Individuals’s Glass Cookware Is Exploding — This is How To Know If Yours Is About To Blow

Glass cookware is glossy, nostalgic and supposedly indestructible — till it shatters right into a thousand items proper as you serve dinner. I discovered this the laborious means once I pulled a effervescent shepherd’s pie out of the oven, just for my decades-old glass dish to blow up throughout my counter in a bathe of glass and gravy.

Seems, I’m not alone. These viral glass pots everybody’s been coveting on TikTok? Additionally shattering. Movies of damaged cookware are racking up hundreds of thousands of views, and persons are asking: Why does this occur? Is it poor manufacturing? Low cost glass? Consumer error? To seek out out, HuffPost spoke with glassware consultants about why glass cookware breaks, the way to forestall it and the way to decide on safer choices.

Regardless of my greatest efforts, I’m a little bit of a klutz. My cookware inevitably exhibits the wear and tear and tear of years of use: dings, thriller cracks and meals stains that no quantity of scrubbing can take away. However in response to consultants, these tiny cracks and chips is perhaps extra harmful than they appear.

“Glass products can be damaged from everyday handling, for example, accidental banging of the glass cookware against other hard surfaces in the kitchen,” defined Dr. John C. Mauro, Dorothy Pate Enright professor of supplies science and engineering at Penn State College. “The resulting damage consists of tiny cracks or scratches in the surface of the glass product. Any tensile stress that is later applied to the glass surface would then be amplified at the tips of these cracks; longer, sharper cracks are worse since they amplify the stresses more than shorter, blunter cracks.”

In different phrases, small chips and cracks weaken glass cookware over time, making it extra prone to breaking. However pre-existing harm isn’t the one perpetrator — thermal shock is one other main cause glass cookware can unexpectedly explode.

My For You Web page has been flooded with movies of influencers filling delicate glass pots with brews of cinnamon sticks, orange wedges and jewel-toned liquids, crafting cozy elixirs that look straight out of a storybook. Aesthetically, these movies invoke a minimalist dream — glossy, fashionable and excellent for the digital camera. However when these movies finish in an explosion, it’s possible the results of thermal shock.

“I’m not familiar with the glass pots shown [on TikTok], but they are clearly breaking due to thermal shock. They also appear to be nontempered,” he defined.

So what precisely is thermal shock, and why does it wreak havoc on glass cookware?

“Normal glass would rarely ‘explode,’” explains Dr. William LaCourse, professor of glass science at Alfred College. “However, thermally tempered glass (TTG) can show elements of this process due to its higher strength. The surface of TTG glass is under compression such that a small crack cannot propagate and cause failure. However, the interior is under tension, and if a crack does propagate and reach the interior, the crack will multiply into many cracks and the released energy causers multiple pieces of glass to be created. It can appear like an explosion. ”

Merely put, glass expands when it heats up and shrinks when it cools. If the temperature adjustments too quick — like pouring boiling water into a chilly glass pot or submerging a sizzling glass dish in chilly water — the outer layer contracts whereas the inside stays sizzling, creating rigidity. If the stress turns into an excessive amount of, the glass can shatter.

From stainless-steel to forged iron, nonstick and even copper lined, there’s a pot or pan in my cabinet for no matter kitchen activity I’m endeavor. The identical goes for glass cookware — not all glass is created equal.

“There are two main types of glass cookware: borosilicate and tempered soda lime silicate,” Mauro defined. “The main advantage of borosilicate glass is its superior thermal shock resistance. Given its superior thermal shock performance, I recommend that consumers specifically look for borosilicate glass bakeware.”

That’s helpful when scanning product particulars when purchasing for one thing new, however what in regards to the glass bakeware already in your kitchen?

Borosilicate glass was utilized in classic Pyrex bakeware and remains to be utilized by many European manufacturers. It’s extra proof against sudden temperature adjustments and sometimes thinner and clearer than soda lime glass. OXO Good Grips and Corning Visions nonetheless make borosilicate cookware at this time.

Producers in North America mostly use soda lime silicate glass. This thicker glass can have a slight greenish tint on the edges. Whereas versatile for baking, serving and storing, it may be extra susceptible to sudden temperature adjustments.

The best option to examine is to take a look at the producer’s info — it ought to inform you whether or not it’s borosilicate or soda lime.

Right here’s the way to preserve your glass cookware in a single piece:

• Examine for harm commonly. Even small chips or scratches can weaken glass. Should you see any cracks, change your cookware instantly.

• Keep away from sudden temperature adjustments. By no means transfer a sizzling dish instantly onto a chilly floor, pour chilly liquid into sizzling glass cookware or rinse sizzling glass with chilly water.

• All the time place sizzling glass cookware on a dry, heat-safe floor comparable to a dish towel, trivet or slicing board.

• Use the fitting glass for the job. Some glass bakeware shouldn’t be meant for stovetop use — at all times examine the producer’s pointers.