Kitchen Drama My Pyrex Dish Exploded In the Oven

Luckily no glass got into the chicken.
Photo Credit: Jenee Darden

      

'Twas a few nights before Christmas and all through the house
Lingered the smell of baked chicken
and my Boyz II Men CD
was  jammin'
I bopped to the kitchen to check on my chicken
And saw on the glass dish, my wings were stickin'
 I added tap water to loosen them up
Not knowing my glass dish would soon erupt
The dish went BOOM.  I shrieked "AHHHH!"  Glass flew all over the oven. It was a hot glass mess...

This is just some of the glass I had to clean up. Not fun
Photo Credit: Jenee Darden

This was the second time within a year I experienced a glass dish explosion. The pictures above are from my first explosion.  Again I was baking chicken but the dish was lined with foil. I can't remember if I was adding water but when I turned over my wings, the darn thing went KA POW! and scared the hell out of me. I thought my dish was cracked and expansion from the hit caused it to blow.

For those of you thinking I'm stupid for adding water to a hot pan, I've been doing that for many years with no problem . And so has my mother and grandmother.  Apparently I'm not the only whose glass dish exploded in the oven. For the last six years, hundreds of people have sent in complaints to  Consumer Affairs about their glassware dishes exploding and CBS News reported last month (see video below)that thousands have gone to the hospital for injuries over the past nine years. It's not just Pyrex dishes, but Anchor Hocking and other brands as well. Apparently if the dishes go from extreme temperatures they explode.  According to the CBS story, Consumer Reports safety experts think companies like Pyrex are making their products with a different type of glass today, but Pyrex says they're using the same glass. And the company says there are warnings on the back of the dishes' labels.  But how many people read that small, black font on the back of those labels? Especially those of us who have been using Pyrex since we could reach the dials on the stove. It's a product we trust and had no problem with until now. Pyrex and other companies need to make their warning list more visible. For all of you cooks out there, be careful. Check the bottom of the CBS News story for a list of DOs and DON'Ts when handling your glass bakeware dishes.  Also Consumer Reports covers glass bakeware safety in their January issue.