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A great way for someone who is just starting out (or starting over) to collect some nice kitchenware on the cheap is to visit your local resale, antique, or pawn shops and find some older stuff that someone is trying to get rid of.
Or perhaps you have gotten some family heirlooms handed down to you that you wish to use but take care of at the same time.
Many times these older, nicer things are made of some type of glass. While this glass is certainly beautiful it isn't always as impervious to heat as we can get from modern kitchenware.
A big problem you might experience is that when you're pouring some steaming hot soup, tea, broth, hot chocolate, or whatever into this glass that it will shatter throwing hot liquid and shards of glass around like a kitchen land mine! Not a good situation!!
While nothing can absolutely prevent this explosive situation there are definitely ways to help control the situation.
Let's take a look at what can be done!
Before we start, a bonus tip. Don't use anything that is physically compromised. If your glass container has a visible crack or chip on it then don't use it. This spot is a weakness in the structure of the container. Every time you put stress on this spot, the chances of the container breaking increases. If you can, use that item for room temperature foods only.
Now that we've made sure that our container is as safe as possible, let's get some other safety measures in place.
Make sure you pre-heat the glass with hot tap water. Your tap water will never be at boiling temperature. (If it is, you should probably get a plumber out ASAP!) By filling the container with warmer water you will be keeping the glass from having to change temperatures so much which will put less stress on the glass.
Don't pour the water directly into the glass. Instead, pour it over the back of a spoon. This does a couple of things:
First, it removes some of the heat from the water by putting the heat into both the spoon and the air. You'll notice a lot more steam when you do this. That's the heat escaping into the air. Remember to keep your face away from the steam or you could get burned.
Second, it spreads the hot water around the glass instead of concentrating it on the bottom. By spreading the water (and the heat) around the glass you'll be helping the whole glass come up to temperature at the same rate.
Thank you for coming to class today.
God bless.
Class... Dismissed!!
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A great way for someone who is just starting out (or starting over) to collect some nice kitchenware on the cheap is to visit your local resale, antique, or pawn shops and find some older stuff that someone is trying to get rid of.
Or perhaps you have gotten some family heirlooms handed down to you that you wish to use but take care of at the same time.
Many times these older, nicer things are made of some type of glass. While this glass is certainly beautiful it isn't always as impervious to heat as we can get from modern kitchenware.
A big problem you might experience is that when you're pouring some steaming hot soup, tea, broth, hot chocolate, or whatever into this glass that it will shatter throwing hot liquid and shards of glass around like a kitchen land mine! Not a good situation!!
While nothing can absolutely prevent this explosive situation there are definitely ways to help control the situation.
Let's take a look at what can be done!
Start Smart!
Before we start, a bonus tip. Don't use anything that is physically compromised. If your glass container has a visible crack or chip on it then don't use it. This spot is a weakness in the structure of the container. Every time you put stress on this spot, the chances of the container breaking increases. If you can, use that item for room temperature foods only.
Now that we've made sure that our container is as safe as possible, let's get some other safety measures in place.
Keep It Safe
 |
| Protect that bad boy!! |
The most important step is to put a layer of insulation between your cold countertop or table and the glass container. Things like a dishtowel, potholder, or silicone mat would all work great. This will help the heat affect the glass more evenly. (More information on why this is important in the video below.)
 |
| Ssssssllllllooooowwwww... |
Pour the liquid into the container slowly. Don't get in a rush here. If you just dump all of the hot liquid in as fast as you can then you're going to create a major difference in the temperature of the inside and outside of the glass. That's not a good situation.
 |
| Pre-heating the glass |
Make sure you pre-heat the glass with hot tap water. Your tap water will never be at boiling temperature. (If it is, you should probably get a plumber out ASAP!) By filling the container with warmer water you will be keeping the glass from having to change temperatures so much which will put less stress on the glass.
 |
| This picture makes more sense in the video |
Don't pour the water directly into the glass. Instead, pour it over the back of a spoon. This does a couple of things:
First, it removes some of the heat from the water by putting the heat into both the spoon and the air. You'll notice a lot more steam when you do this. That's the heat escaping into the air. Remember to keep your face away from the steam or you could get burned.
Second, it spreads the hot water around the glass instead of concentrating it on the bottom. By spreading the water (and the heat) around the glass you'll be helping the whole glass come up to temperature at the same rate.
Video
Below is a link to the video I made on this subject. It goes into more detail than I do here. It is a bit sciency, but I try to keep it as entertaining as possible.
This is one of the first videos I ever did, and there are a lot of bloopers here! I watched it while writing this blog to make sure I was staying the course. I'm surprised that it's not more cringe-worthy. Perhaps that says more about my lack of growth as a filmmaker... 😖😖
Thank you for coming to class today.
God bless.
Class... Dismissed!!
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