The Exploding Baking Dish »
Last night, as I was preparing dinner, I - very intelligently, as you will find out shortly - sat the baking dish to hold the casserole on the range. I likely wouldn't have done this previously, since we didn't have a flat range, and the range that we did have wouldn't have had the room. So I guess you could consider that a strike against both a flat range surface and replacing a smaller range top with a larger one.
That alone probably wouldn't have been an issue. Then I turned on the pan to start cooking the chicken when it came out of the microwave. Unfortunately, I turned on the burner underneath the baking dish. That was probably the problem, though it may have simply been bad enough that it was 'soaking up' some heat from adjacent burners.
Alas, I didn't realize the wrong one was on until some time later, as I was chopping the onions and heard a sudden crash. Actually, a crash isn't quite the right description. It really sounded like an explosion. I thought surely that the kids had tipped over the TV or the computer monitor or something.
Then I realized it was there in the kitchen with me, so I thought something had fallen out of the cabinet and onto the range, shattering it. Only then did I realize I was standing in a sea of cobalt blue glass. Literally - it was spread all over the floor. Then I thought a bottle of lotion or oil or something had somehow shattered, until I realized that was the color of the baking dish I was using, and started putting the pieces together.
Uh, that is the pieces of the puzzle - not the pieces of the dish. Those were gradually cleaned up and thrown away. And when I say gradually, I mean gradually. It took a long time to clean it up. I suspect there are still some pieces of glass in the kitchen that we haven't found yet, but I think that we did a pretty decent job of getting it all.
So what did we learn? Don't place a baking dish on the range? Check. Though it doesn't make sense - shouldn't a baking dish be able to take some heat? I won't do it again, just wondering. Don't buy a cobalt blue baking dish, but instead stick to a different material (Pyrex)? Sounds good, though I don't know why it matters. Maybe we just ought to stay away from glass entirely. Perhaps stay away from the cooking entirely, and let Denise do it? Now we're talking...
Comments (21)
Having worked in the glass industry I find your experience puzzling. Most Pyrex like glasses have a nearly zero expansion rate so rapide heating and cooling don't put undue stresses on the material. Pyrex is a Corning brand name. Perhaps your dish was defective in some way. Perhaps it wasn't properly annealed during the manufacturing process. Also surface scratches can add additional stresses that can cause premature failure.
Posted by Ted | March 21, 2006 10:57 AM
It's possible (and in fact, quite likely) that this one wasn't Pyrex. It was a very thick, heavy, cobalt blue color that we've had for some time.
It is also quite likely that it was a surface scratch or some other issue that caused it to happen.
Posted by Chad Everett | March 21, 2006 11:02 AM
So how was the casserole? A bit crunchy i'll bet...
I saw a guy on TV once eating glass... he said it was rather tasty in fact. I dunno about the blue stuff though...
Send me a recipe!
Posted by Marty | March 21, 2006 11:09 PM
The casserole was good. Luckily no crunch to it. We ate a bit later than normal, but not bad. Not our favorite, but that could also have been because it was a bit dried out. If we have it again and it comes out well, I'll post a recipe on it.
Posted by Chad Everett | March 22, 2006 8:11 AM
I did the exact same thing when I was growing up. My exploded pyrex dish actually melted holes in the linoleum floor, which ended up having to be replaced.
Posted by Joel | March 23, 2006 4:25 PM
Ha! I had an Anchor Hocking 8x8 brown colored baking dish explode about18 years ago. I had baked some home made macaroni and cheese. I took the dish from the oven and placed it on the table on a hot pad. It sat there for a while, I don't remember how many minutes, then it just blew all over the place! I took pictures and even saved the wreckage in a plastic bag. I eventually threw it out. Can anybody explain that one?
Posted by Caryl | March 31, 2006 2:30 AM
Okay...just 10 minutes ago I had a very similar scenario happen. My dad was cooking fish (from frozen) in the oven, and i was standing in the kitchen, eating an apple, When I suddenly heard a huge bang, and saw a large amount of steam come out of the oven. I then looked through the glass window of the oven, only to see shattered glass everywhere and let out a "wholy crap!". My dad then ran into the kitchen and showed the same expression as I.
Now when I examine the situation, nothing makes sense. The glass dish that we had used (8x 12 inch I beleive)was part of the family for some 15-20 years, and had bene used in the oven many times. Also, it was not like the frozen fish and the heat had suddenly cracked the glass, because the fish had been in the oven for some 20 minutes. This "explosion" must be explainable...any takers?
Posted by Trav | April 3, 2006 6:39 PM
I don't know if I should be the one to do the cooking! I much like your cooking style and the very creative dishes you create. Why should I cook when you are obviously the one that has the talent!?!
Posted by denise | April 6, 2006 4:22 PM
OK, First off let me start by saying GLASS DOES NOT EXPLODE any human being would know that. The noise that you hear is a loud pop. Anyways when cooking meats and veggies in a pyrex baking dish you need to add 1 inch of liquid to the bottom of the pan. Or when for example the fish releases liquid in the dish after being in a pre-heated oven the cold liquid from the fish will shock the dish. This is called Thermal Shock. Never set a Pyrex dish ontop of the stove weather the oven is preheating or you are taking it out of the oven. Use and Care instructions come with these products for a reason for you to read them. Or your warranty does not apply. any questions feel free to email me.
Posted by Tiffany | April 14, 2006 1:02 AM
OK, I just had a Pyrex 1 Cup mesuring cup explode in my kitchen sink after using it to add some tap water to a dish I was preparing. It was not close to any heat or cold source. It is very old but there were no visible cracks or chips. A Very ghost like experience! I can't imagine "Thermo Shock" being the reason since there were no wild temp variences.
