I was washing the dishes and put a Pyrex measuring cup in the cabinet. Yes, it clinked a little on the cabinet. KABOOOOOM!!! It didn't just break. It exploded into a zillion little needle like shards, flying all over the room. My Pyrex measuring cup, blown to smithereens. This was weird. In my fingers was the only remains, part of the handle. It was surprising that it didn't cause an injury.
I told my mother about it, and she seemed to be aware of the strange Pyrex dish reputation for explosions. "Tempered glass is under pressure, so that when it breaks it can explode," she informed me. Oh really? This was news.
As some may know, since I suppose I've raved about it, I've been something of a fan of my Duralex glasses. And so, hearing about the Duralex receivership, I visited the Amazon Duralex page to see if there were any of my wonderful glasses left. Goodness, I had a disturbing realization. First I read reviews that people had ordered bowls that spontaneously exploded in their hands without provocation. It sounded like the Pyrex measuring cup phenomenon. Well, maybe it was something about the shape of the bowls that just didn't work, I thought.
But then ... I read that glasses were also exploding ... tempered glass glasses. What?? I did have one glass that broke. I didn't see it happen, but I heard that it at least had the decency to break into a few pieces instead of millions of little needles. But these reviews were saying that the glasses exploded into dust. They were dangerous, they said.
I honestly don't know what to think now. I googled "exploding Pyrex," and there was an article by Consumer Reports that if the dish was taken to temperature extremes suddenly it might have a failure. This wasn't what happened to me. The merest touch and this measuring cup was history. No thermal extremes. Not even a clink that would have broken most dishes. It was an amazing sight to behold.
Go figure.
https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/why-pyrex-bowls-explode/
Soda-lime glass:
Borosilicate glass:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borosilicate_glass
More Pyrex mayhem:
https://lajollamom.com/pyrex-glassware-explodes/
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/pyrex-under-fire-for-reported-explosions/5939/
https://gizmodo.com/the-pyrex-glass-controversy-that-just-wont-die-1833040962
