PYREX is not pyrex

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coxhaus

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I just read PYREX made by Corning Inc. is not the same as pyrex lower case. Lower case pyrex can shatter. What gives? I grew up with PYREX going from hot to cold.

Is this a China thing?

I have a lot of my mom's old PYREX but I guess I don't want to buy any new pyrex. Is anybody using the new stuff?
 
I have a few of the original Pyrex dishes. They are fine, last pretty much forever.

I’ve never tried putting a really hot dish into cold water. I’m not sure why I would want to do that. Please experiment with some of your own dishes;-)
 
Plenty of proper borosilicate "glassware" is made in China.

Pyrex is being, uh, well I think it might break the politics rule to tell the truth about what's going on there.

Anyway, Oxo offers almost everything you could want in said material, just get that instead.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
Could be their labware still uses the original composition and is still sold as PYREX. I don't know, just a guess.
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Yes, indeed. Bloody expensive too. You definitely don"t want to be cutting corners when handling potentially dangerous chemicals and reactions.
 
The OG PYREX is the same type of glass that lab glassware is made from. Resistant to thermal cycling. Also resistant to impacts so it may not be destroyed by a fall from the counter or chip by tapping against another dish. Borosilicate glass.

It’s expensive, and they switched to soda lime (pyrex) some decades ago. They cited boron not being safe, I find it doubtful that it would be leaching in dangerous quantities from a vitrified substrate though so my guess it was entirely an economics decisions. Cheaper materials, and you get repeat customers when the soda lime eventually fails.

You can tell them apart, by looking at straight down through the rim. Soda lime is a blueish green color. Borosilicate should be clear.
 
The markings on the cheap Chinese fake pyrex measuring cups wear off in a couple months at best.

You can still get real PYREX, but it’s only available in metric and made in France. I guess the other option is thrift stores and garage sales.
 
I've used too much borosilicate lab glass to vastly prefer PYREX/Corning but hardly do lab experiments in the kitchen that require lab grade glass
 
I've been ordering borosilicate measuring cups from Amazon for a while now. Haven't found them in 8 cup, 1, 2, and 4 were no problem. I like them a lot better. They're thinner, for one thing.

Usually they arrive from England, for what that's worth.
 
we would break the internet if we discussed products that have diminished quality over time. very common.

most people have less care about a measuring cup, over other things like tech products. it is what it is.
 
image.jpg
 
So, if you're wondering what led to the decline of a household brand, well, we found our culprit:

https://www.yahoo.com/now/instant-b...OeVzvdZXLeBR-RnoJ0Gybu9YxPJBPMVisM80MJxmFPya4
Rating Action: Moody's affirms Instant Brands Ba3 CFR; rates new first lien term loan Ba3Global Credit Research - 22 Mar 2021New York, March 22, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") affirmed the ratings of Instant Brands Holdings Inc. (Instant Brands) including the company's Corporate Family Rating (CFR) at Ba3 and Probability of Default Rating at Ba3-PD. At the same time, Moody's assigned a Ba3 rating to the company's proposed new $450 million first lien term loan due 2028. The outlook is stable. The Ba3 rating on the company's existing first lien term loan due 2024 is unchanged, and will be withdrawn concurrent with the anticipated repayment of this debt obligation.Net proceeds from the proposed $450 million first lien term loan will be used to refinanced approximately $294 million of existing debt, including a $100 million seller note issued in conjunction with the March 2019 acquisition of Instant Brands, and to fund a $245 million dividend distribution to shareholders.
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Pyrex was vultured.
 
tcmx3 said:
So, if you're wondering what led to the decline of a household brand, well, we found our culprit:

https://www.yahoo.com/now/instant-b...OeVzvdZXLeBR-RnoJ0Gybu9YxPJBPMVisM80MJxmFPya4


Pyrex was vultured.
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eh

imo, the only meaningful decline to the brand happened in the 80s (or earlier?) when corning itself cheaped out and started making pyrex housewares out of tempered soda–lime glass. i think they made some stuff out of tempered soda–lime before that maybe in the 50s but eventually switched everything to it in the 80s for cost reasons. again, i think that's before they even sold/licensed the brand!

the tempered glass has better toughness/mechanical shock resistance and is cheaper, but borosilicate has better thermal shock resistance (lower coefficient of thermal expansion). so which one is better kinda depends on your use case. i have both kinds and have never broken any kind of baking dish, so whatever i guess.

the new ones probably shatter since they're tempered. i've never damaged my houswares, but i know from experience that borosilicate labware will just chip/crack like normal glass. so with borosilicate housewares, it is certainly possible to chip it and have a piece end up in food without noticing. i doubt that could happen with the tempered housewares.

i personally prefer borosilicate stuff, but i like chemistry.
 
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