The shattering of glass cookware in household kitchens has been reported in Consumer Reports articles,^1,2 television documentaries, complaints to the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission³ and Internet postings.⁴ This article examines the issue from a three fold technical perspective: (i) reviewing the reported scenarios of the incidents, which are suggestive of thermal stress fracture; (ii) comparing the thermal shock resistance of borosilicate glass with soda lime silicate glass; and (iii) examining new and broken glass cookware. Together, these related perspectives suggest the thermal stresses that develop during temperature changes are the primary cause of the explosion-like breakages. The substitution of higher thermal expansion soda lime silicate glass for borosilicate glass in the manufacturing is a contributing factor.