If you’re a foodie like me and want to know if you can use a glass bowl in an air fryer or not, then this article is for you.
You might have saved your leftovers in a glass storage container (popular model). Can you simply take this from the fridge and put it in your air fryer?
Is there an upper-temperature limit for a Glass bowl? Are there any situations where it’s not safe to put your oven-safe glass bowl in the air fryer?
Let’s find out.
You can use a glass bowl in an air fryer if it is oven safe. Don’t put it when the glass bowl is cold as it will cause thermal stress and will shatter the Pyrex. Also pre-heat the glass bowl with mild hot water before using it in an air fryer for added safety.
Caution: Air fryers’ temperature rises too much within a few minutes and most ordinary glass bowl will not be able to withstand the temperature changes and shatter or explodes. So it’s better to check the label and put it in an air fryer without food.
Pyrex bowls were originally made of borosilicate glass, which is very resistant to thermal shock. Currently, Pyrex is made of soda-lime glass, presumably as a cost-cutting measure, as soda-lime glass is very inexpensive.
Most of the Pyrex dishes are oven-safe & freezer-safe labeled but they are not entirely thermal shockproof.
When a Pyrex bowl is heated or cooled rapidly, different parts of the bowl expand or contract by different amounts, causing stress. If the stress is too extreme, the bowl’s structure will fail, with a shattering effect.
Are Pyrex dishes safe in air fryers? Pyrex glassware is capable of withstanding high temperatures up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit so a pyrex dish will be safe in air fryers since most top out at 400 degrees F.
To prevent it, you need to be mindful of how quickly you change the temperature of Pyrex. Stovetops and broilers conduct heat quickly, and will likely cause the bowls to fail.
Household pyrex glass can withstand less than 450 degrees F temperatures. You can use a pyrex glass bowl in an oven as long as it doesn’t exceed the 450 Fahrenheit mark.
PYREX laboratory glassware is approx 500°C (for short periods only). PYREX glass also performs well at lower temperatures. This glass can withstand conditions down to -190°C.
Corningware is glass-ceramic (Pyroceram) cookware resistant to thermal shock. You can Pyroceram in an air fryer withstanding up to 400 Fahrenheit temperatures. Corningware was first introduced in 1958 by Corning Glass Works the same company that manufactured Pyrex.
Here is a cool video with an experiment & describing why glass shatters in extreme temperature changes:
If you want to keep your glass bowl from breaking in an air fryer, there are some precautions that you can take.
Sudden temperature change is the primary cause of glass breaking. For example, you’ve put a glass bowl full of leftover food from the freezer in the air fryer. It can cause glass shattering and possibly harm.
You can wait for the glass to come to room temperature and then at the lowest possible temperature you’ve put it in the air fryer.
If a glass bowl is weaker, even oven-safe glass can shatter. Hold the glass bowl in light and look for small cracks, unevenness of the glass surface & color change. All of them are an indication of weaker glass.
To enjoy your food, get a new oven-safe glass bowl that you can use in your air fryer.
Drinking glasses and serving glass bowls are typically not made to withstand oven temperatures, so never put these in your oven or air fryer, unless they are specifically labeled as oven-safe.
For safety reasons use an oven-safe or tempered glass bowl that can withstand a much higher temperature than regular glass bowls.
Oven-safe glass bowls operate under 350 F to 450 F and always read the label properly to know the limits of the bowl. At high temperatures, the glass starts to lose shape or start cracking and exploding.
So try to stay well below the temperature limit to be on the safe side.
You can heat and re-heat glass containers over and over without worrying about any chemical leeching into your food. Glass containers are non-toxic, easy to clean, retains heat longer & has a transparent surface. Thus making it the best choice for many of us.