Can Glass Pyrex Go in the Oven?

Before 1916, when the first Pyrex pie plate was made, home cooks didn’t have any glass bakeware that wouldn’t break at both high and low temperatures. Pyrex casserole dishes and roasters could go into a very hot oven, an icebox, or a refrigerator without any problems.

Since then, everyone has heard of the brand’s glass plates.

But now, many home cooks think twice before putting their Pyrex dishes in the oven because they are worried about the temperature limits for glass bakeware. Modern glass bakeware can crack or break in a hot oven, but this is usually easy to avoid.

High temperatures and glass plates

Most of the time, thermal shock is to blame when a glass pan breaks in the oven. It happens when the temperature of a piece of glass changes quickly. Glass gets bigger or smaller when it gets hot or cold.

When a cold glass dish is put in a hot oven or a hot dish is quickly cooled down, different parts of the glass expand or contract at different rates. The dish could get cracked or even blow up.

The type of glass used in a dish affects how well it can handle sudden temperature changes.

Borosilicate glass was used to make the first oven-safe Pyrex dishes, which your grandparents might have used in the 1900s. This type of glass is made with boron, which makes it very resistant to high temperatures. It wouldn’t break even if an oven was turned up to its highest setting.

In other words, the first people who bought Pyrex didn’t have to worry about their glass pans breaking in the oven.

Today, Pyrex dishes that can go in the oven are made of soda-lime glass that has been tempered to make it stronger. This makes the tempered glass less likely to break than regular soda-lime glass, which is used to make window panes.

However, tempered glass is not as strong as borosilicate glass. Tempered glass is also used to make many types of oven-safe bakeware and plates.

How to put Pyrex in the oven?

Pyrex makes a wide variety of dishes, baking tools, and storage containers right now. Some of its dishes are safe to use in the oven at any temperature. Make sure you only use baking dishes that are marked as safe for the oven.

The oven may also be safe for a Pyrex measuring cup. Some mixing bowls and dishes made of Pyrex can go in the microwave but not in the oven. Don’t put Pyrex on a hot plate, over an open flame, on a grill, or anywhere else that heats things up.

If your oven-safe Pyrex dishes have been in your family for a long time, they may be made of borosilicate glass, which is very strong. But even if your Pyrex is made of tempered glass, it’s very unlikely that it will explode in a 400-degree oven. There is no standard temperature limit for glass bakeware, but these dishes can handle normal baking temperatures.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission gets a small number of reports each year about glass pans that have broken in the oven. These reports cover a wide range of oven temperatures. In a low-temperature oven, a glass dish will sometimes suddenly break or blow up.

This can happen with any brand of glass bakeware, and it may have less to do with the temperature limits of glass bakeware and more to do with how the user uses it.

If you take some steps to avoid thermal shock, your Pyrex dishes that can go in an oven up to 400 degrees should be fine.

First, you should always let the oven heat up all the way before you put the dish in. Don’t put cold or frozen food in a Pyrex and put it straight into a hot oven. Put a little bit of liquid in the bottom of the dish before you put something in the oven that will release liquid or fat as it cooks.

So, can it go in the oven?

I started using Pyrex glassware before 1998, so I think it’s almost miraculous that it can stand up to heat. Back then, you didn’t have to worry about glassware breaking when you moved a dish from the refrigerator to the freezer to the oven because of the temperature change. (This is a thing called “thermal shock.”)

It was a beautiful thing for any home cook who likes to make a 13×9-inch casserole for the family on Sunday night and store it in the fridge for a quick weeknight meal.

But what many people don’t know is that Pyrex glassware is no longer able to handle sudden temperature changes. If you don’t use it right, the dish can break into hundreds of tiny pieces in your oven, which could be dangerous.

What you need to know is this:

When Pyrex was first made by Corning in 1908, borosilicate glass was used. That’s why Pyrex can handle sudden changes in temperature. All Pyrex glassware was made of borosilicate glass until 1998.

So, if you have Pyrex glassware made before 1998, like this beautiful vintage design, you can use it the same way you always have, like making baked mac and cheese casserole and leaving the dish on your cold granite countertop or putting it in the fridge right away for dinner tomorrow.

Consumer Reports says that after Corning sold the Pyrex brand to World Kitchen LLC in 1998, the company stopped using borosilicate glass and switched to soda-lime glass. Soda-lime glass is just ordinary glass.

Consumer Reports says the following:

• Don’t put Pyrex on top of your stove.
• Don’t move your Pyrex from one extreme temperature to the other. If you make a meal the night before to eat in the morning, take it out of the fridge and let it get closer to room temperature while you preheat the oven.

In other words, you can still rely on easy casseroles as long as you watch out for temperature extremes!

