The Pyrex Glass Controversy That Just Won't Die (2019)

This is good advice even if you are using a steel or cast iron bowl and a cheaper countertop because replacing countertop is expensive even with cheap materials.

Thermal stress wears most objects.

It's hit or miss but the loss of trust and goodwill occurred and hasn't been reversed. It's safer to not buy their new stuff so to not reward them for resting on their brand laurels. There are plenty of old and other borosilicate products to avoid them.

> It is really a head scratcher that it is so hard to find quality food storage in 2025.

Anything that seems basic that we cannot master in <current year>, especially if we already mastered it, can usually be explained by a desire to increase profit margin.

I've been buying third party silicone lids on Amazon that are compatible with pyrex and anchor glass storage.

>> It is really a head scratcher that it is so hard to find quality food storage in 2025.

We're living in a disposable society. As companies have found out. its better to sell something that lasts for a few years and then (as you have pointed out) force your customers to buy a replacement or a "new and improved" version.

I remember growing up durability and longevity was always a part of the marketing of specific products. I vividly remember in the 70's watching commercials for cookware and the tagline that was used was, "The last mixer you'll ever buy!" or "Commercial grade blender! The blender that your children will use!" that sort of stuff. Nobody really touts the durability or longevity of their products any more.

Silicon lids on glass containers are a great combo. I use Weck jars, wide-mouth for easier cleaning, in sizes 1L, 500mL, and 200mL, in my commercial kitchen. And stainless steel hotel pans and lids for everything else.

Consumer-grade stuff is a waste of time for several reasons, but in-particular the lack of standardized sizes. When I do catering and people ask about food storage I recommend those wide-mouth glass jars and 4-inch 1/9th and 6-inch 1/6th pans, and standardized baking sheets (1/2 and 1/4 sizes mostly) with re-usable lids.

The biggest problem is finding ergonomically low-effort, efficient storage glassware usable by elderly and disabled people. I wished OXO went away from plastic entirely.

Borosilicate glass is also very noticeably lighter than normal soda-lime glass.

After you have handled both kinds of glass it is difficult to confuse them, especially in bigger vessels.

Besides the fact that borosilicate glass has a lower density, the vessels made of borosilicate glass are made typically with thinner walls than those made of normal glass, which makes even greater the weight difference.

For what it's worth, the article says the exact opposite

  Protip: Look for all-caps PYREX graphics which can either indicate that is vintage or that it’s from Europe, where a company called Arc International owns the Pyrex brand and still makes its cookware out of borosilicate.

You have it flipped. The "good" versions are in all caps, the newer models are lowercase. I have some old, borosilicate pyrex and the name is capitalized. If you look up a new pyrex measuring cup, you'll note that the name is lowercase.

One time I had a Pyrex casserole dish in the oven under a pie to catch any overflow. When the pie was done, I was in the middle of washing dishes, so I pulled the casserole dish out of the oven and dropped it straight in the dish water. Boom.

I managed to explode a 9x13 by placing the cooled dish on the stovetop to free up counter space. This wasn't initially a problem, the problem came when I turned on what I thought was the front burner to start cooking, but was actually the burner the 9x13 was straddling. The explosion was interesting, it didn't make a "bang" but rather a "pop" sound and the shattered glass flew all over the kitchen. It probably would have been worse, but the 9x13 was full of brownie that probably absorbed some of the kinetic energy.

It makes me wonder how glass cooktops avoid this problem. They have enormous uneven heating stresses every time they are used, and somehow manage to avoid flying apart.