A Recent “PYREX vs pyrex” Hack Went Viral. Unfortunately, It’s Not True.
The materials you cook with really matter, especially if you’re going to be using high temperatures or are worried about what chemicals might be finding their way into your food.
Recently, someone said you can tell what your PYREX dish was made from by looking at it – but can you?
@filipinasamidwest Difference in color too #pyrex #pyrextiktok #fyp #goodwill #goodwillfinds #thrifted #thrifting
People on the internet are all keen to figure out which brand – PYREX or pyrex – is made of the good stuff (borosilicate glass) as opposed to junk (soda-lime glass), with the general thought being that the all-caps brad is the “real” one.
You know, the one that won’t explode all over your kitchen and possibly slice you to ribbons.
Unfortunately, you can’t tell based on the size of the letters.
If you read the text of the Wikipedia article everyone links to, though, you’ll see that both the original and the “knockoff” versions have at some point experimented with using the soda-lime glass as opposed to borosilicate.
“Both trademarks, PYREX (all uppercase) and pyrex (all lowercase, introduced in 1975), were used interchangeably in the marketing of kitchenware products made of both borosilicate and soda lime glass, in addition to related accessories, for several decades.”
Image Credit: iStock
Basically, there’s no way to tell whether what you have is tempered soda-lime, borosilicate, or some combination of both – so you should definitely just assume you don’t own “real” Pyrex.
Particularly if you live in the US, where it hasn’t been manufactured in the past 30 years.
In fact, Pyrex was bought by Corelle Brands (previously World Kitchen) in 1998.
The truth is that soda-lime glass isn’t inherently dangerous. You’ll just want to avoid sudden, direct, and highly localized changes in temperatures.
@cookingatpamsplace URGENT! Warning! Why PYREX dishes shatter! . NOTE: Please SHARE this video so everyone will be aware and know to check their PYREX. If you have the lower case pyrex, I would suggest you bring it up or down to room temperture before going from cold to hot and vice versa. . #cookingathome #cookingatpamsplace #PYREX #pyrex #cooking #food #baking #pyrexcollector #fyp #duet
An example would be setting a cool or cold dish on a hot stone or pan, or putting a hot dish onto a cold or wet surface.
Also, as anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant could tell you, pouring something cold into an extremely hot dish is also a recipe for disaster.
Keep those tips in mind and you and yours should be safe in the kitchen.
From your Pyrex, anyway.
