction on my part. Now when I cook with Pyrex or corning, I make sure that a hot dish does not touch my cold counter top....I place a potholder or dish towel on the stainless steel counter before hand.

 

[mysteryclock]

We had a Pyrex casserole self-destruct in the oven - darn thing just shattered w/o anyone touching it and made an understandably awful mess. Also had a Pyrex measuring 4-cup shatter the handle off.

It is my understanding that the once-legendary Pyrex hasn't been made with real borosilicate glass for some time - that's the ultimate tough stuff. Rather, I think it is made of soda lime glass which isn't as nice.

 

[securitybearuk]

Shattered Glass

You have just jerked a memory guys, I remember when my parents bought a new electric cooker. It had an internal glass oven door behind the main oven door, anyway as the oven was used over time. The glass door became stained, so after we had our main meal of that day, the cooker was left to cool and mum had decided to clean the glass over door 1st before washing the dishes. The door was still far too hot, after detaching it from the clasp and moving it to the cold metal of the kitchen sink a resulting BANG was heard along with a few choise swear words and lots of glass shards

 

[paulc]

I had a pyrex jug explode in my hand, took me an age to pick out all the tiny shards of glass.

 

[xraytech]

I've never had any issues with pyrex or Corning exploding on me in the oven, and I've use some Corning that has chips along the rim.

I did once however explode a Pyrex dish, I hhad baked in it, and immediately emptied it and put in sink, the cold stainless mad it instantly explode(it was a new dish)

 

I am very careful about handling my Pyrex and Corning as everything except my pie plates are Vintage

 

[petek]

I've never had a piece of Corningware pyroceram break from heat or cold. Course I've never taken it out of the oven and put it down on a wet counter or stovetop sort of thing either.

 

[1952crestwood]

I know of a Corning Ware/Pyrex expert

I have a large collection of Corning Ware (Blue Flower) myself and most of it is the pre-1972 version. There is a guy I have bought some pieces from in York, PA who's passion is Corning Ware and seems to know it pretty well. He might be a good resource as far as answering this question. His name is Eldon and he's a super nice guy to talk to and deal with. I have put the link to his website here for his contact info. I doubt you will find anyone on the east coast who has the knowledge this fellow does on both Corning and Pyrex.

Classic Kitchens And More, Authentic Retro Kitchenware

Classic Kitchens And More : - Corning Ware Spice O'Life Corning Ware Other Patterns Corning VISION WARE & Lids Vintage Pyrex in COLORS Corning & Pyrex Glass Lids Corning & Pyrex Storage Covers Corelle Vintage USA Made Revere Ware Aluminum Cookware & Bakeware Vintage Electric Appliances Kitchen...

www.classickitchensandmore.com

 

[1952crestwood]

Ooops! Wrote too soon.

Just went to your other thread (about the wheat pattern) and saw that you already know about Classic Kitchens and More. Sorry for jumping the gun.

Robyn

 

[westtexman]

Funny you should ask . . .

I had a bad incident with a dark amber pyrex baking dish that I acquired from my grandmother years ago (and I assume she had for ages). It was a small square casserole dish that I used to bake a small ham last Monday night (at 275 degrees).

After taking the ham out of the oven, i let the dish completely cool while we were having dinner and visiting. About 2 hours later, I began washing dishes. I had the pan in my right hand while using a scrub brush in my left hand to remove solid food debris before placing it in the dishwasher. The thing broke in two in my hand and SLICED my pinky finger open. I had to go to the ER where I received 4 stitches. Unfortunately, the wound was so deep that it ended up severing some nerves, and now half of my finger is numb, and the doctors don't anticipate I'll regain feeling in that finger. I just had my stitches removed yesterday.

While I'm certainly no expert on the engineering of bakeware, I don't see where user error could have played into this one. Low baking temps, COMPLETE cooling of the dish before washing, and then gentle scrubbing of the pan while in my hands - doesn't sound like user error to me.

 

[tomturbomatic]

WESTTEXMAN, It was probably the stress of applying pressure with the scrub brush to one area of the glass without support under it while holding the opposite side. Sorry for your injury. Always make sure glass or ceramic is well and evenly supported before applying pressure. This applies to Corning Counter Savers also. I learned from personal experience.

 

[franksdad]

As a teenager, one day I was making Jell-O in a Pyrex casserole dish. I poured the boiling water directly into the dish on top of the powdered jell-o mix. The dish went "ping" and the whole bottom of the casserole dish broke from the sides. My Mama then told me whenever I was using Pyrex or Corningwear to always pour the hot liquid onto a wooden spoon which was placed in the dish to keep the glass from breaking. I still pour hot water along a wooden spoon anytime I sue glasswear.

 

[circlew]

The only time I've ever had Corning or Pyrex break (other than when dropped) was when I put boiling water into my Corning Ware 6 cup teapot. I'd done this numerous times when making tea, but that time when I started to pick it up, the handle and one side of the pot came off. This of course made a big sticky mess as I'd already sugared it.