Pyrex vs steam

[fan-of-fans]

We have multiple of the older Pyrex orange bowls with wheat pattern. For dinners I sometimes make a makeshift "steam table" with these. I have a few Rival hot pots with the (temperamental) thermostat knob. I put about an inch of water in each, and set the control to boil. Then I remove the lid and place the Pyrex in the hot pot. They fit fine. Then lower the control to low so it just maintains a temp of about 140-150. The steaming but not boiling water keeps the food hot. When done I just dry the bowls and put in the fridge.

I wonder though if the steam or heat will affect the finish, because it looks a little scratched on a couple. But I think they may have already been this way because they are sometimes used in the oven.

Also could steam cause the Pyrex bowls to explode or crack? They are already pretty warm when I place them in the hot pots because the food in them is hot.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Pyrex is designed as bake ware. So if a 350F oven doesn't hurt it, I can't see how a steam table could. The only danger might be thermal shock. I don't think that's a risk with what you're doing. I assume the food you're putting into the bowls is too hot to eat. I'd wait until the sides of the bowls (not the handles) became too hot to comfortably touch before putting it into water bath.

Although, now that I'm typing this out, I realize that putting piping hot food into room temperature bowls makes for a greater temperature differential than anything else you're doing. So I'd think you're good.

Actually, the 140-150 temp is what caught my eye. I've interpreted a gazillion food safety classes over the years. I'm pretty sure that any food put out for buffet-style serving for more than an hour (2hrs?) needs to be kept at 170F. IIRC, this means that the water temp should be set to 180F. Also, household refrigerators usually lack the capacity to cool down large quantities of food from serving to storage temps quickly enough to prevent nasties from multiplying. I remember listening to the figures and thinking the limit would be 6 or 8 2qt. pyrex bowls well separated in the refrigerator.

Obviously, NONE on the info in the last paragraph would pertain to a person hosting a dinner for 8-12 people. But it's something to keep in mind if anyone's serving a crowd with back-to-back-to-back seatings or an all-day affair.

(The things you learn as an interpreter!)

To all of you with more knowledge of pyrex and/or the food industry than I.... Please correct me!

Jim

Jim

 

[ea56]

Jim,

you are right on about the pyrex and heat tolerance. My pyrex bake ware is all at least 20 years old and some is 35 or more years old. Knock on wood, I’ve never had any of it break due to heat. In fact, yesterday, I baked a pie shell at 450 F, after I’d chilled it first for about 30 mins., no problem.

And your advice about food holding temps. cooked food is what I’ve always followed, and what my husband has learned at trainings from the Hilton for the last 31 years.

One thing I do to get cooked food cooled off ASAP, before refrigeration, is to put the vessel in which it was cooked in a sink full of cold water, and change the water as it gets warm, until the food is cooled down so the pan isn’t hot to the touch. This works for soups, beans, stew and sauces/gravies. Anything that I can’t do this to gets covered and refrigerated right after the meal.

Eddie

 

[oliger]

Older pyrex with the capital PYREX logo is made of borosilicate glass and can go from the freezer straight into a hot oven with no problems whatsoever, that is what it was designed for. Newer Pyrex with the lowercase logo is junk. It's made out of soda-lime glass and is the same type of glass in a window, and ive heard of many of them shattering. HOWEVER any capital letter PYREX that is not clear glass ex. glass bowls with a pattern on them; are just regular glass. I would suggest treating them exactly as you would a mixing bowl. Although I don't see how boiling water would hurt them as long as you were careful.