How To Make Glass Shard Brownies.
Eight minutes after I put a pan of brownies in the oven this morning, I heard what can only be described as a loud explosion. It sounded like a bomb went off. I peeked inside the oven to discover that my glass dish of brownie batter had shattered. Thank goodness I didn’t peak in moments earlier!
My first thought was, “now I don’t have dessert for the Super Bowl!” Naturally.
Then I spent over an hour just willing it to go away. After some extensive whining, complaining, soul searching and information gathering on Twitter and Facebook, I decided to attempt to clean it up by myself because Mr. How Sweet wouldn’t be home for a few hours.
I scraped up the batter (which was batter at first, but ended up “baking” on the oven floor) and as many pieces of glass as I could with a spatula. This was only after it took me about another hour to get the bottom rack off due to the batter “glue” and large shards of glass wedged in between.
[This is currently still sitting on our kitchen floor. I have separation anxiety.]
Then after getting that wretched rack out, I used the shop vac. Don’t worry, I wore oven mitts and sunglasses as goggles.
Here’s the details:
- The dish was Pyrex, which I’ve used for years. Not anymore. I will never buy it again. I don’t believe it was a “fluke.” After doing some research, this actually happens often.
- The oven temperature was on 350 degrees.
- The dish was in the middle of the oven, touching nothing else.
- The dish was room temperature when it went into the oven, not hot or cold.
- The dish was fairly new. It didn’t have any (visible) cracks.
- I just used it last week at a higher temperature (375), to bake cookie bars.
- I’m not contacting the company, because I honestly don’t care what they will give me. I don’t want a coupon and I don’t want a new dish. I won’t ever use Pyrex or glass dishes again.
Now who wants a brownie?
154 Comments on “How To Make Glass Shard Brownies.”
oh my gosh. How scary! I’m glad you didn’t peek earlier. Can you imagine? Thanks for the heads up, now I’m leery of using pyrex. I’ve heard of this happening a few times.
Oh my word! I first read the title and thought, “Hmmm…maybe this is a take on Broken Glass Jello Salad?!!”
That is so scary. Thank you for the heads up, too, since most of my baking dishes are Pyrex. I’ll never buy another one, either!
Awww I’m so sorry that happened! =(
I’ve heard of this happening before…now I definitely won’t bake in pyrex dishes!
I’m ALWAYS worried about that happening with my Pyrex. Isn’t that just terrible? You would think the company would have addressed these problems by now!
Wow-I’ve never heard of Pyrex doing that before, but that sure would be scary to hear! It makes me a little nervous to use my pyrex dishes again! The brownie, minus the glass, still looks delicious:)
I’m always scared of this happening. Very happy to hear you weren’t hurt.
I don’t have any pyrex, because I just always worried… while their pricetags were so affordable i secretly worried that they were SOOOO cheap!
Gah! How scary! Now I need a new pie dish…and thank goodness you didn’t open the door a few minutes earlier!
I’ve never heard of such a thing happening before! I would of probably peed myself if I heard a mini explosion in my kitchen. I’m glad you’re alright, and only your brownies had to suffer. Eee gads, now I’m going to be paranoid using my Pyrex dishes in the oven. I’ll probably look into investing into something of better quality soon.
My mom was just recently telling me about Pyrex having problems with this. Guess I’ll be keeping mine out of the oven. How annoying. So sorry about your beautiful brownies ! What a way to start the day :o(
I had a pyrex circular baker break on me in the oven once, it was full of pork and veggies. That was a big mess to clean up!
Ugh. I bet.
The old Pyrex, which was manufactured in the USA, does not explode. The company was bought out by another company which does its manufacturing in China. What a surprise.
Did not know this!
I must admit I am a little partial to my Pyrex, but the exploding glass stuff does make me pretty nervous. Not quite sure what my final feelings are, but thought I’d share from Pyrex’s website. According to Pyrex the way they make Pyrex has not changed, and it is still made in the USA.
http://www.pyrexware.com/index.asp?pageId=30
Yes, you are 100% correct, I live about 20 minutes from Corning, NY and I can guarantee that they are still made right there as they employee about half of the town! There is a factory outlet there and you can tour the museum. . .
Ugh, that is so disappointing. I don’t use Pyrex anymore either because what happened to you has happened to me. Twice. Once with cookie bars and once with a pan of enchiladas meant to feed 5 dinner guests. Not cool, Pyrex. Not cool at all.