Posted by Ric | April 18, 2006 12:57 AM
Well, since there is confusion - the glass at my house didn't explode, but the dish, made of glass did explode. It was all over the kitchen.
As I perhaps intended to mention, but did not make clear, there were no veggies or anything else in the dish, as it wasn't loaded with anything. I was getting ready to use it, and I didn't sit it there to warm, I sat it there because I didn't have any counter space. Had I thought the process through, I of course wouldn't have done it, but, well, things don't always work out quite the way we would like.
Still, thanks for the information. I'll try and keep it in mind for next time...
Posted by Chad Everett | April 27, 2006 12:56 PM
I just had a baking dish explode in the oven. I had preheated the oven to 350 and placed a cold roasting chicken in the room temperature pan- I had left the kitchen for about 10 minutes when I heard a loud crash which I thought was our dog knocking over the garbage to get the gizzards- I asked my 3 year old daughter to see if he was in the garbage and she came back and told me "something is wrong in the kitchen" Smoke was pouring out of the oven because of the stuff that had fallen onto the heating coil. It's obvious that the force of the explosion in the oven was extreme and I am very greatful that we didn't suffer one of these countertop situations I just read about!
Posted by Sarah | May 15, 2006 8:23 PM
I did the exact same thing yesterday (Hence why I'm at this site). My boyfriend had unloaded the dishwasher and put the glass dish on the stove because he didnt know where it went. I turned on the wrong burner - the burner it was on - I caught it (cuz the burner was red), turned it off, went to the sink and then it exploded. Scared the crap out of me. And yes, there was glass EVERYWHERE, even in the other room...there's still some between the fridge and between the stove and cabinets. Worse part - it ruined my spaghetti and meatballs (what was supposed to be heating up).
Posted by Tara | June 7, 2006 3:03 AM
I had a similar experience with a Pyrex 9 x 13 dish. I received an Email from Tiffany at World Kitchens (Pyrex) with a phone no. to call. All they would do is offer to replace the dish...no explanation because I had none of the glass left to ship to them for analysis.
However, Consumer Affairs website has reported numerous "explosions" of this sort. One of the sites stated that Pyrex changed something in their formula in 1998 and that is when the explosions seemed to have begun occurring.
Obviously Pyrex wants to keep a low profile on this situation and not admit to any possible defects of their products. I, for one, am done using glass baking dishes...it was a very scary and costly experience.
Posted by Rosemary Harris | July 11, 2006 4:25 PM
I just had a pyrex dish explode sending glass shards 15 ft. away. The dish had been setting on a hot plate protector for almost an hour. Just google "exploding pyrex", and the first 5 sites will curl your hair. They explode being taken from a cold dishwasher or cupboard. I'm afraid of my own cookware.
Posted by Susan Tabor | July 12, 2006 7:12 PM
Those are crazy! Thanks for the idea of searching on such a thing. I agree that it might be worth not cooking with glass!
Posted by Chad Everett | July 13, 2006 3:22 PM
I am so thankful I am not the only one!! I just found this site because I wanted an explanation for what caused my casserole dish to explode. I had a feeling that it was the difference in temperature. I had my dish sitting on the stove because we lacked counter space and I set a frozen chicken in it to thaw. When I went to cook breakfast I accidently turned the burner on under the dish and could hear the chicken begin to sizzle. I quickly removed the chicken from the dish and placed the dish on the counter top. We ate breakfast and then I moved the dish back to the stove top. 20 minutes later it exploded into tiny pieces. My nanny discovered the mess and could not tell what she was looking at, she thought a vase fell from the top of the refrigerator. I am just glad to hear that this is pretty common. No more glass on the stove top for me.
Posted by Marissa | July 28, 2006 12:07 PM
Yeah, that happened to me once. Scary stuff. It was on the range too, but the burner was off.
Posted by Chris | August 13, 2006 12:09 AM
I had a 9x13 cobalt blue pyrex casserole dish explode (or pop and break apart) in the oven about 10 years ago myself. We opened the oven to check the dish and it went BANG! and glass was EVERYWHERE. Obviously, the huge casserole was ruined. I am still afraid to use my pyrex to cook with. I am on this site now because I have a casserole frozen in a dish and I'm afraid to cook it! Does it HAVE to thaw first? (The first one that exploded was NOT frozen).
Posted by Janette Winn | September 5, 2007 4:01 PM
Hi Janette -
I'd have to say no, but you can always put it in the refrigerator for a while, to at least thaw for a bit. If you're really paranoid, you can leave it out, but be careful of the ingredients, so as not to make anyone sick.
My dish was glass, but it wasn't Pyrex (the brand name), and it wasn't frozen - it came straight out of the cabinet. So I can't say if it will help or not. I have had a Pyrex dish crack - but it was just a crack. The shattering effect only happened with this one dish, which I believe was an Anchor.
Posted by Chad Everett | September 5, 2007 4:19 PM
I googled exploding baking dish to see if I could find anything about why I also, as it turned out, had this hppen. This happened to me about 3 weeks ago. I was using a 9x13 clear "glass" dish, don't know the brand. I've had this dish, literally, MANY years. I was cooking pork tenderloin in a 400 F oven. About halfway through, I heard a loug bang, and thought that something had fallen into the sink. After reaching the kitchen and finding nothing, I looked in the oven and saw what was to be dinner was then my dish in hundreds of pieces. It blew everywhere. Thank goodness it was enclosed in the oven. The meat wasn't frozen, the dish was room temp and I didn't sit it on a hot burner. I know I've had this dish well before 1998. What I could find of a pattern, I noticed that the glass had shattered outward from underneath the meat. Looked like a shattered windshield. As the above comment suggested, could it have been a lack of liquid that caused this?
Posted by Cyndi Banks | October 14, 2008 10:05 AM