Shattered
ERTAINLY There must be science for this…
I broke my Anchor glass measuring cup tonight. It’s one of those huge 6 cup things that make it real easy to serve pancakes, mixing the batter in the only implement needed. In fact, tonight, I had mixed up a packet of organic, instant refried beans – and made nachos with ‘em! Yum.
I broke it by knocking a spice jar out of the cabinet. It hit the cup (filled with refried beans) on the rim. There was a sound like unto a mini-explosion, and suddenly there was glass everywhere. And beans. Glass shards hidden in bean mush is not a good safety situation!
The upper part of the cup, empty of beans, broke into huge rings of glass. But the bottom part of the cup, filled with mush, literally shattered into toothpicks. It was as if it had been pulverised. It was a pain to pick up, but I managed to do so without cutting myself, (Deo Gratias!).
So the question is why was the glass pulverised?
Tags: cooking, glass, kitchen, science | Category: other geekery
Discussion: You came too late to this party
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That happened to me, too! I was astonished that such a small impact could shatter a Pyrex glass measuring utensil. I don’t remember what hit the utensil, but the impact was insignificant. There must be some huge stresses in the glass that results in the shattering.
I did some research http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/03/pyrex_panic.html and you have been the victim of a reported defect in Pyrex that the company refuses to acknowledge. Apparently when Pyrex decides to go, it explodes. Follow the link and weep.
There is a similarity, Fr E, in that Pyrex *does* do shrapnel very well! Shards upon Shards. I think that might be related to the thickness of the glass, however. I’m wondering if *any* breakage of pyrex results in shards…
But the story doesn’t cover the same sort of thing that happened to me. The common thread in their stories is going from hot to cold. Although Pyrex refused to admit it: this is a common problem with *all* glass and china and even crockery. Heat something up in the oven to 400 degrees and then put it in your sink: it will shatter with great force. My recent acquisition of baking crockery came with advice never to put the stuff in a hot oven or to set them down on cold surfaces.
When metal cools or heats unevenly, it will bend – returning to its original shape when equilibrium is reached. Glass hasn’t the freedom to bend: and so it shatters. And it really explodes. I’ve seen the same thing happen when a fine crystal goblet is washed in too-hot water and then rinsed, too quickly, in too-cold water.
In fact, I’m surprised Pyrex doesn’t note this as consumer fault: it’s what happens with glass. Period. I’ve done this, too, to a glass bread pan and I certainly don’t fault the glass for acting like, well, glass… when I acted like an idiot putting cold water in it after I took it out of the oven.
The event I posted about had the the measuring cup at room temperature – as were the beans. I was guessing that there is something in the gloopy material – the beans – that transferred and magnified the energy of the small impact. Or maybe it was the liquid in the beans? Yo no ce.
Jeff – did you have anything in the measuring cup at the time?
No, there was nothing in the measuring utensil at the time. It was sitting on the kitchen counter and I opened the cabinet above and some object fell out (it may have been a small metal container of one of the spices I have – very lightweight) and struck the rim of the Pyrex and it just shattered. I was astonished. I’m well aware of what sudden temperature changes will do to glass utensils, but this was at room temperature. Very interesting!