I use Le Creuset type baking dishes now. They’re a lot more expensive but they seem to last forever.
Glad nobody was hurt by the exploding brownies.
I bought a few Le Creuset dishes yesterday at Sur La Table on sale! I was so excited. Maybe it’s fate?
Oh no!!! That seriously sucks. I use Pyrex all the time, and have never had that happen to me before. I’m crossing my fingers it never does.
Ugh. Not a fun way to spend Sunday morning!
That is so bizarre and unfortunate! I’ve never heard of that happening unless the dish was cold, and the oven was extremely hot. I’m sorry for your lose.
Sidenote: When I saw the tweet for the new post my mind went… “Glass Shard Brownies?… Hmmm…. it must have some kind of candy topping… how do I feel about brownies with a sheet of candy on top? That sounds difficult. But I trust Jessica. It’s probably GENIUS!”
hahaha, and here you meant ACTUAL glass shards! Now I’m the genius.
I meant, “Sorry for your LOSS.”
Like I said. Me = Genius
Oh NO! stress, stress, stress. I hope there wasn’t damage to your oven?!
I’m not sure. I haven’t used it yet because we are still cleaning!
Oh man I am so glad this didn’t happen to me…and so sorry it happened to you! I’ve never had that issue with Pyrex, but I’ll have to watch out now!
I have a 9×13 Pyrex dish in the oven right now. Please God don’t let it break on me. At least it only has a noodle dish in it, so no brownies will be harmed!
I would still contact the company if I were you. If they hear from enough people that their dishes explode even when used according to manufacturer’s directions, *and* that they are losing customers (and getting bad publicity–forward your blog post!) they might go back to the old, safer formula.
Good point!
I think they do know about it. Strangely enough, there is a full page ad in Parade magazine giving away pot holders that define proper Pyrex usage.
Sorry that happened to you, Jessica. It sounds like a manufacturing defect to me.
OMG I thought you actually had recipe for glass shard brownies im like “thats a first” LOL
WHOA! I didn’t know that about Pyrex…I’m definitely not going to use mine anymore & buy another brand. That’s really scary & could do some serious damage to your oven & even MORE important- YOU! I’m glad you didn’t open the oven to check on them…yikes!
I haven’t had a problem with Pyrex, but I did overboil water in an Emeril saucepan once, to the point where it was being heated but empty. When I realized, I ran to the kitchen, [icked up the pan and which point the bottom silver peice separated from the rest of the pan and liquid scalding hot copper went EVERYWHERE! Luckily none touched me, but where it hit the linoleum was completely charred and it was hot enough to warp the top of the oven.
I googled and it seems that was a common problem also.
Its ridiculous that these companies can get away with this.
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So bummed about the brownies.
But so glad you are okay!
I’m sorry for your loss (the brownies)
But is it wrong that I still want to eat it?
I have problems.
I had no idea this kind of thing happened often. Holy smokes! And a serious shame to lose those delicious looking future brownies. :(
I had a Pyrex bowl shatter in my hand while I was melting chocolate in it. I still use my baking dishes, but I won’t ever try to melt chocolate in one again!
I always melt my chocolate in them too. Never again!
I had the same thing happen to me when roasting eggplant. It exploded after I put it on my stove. Glad no one got hurt!
Ah! That is so scary. I am actually glad it happened IN the oven.
I’ve never heard of a random problem with glass dishes before. Hmm…The only time I’ve ever had one break, I put it in the oven and then poured boiling water in it. It hadn’t had a chance to warm up yet. I also know that putting something chilled into a room-temperature glass dish then putting it in a preheated oven can make it break.
BUT I’ll do some research on it since you brought up an issue that’s new to me!
That is terrifying. I wont be putting my Pyrex dishes into the oven anymore I can tell you that.
That’s so scary, sorry you had to deal with that mess. Glad you didn’t get hurt though!
Having just read through some of the comments and then googled it…
First: anyone using glass bakeware on the stove is asking for trouble. Glass should NEVER be used on the stove or in any way touching a direct heat source.
Second: temperature changes that can be considered anything but very slow can cause glass to break. ALL glass, not just Pyrex.