How to put Pyrex bowls in the oven without breaking them?

The worst thing that could happen to your dinner would be to hear glass breaking in your oven. Imagine spending hours making a big meal, only to have a glass dish explode inside the oven, sending thousands of shards of glass into the food.

When you bake with glass, it can and does happen. But if you follow some rules and are careful, you can avoid this terrible thing.

Thermal shock happens when a glass that can break is exposed to a sudden change in temperature.

It can happen quickly, from cold to hot or hot to cold.

When you put a pyrex glass bowl in a hot oven, all of a sudden, the side that is closest to the heat source gets hot while the other sides that are farther from the heat source stay cool.

This causes different pressures to be put on different parts of the surface, which causes stress on the surface of the glass.

Because of this, the glass bowl breaks into pieces.

Look for Cracks

Before you use your Pyrex, make sure it’s in good shape. You should check the dish for any cracks, chips, or other damage.

Any moisture from your food will seep into the cracks, and when it gets hot, the cracks will get bigger and the dish will break. If there are no cracks or chips in your dish, you’re good to go.

Start Your Oven

Once the glass has broken, it’s not easy to clean up an oven.

To avoid all the mess, all you have to do is preheat your oven before putting Pyrex glass bowls inside.

When you preheat the oven, the temperature inside stays the same. So, the glass will be the same temperature on all sides, whether it is close to the radiant heat or farther away.

Use Glass Bowls That Have Been Cooled to Room Temperature

Even though you might be tempted to take the bowl of food from the freezer and put it in the oven right away, you should always use glass bowls that are at room temperature in an oven.

I would strongly advise you not to shock the glass by going from freezing to heating or from heating to freezing.

Your glass bowls will last longer if you let them cool to room temperature after using them.

You could take the bowl out of the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes before putting it in the oven.

Pour the Liquid into the Glass Bowl’s Bottom

Another thing that can cause thermal shock is if juice or liquid from cold food drips onto a hot glass surface.

Pour a small amount of liquid into the bottom of your glass bowl to stop this from happening. Once water is added, any other liquid that comes out at a different temperature won’t hurt the glass.

The liquid will act as a cushion in the oven and make it less likely that the cake will break.

Read More: Best Quiet Juicers: The Ultimate List

Take the Pyrex Bowl Out of the Oven with Both Hands

You should use both (padded) hands to take the glass bowl out of the oven. It will help you hold the pot or pan firmly.

I have to warn you. Never use wet oven pads or mitts. Pyrex is good at transferring heat. Burns could happen if you touch a hot bowl with wet mitts. Make sure your oven gloves are dry before you put them on to get your glass bowl out of the oven.

Set It on a Dry Cloth or Towel

Place your Pyrex glass bowl on top of a folded dry kitchen towel or napkin.

This will keep your glass bowl from breaking from a sudden change in temperature and help it cool down to room temperature.

Also Read: Best Composite Kitchen Sinks

Keep the Temperature within the Range

Pyrex is made to handle higher temperatures. But there are limits to everything. Pyrex can be used safely in ovens with temperatures below 450 degrees F.

This glassware is safe to use as long as the temperature doesn’t go above that. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a regular oven or a convection oven.

In the instructions for making all the Pyrex glasses that can go in the oven, it says how hot they can get.

To make your bowl last longer, it’s best to stay below the recommended temperature limit.

Pyrex glass takes a long time to get hot, but once it does, it stays hot for a long time. The best range for Pyrex glass bowls is between 300F and 450F.

Even though you took all the right steps, if the glass does break, let it cool down before picking up the pieces. Small pieces of glass can be cleaned up pretty well with a hand-held vacuum.

Don’t Put It on the Stove!

When your Pyrex is in the oven or microwave, the heat is spread out evenly on the surface of the glass.

But what happens if a flame is put directly on it? Can I put these glasses on a gas stovetop?

Not even close! If you put direct heat on Pyrex glass, it will grow and break. So it’s best not to put glassware on gas or electric burners.

How hot can Pyrex glass bowls go in the oven?

Pyrex glass is made of very safe materials, so it is safe to bake in it at 350–400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In 1988, Pyrex stopped making most of its products from borosilicate. Since then, the pyrex glass has become less resistant to sudden changes in temperature.

So, you can use the glass container at 450F, but you should always preheat your oven and let the glass cool in the oven before taking it out.

