Pyrex—What’s this? A Lesson in Safety?

If you saw the full-page Pyrex ad in the February 6, 2011 issue of Parade magazine, you might have found it puzzling.  Why, instead of spending a zillion advertising dollars to display and talk up the company’s products, did the company choose to give instructions in glass cookware safety?  Coming from a company that has been repeatedly sued for what’s been called on the Internet “exploding Pyrex,” this ad can only be interpreted as damage control. 

The ad gives users the following dos and don’ts when cooking with glass:

DON’T:

Never place directly on burner or under broiler. 

DO:

Preheat oven.  

[We presume that the advice is to preheat the oven before putting the glassware into the oven so that the glass bakeware is not being put under the broiler, which is what’s heating the oven when it’s preheating.]

Add liquid prior to cooking meat or vegetables.

[In other words, you risk injury if you add liquid while it’s cooking.]

Place hot glassware on a dry, cloth potholder. 

[Actually, it doesn’t have to be a potholder. A DRY folded towel will do just as well.  The point is, putting hot glassware down on a cold, damp surface is asking for an accident and casserole-and-glass mess on your counter and floor.]

Additional precautions that must be followed to avoid getting attacked by shards of glass may be listed in the instructions that came with the glassware as well as on the Pyrex website. If you can remember them all, you must be under age 50 and a spelling champion.  One of these is to carefully inspect Pyrex glassware for chips, scratches, or cracks before using it. These could also cause an “explosion.”  Also, if you’re cooking a food that releases hot liquid, add a small amount of water to the bottom of the dish before cooking.  (Who knew?)

Shelf Life Advice has posted two prior articles about Pyrex.  To read more about the product’s history, constructions, and problems, click on the following links:

http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/pyrex-glassware-safe-use

http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/shattering-glass-bakeware-back-news

We’d like to think that our site’s articles on this subject motivated this educational Pyrex ad, but we’re not that arrogant. In all honesty, we suspect that the ad is a subtle reaction to the January 2011 issue of Consumer Reports, which contained a lengthy article about Pyrex and Anchor Hocking and compared them to European glassware, which is made of a different material and is sturdier.

Just to be sure consumers and their glassware remain safe, the Pyrex ad in Parade offers a free potholder embellished with the four safety reminders mentioned above and a cute design that says “I (heart-shape) Pyrex.”  All you have to do to get one is go to the company website, the ad says. Always ready to accept a gift, I went there. I found a message that said, “Sorry.  We have given away all our potholders.” That’s okay, Pyrex.  I don’t need one to put under my nonstick metal pans.

Source(s):

Parade, February 6, 20ll

Consumer Reports, January, 2011.

Pyrexware.com “Pyrex—Cooking Solved”

http://4simplerules.amssupport.net/

eHow.com “Glass Cookware Safety”

http://www.ehow.com/way_5158911_glass-cookware-safety.html