Are Glass Storage Containers For You?

In the modern kitchen there are many different materials and gadgets that help us prepare and store meals with greater ease than generations before us

. One of these gadgets is glass storage containers. Glass storage containers started their journey in Jamestown VA in 1608 when the first glass house was opened. The glass containers made at the time were primarily used in the incredibly small pharmaceutical industry. It wasnt until the invention of the Mason Jar that glass storage containers made their way into our kitchens. Even though the Mason Jar is still the most widely known container for long storage of food today many different shapes sizes and types of glass have been invented to accommodate every storage need in the kitchen.

The basic process of making glass is the same throughout the different types. The first step is to acquire a sufficient amount of silica sand also called quartz sand. Various other chemicals are added to give the glass certain characteristics or colors. Then this mixture is heated to extremely high temperatures 2,300 degrees Celsius (4,172 degrees Fahrenheit). Depending on which chemicals are added the temperature to melt the mixture can be reduced to 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,732 degrees Fahrenheit). A few of the most common types of glass manufactured for storage container used are: tempered and soda-lime glass. To help clarify the differences of the glass types a few of their manufacturing procedures will be detailed.

Tempered glass is most commonly used in Pyrex glass storage containers in the United States. The glass is heated to just below its liquifying point and then before it softens, it is subjected to jets of extremely cold air to cool it very fast. This process not only hardens the interior and exterior surfaces of the glass it also makes it resistant to thermal shock; which is why tempered glass storage containers can go from the refrigerator to oven without shattering. Most of these types of glass storage containers can safely be used in the microwave. Another advantage to this type of glassware is when it does shatter it breaks into tiny round pieces instead of sharp shards reducing the chance of getting cut.

The second type widely used in glass storage containers is soda-lime glass. This type of glass is made from 75% silica, 12% soda, and 10% lime. Kinetic Glasslock storage containers are made from tempered soda-lime glass. This means Kinetic Glasslock containers are first put through the tempering process described above to ensure they can handle the harsh temperature change from freezer to microwave. Although Kinetic Glasslock storage containers can be used safely in freezer, refrigerator and microwave they cannot be used in the oven.

With the recent concerns of BPA in many of our plastic storage containers many of these containers have been replaced by glass. There are many is a safe and affordable option on the market today. To date glass is the only material used in storing food to receive a GRAS (generally recognized as safe) by the Food And Drug Administration. Glass storage containers may not compliment every storage need in your kitchen but with its ease of care and versatility it is a very good choice.

by: Jennifer Meyer

POST COMMENT

Metal Buildings: Practical Options For Outdoor Storage Dnf Security Seahawk 805l 6gs Class Lite Video Storage Office Storage Boxes For The Modern Workplace Clutter Reduction With File Storage Boxes Select Only Top Class Facilities When Hunting For Furniture Storage Acid Free Storage Boxes Find A Good Company To Get Facilities Of College Storage San Jose Different Types Of Storage Lockers For Your Need Dnf Security Universal Storage Expansion The Best Jeep Storage Systems For Your Jeep Hp 461137-b21 (sas) Hard Drive With 1 Terabyte Storage Capacity Get Solutions Of Personal Storage San Jose Easily Glasgow Storage: Premium Solutions For Storage Problems At Safe Storage, Scotland