Benefits of Pyrex glass bowls

• It won’t leach chemicals into your food.
• It is made of materials that are strong and can handle the heat. Soda lime is the main ingredient in Pyrex glass. Since it doesn’t have pores, it won’t absorb food smells or change the taste of food. The best part is that food won’t stain glass bowls.
• The glass bowls can handle rapid temperature changes and don’t break easily.
• It can be used in the oven, the freezer, the microwave, and the dishwasher.
• You can use the bowls to bake with ease. It’s better to grease them first, so the cake is easy to take out after it’s baked.
• The beautiful Pyrex glass bowls can be used to store, bake, heat, and microwave food. The plastic lead containers are easy to clean and don’t have any BPA in them. The glass bowls are very sturdy and can be stacked on top of each other to save space in the kitchen or cabinet.
• Pyrex glass bowls are made in the United States.

Places where you shouldn’t use Pyrex glass bowls

Pyrex glass bowls should never be used for the following types of cooking:

• Under a broiler
• On a stovetop
• On a grill
• Making a dish in the microwave (just reheating is fine)
• Heating an almost empty glass bowl
• Heating butter or oil inside the glass bowl

If you use Pyrex glass bowls for any of the above cooking methods or steps, the bowls could break and shatter.

You shouldn’t put a plastic Pyrex lid in the oven. You can use a stainless steel plate, aluminum foil, or a baking sheet instead of the lid.

There are new Pyrex glass bowls on the market that say they can be used in a hot oven. I wouldn’t advise you to use temperatures higher than 500F.

How to keep Pyrex safe outside of the oven?

Because any big temperature change can cause thermal shock, people who own Pyrex dishes should also be careful about letting them get too cold. Don’t put a hot dish of food on the cold metal rings of your stove burner or directly on a cold countertop when you take it out of the oven. Put it instead on a pot holder or dish towel.

If you’re saving food in a Pyrex dish for later, let the dish cool to room temperature before putting it in the fridge or freezer. Even if you take all the food out of the dish right away, let it cool on the pot holder or towel for a while before putting it in the sink to wash.

Thermal shock can happen if you put a hot dish in a cold sink or run cool water over a hot dish.

Which type of glass is Pyrex? 

The type of glass used to make your Pyrex dish will depend on when it was made.

Before 1998, borosilicate glass was used to make Pyrex. This material can handle sudden changes in temperature. This means that the material can handle sudden changes in temperature from cold to hot and back again. If you use Pyrex in your oven, you’ll still need to follow the safety tips we gave you earlier in the post.

Pyrex has been made with a different material since 1998. Soda-lime glass is what the company has been using to make Pyrex, so there is nothing special about it.

Because soda-lime glass isn’t resistant to temperature changes, extra care needs to be taken. In this case, it’s very important to make sure you don’t put boiling food right into a cold dish.

You shouldn’t put a hot dish straight into the freezer, either. If you have a newer Pyrex, don’t change the temperature all at once.

How do you tell if a glass is Pyrex?

Is that old dish you want to buy at an estate sale made of Pyrex?

It seems that way, but how do you know for sure?

When Corning made Pyrex in 1915, they started putting what is called a “back stamp” on their products to show who made them. A back stamp is a logo that is on the bottom of a dish. When it comes to Pyrex, the back stamp is usually raised instead of inked. This makes it so that the back stamp can’t be washed for years.

It can be harder to figure out how old your Pyrex is, but it is possible. Pyrex experts have found out what a Pyrex back stamp will look like after a certain number of years. From year to year, the logo might look a little different. Pyrex would sometimes use a certain color combination around the back stamp to show how many years it had been made.

This collector’s website has a lot of information that can help you figure out how to properly identify your old Pyrex.

What’s the best alternative to Pyrex that can go in the oven?

A Le Creuset pot or pan is always a good choice.

If you don’t want to risk breaking glass in the oven, you could use cast iron instead, which always works. Valerie Li says that the Le Creuset Dutch Oven is her favorite. It’s also one of the best Dutch ovens we’ve tried.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

Pyrex glassware has been used in kitchens for more than 100 years. Because these dishes are made to last, you can use them in a regular oven, a convection oven, or even a microwave. As long as you follow some safety rules, you should be able to cook or bake with Pyrex without worrying about ruining your food.

Pyrex bowls come in different sizes and shapes, look nice, and last a long time.

Because they are strong, you can use them safely in the oven. Above 400F, you have to be very careful and follow the directions from the manufacturer.

Don’t put the plastic lids in the oven at any time. Any glass bowl can crack and break if it gets too hot or too cold. Make sure to heat up your oven and don’t let the temperature change quickly.

Before putting the bowl in the oven, let it cool down to room temperature. Put a little bit of water into the bowl’s bottom. Take the bowl off with both hands and set it on a dry surface like a kitchen towel or napkin.

I hope I’ve helped you learn more about how to use Pyrex glass bowls in the oven.

Now that you’re ready, I wish you the best of luck!