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I have a little more experience with glass than the average consumer, and I also own "new" Pyrex and a set that's ~25 years old.
I make glass beads as a hobby. It's well-known in that world that COE -coefficient of expansion -will tell you everything about how glass will perform under temperature changes. Borosilicate, or hard glass, has a COE around 30. Soda lime, or soft glass, has a COE between 90 and 110. When glass expands or contracts, it breaks. To use an example from my glassworking experience, I can put a large rod of borosilicate glass at room temperature directly into the flame of a torch (temperature between 1500 and 2000F), and it won't shatter. Try the same thing with a soft glass rod of the same size, and you'll have shards of hot glass all over your workbench.
Also, you can't mix different COEs of glass in the same piece; it renders it structurally unstable. So Pyrex has to be either hard glass or soft glass; it cannot be a mixture of the two.
Similarly, I got a set of Pyrex bowls for my wedding that lasted for years before succumbing to breakage (via drop). I still have one of them. I also have a newer set of the same size bowls. One of them chipped on the bottom almost immediately. At that point I wasn't aware of the differences in glass, so I didn't know why, but now I do.
Borosilicate is far more expensive than soda lime glass. I'm quite sure the change was made as a cost savings. Personally, I'd gladly pay more (and it would probably be double, at least) for a Pyrex set made of borosilicate.
One more tidbit: glass pieces of any size must be annealed in a temperature controlled kiln to ensure structural stability, long life, and shatter resistance. That includes both borosilicate and soft glass. I would never sell a bead to someone that hadn't been annealed; a piece like that can break under any tiny stress. So Pyrex's assurance that they heat-treat their glass is undoubtedly correct, but I'd wager they always have.
Caveat: I don't own this set but am considering purchasing it with the knowledge that it needs to be treated like it's made of glass.
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I've bought some of the modern pieces and frankly, I am really skittish about using them. I only use them to store food and never to cook or warm food. It's not worth the risk. If you're like me and have any of the older Pyrex, you can feel the difference by handling both types of pieces. (I've been using Pyrex for over 30 years and the "new" stuff is definitely different than the Pyrex I bought when I first got married.)
Buy the old stuff made from borosilicate glass even if you have to go to garage sales or eBay. (I've found some awesome vintage pieces on eBay, but they're not cheap since so many savvy shoppers are looking for them.) Don't buy this modern soda lime glass version. The old Pyrex is wonderful and practically indestructible.
But don't just go by subjective sense or just what I'm saying. Read up on what World Kitchen / Pyrex glassware is made of now (soda glass) compared to then (borosilicate glass). Google
consumer reports pyrex soda lime breakage
And go to the Consumer Reports article where they analyze the breakage, the stories, and the switch Corning made from borosilicate glass to soda lime. There are several other articles out there in addition to this article.
You can also find articles that talk about how aggressively World Kitchen has denied responsibility for any breakage, blaming everything on consumer misuse, glass bruises, etc., and how they have ignored those who have been injured, no matter how well documented. And note how carefully World Kitchen words their disclaimer on the soda lime / borosilicate changes on their website. The truth is, the glass composition probably changed before or when World Kitchen bought Pyrex.
"It's not clear when the switch occurred. Anchor Hocking spokeswoman Barbara Wolf says borosilicate glass was phased out by the industry by the early 1980s. World Kitchen vice president Jim Aikins says Pyrex glass bakeware sold in the U.S. has consistently been made of soda lime glass that has been strengthened through thermal tempering at the Charleroi plant for about 60 years.
Sarah Horvath, a Corning spokeswoman, says Corning made Pyrex out of both soda lime and borosilicate at several locations before selling the U.S. business to World Kitchen in 1998, but provided no more details. P. Bruce Adams, formerly an executive scientist at Corning, says that borosilicate was still being used to make Pyrex when he retired in 1987." (From Consumer Reports, January 2011)
Research this product thoroughly before you expose this modern soda lime Pyrex glassware to temperature changes and thermal shock. It's very clear that even handling modern soda lime Pyrex per the company's instructions, you can have dangerous breakage and the threat of serious cuts and burns.
If enough consumers buy borosilicate glassware from Europe and hurt World Kitchen's bottom lime, maybe they will return to borosilicate glass and caring about their customers.
Edit: for those who are saying folks are trying to break this glassware or subjecting it to thermal shock as warned against in the instructions. Read the articles. Empirical research shows this glassware breaks while being handled carefully per the instructions provided by the manufacturer. While some breakage may be due to misuse, research and documentation of reported breakage show that it is breaking when it is being handled carefully and correctly. It should not be breaking/exploding, but it does. Hence all the warnings.
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I bought the 19 piece set just before Christmas 2012. The only difference appears to be that these lids are red and mine are blue. Maybe this means they have corrected the problem I'm having. The concept is good, but the execution is pathetic. None of my lids fit properly on the rectangular dishes and one of them pops off its dish in about 20 seconds. It has nothing to do with the way the lids are placed on the dish either, in case you're thinking this phenomenon might be caused by trapped air. That would be impossible since the lids do not offer anything close to an airtight seal. The price I paid for my set was attractive too, so buyers beware. I have contacted Pyrex twice and received no replies. I notified Amazon just so they could be aware of this problem. They immediately responded and offered a full refund even though the original packaging was discarded. We kept the set despite the useless lids. The dishes are ok, and if we store anything in them, which doesn't happen that often. we just use aluminum foil. Pyrex must know there's a problem with these lids and I think it's pretty sad they won't even respond to a customer's feedback.
Honest reviews on Pyrex Easy Grab 11-Piece Bake-and-Store Set
No complaints, these pyrexes are the best items in my kitchen. Goes in the oven, dishwasher, cleans easily, lids fit nicely. Good assortment of sizes3 bowls, a 9x13 baking dish, 8x8 baking dish a 9 inch pie dish
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It's Pyrex and I think everyone is pretty familiar with it by now. They are great and the two rectagular bake and store containers with the handles are GREAT with one caveat. The lids do not fit snugly. That's the downside of the handles in that the lids can't snap around the entire container. I would rather have the handles on these than not have them so it's a compromise I'm willing to accept but if they could solve this issue they would get 5 stars all the way. As it is, I still give them a strong 4 stars (and would go 4.5 if Amazon allowed 1/2 stars).