Third: Pyrex, the brand, has been made of soda lime glass since 1998 and is not as strong as other glass bakeware made with borosilicate glass. ALSO…World Kitchen, who has owned Pyrex since 1998, is not tempering Pyrex properly…A lot of tests have been run showing that if it’s tempered at all, it’s not uniform.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/08/pyrex.html
Conclusion: Glass bakeware, as long as it’s used properly and is not Pyrex brand, is safe. If you’re not 100% positive what “properly” means, read the fine print on the back before you buy it. :-D
This has been a public service announcement from Sex, Food, and Rock & Roll. Over ‘n out.
This is all the stuff I read too. Unfortunately none of the above mentioned was what I was doing. Mine basically exploded for no reason, other than it is Pyrex and terribly made!
I’m sure you WERE doing everything right. The problem everyone is having with Pyrex brand is that it’s made from glass that is impact resistant but weaker against temperatures and is not tempered very well, if at all. So they all just explode randomly – but only Pyrex brand. It probably just couldn’t handle the change from cooler room temperature to hot oven even though it SHOULD have been able to.
Bah. What a mess. I’m so sorry that happened to you. :-(
That is scary. I’ll be afraid to buy any new pyrex stuff then. All of my stuff is years old and non exploding.
I have had two glass dishes explode on me in the oven. Luckily both time I was just roasting squash so the food didn’t make a huge mess. What a pain! I just assumed that I had done something wrong but apparently not. I think the dishes may have been pyrex but I’m not really sure? I will be investing in some better baking pans I guess.
Oh my!! That is so scary. What a pain in the ass to clean though. I used a Pyrex dish for my brownie bars I made today. I’m with you… I may not use glass to bake with either. I’ve broken glass lids that went with pots and and pans by setting it in the kitchen sink. Apparently super hot and super cold water are not buddies!
I was devastated to hear this when it happened to you this morning! I mean chocolate brownies! Of all things to have it happen to! Could’ve happened to a freakin’ chicken casserole…..but brownies!
You mentioned that you were not going to contact Pyrex. AT LEAST MAKE THEM REFUND YOU IN….BROWNIE MIX!
Well, one good thing…..no 2:
You were not hurt and your oven is clean!
Lisa
I just said that to my husband – at least the oven is clean!
That is so crazy! I use pyrex dishes ALL THE TIME. So scary. Glad you’re okay. RIP brownies….
Wow. scary. Glad you’re ok!
I’ve heard TONS of scary Pyrex stories!!! My mom actually sent me a stainless steel brownie and cake replacement pan, just so I would throw my old Pyrex dishes away! I’ll never use them again, either.
Glad you’re okay– and so sorry to hear about a wasted batch of brownies!!
Ohh…sorry that happened to you Jess. I’ve had a pyrex dish crack but not explode, and assumed it was because I put it under the broiler without thinking. I still use pyrex, but it was purchased long before 1998. I do thank you for the heads up and all the info in the comments because I was considering expanding my collection, but will find another product.
Dear God. That sounds absolutely awful. However, the description of you in shop vac-ing your oven in your sunglasses made me laugh out loud. Well done.
Oh my gosh….someone was JUST telling me about this!! I think my dad actually!? Glad you were not hurt!
I won’t bake bar cookies in Pyrex after a similar experience about a decade ago. This looks like an awful experience – I’m sorry.
That is awful! I’m so sorry. I would have flipped out!
holy hell.
omg. That sucks beyond words. you will be finding glass shards everywhere..for months/years. Sadly, it will be true.
Ever had a window broken in your car? Same thing.
I hope you have a few cold drinks at some superbowl parties :)
My daughter has had this happen to her. She was reheating some baked spaghetti in a Pyrex loaf pan — in the microwave. That was the first time I had ever heard of Pyrex exploding like that. I only own a few pieces of Pyrex, and thankfully they’re all older than 1998. I certainly won’t be buying any new pieces now!
I was taking a cooking class from a well known local chef and that happened with our lasagna that we were making with her. She had never seen it happen before. I think it was pyrex, but not positive. She recovered well by making a new one before class ended since he wanted us to try the dish.
UGHHHH sooo annoyiingggg!! and possibly dangerous!!? I would literally have just looked in the oven, cried, yelled…and started planning my move…
Oh, the horror!!! A similar thing happened to me the first time that I used my pizza stone. It shattered everywhere…and ruined my doughy yummy pizza.