TYPES OF GLASSWARE

Glass is made two ways; blown or pressed. Blown Glass is made when molten glass is blown under pressure into a mould. Pressing the molten glass into the mould makes pressed glass. Molten glass is composed of 70% sand, 15% limestone and 15% soda ash, which are heated to 1200°c.

To make toughened glass, the glassware is heated to melting point and then cooled slowly.

Glassware is made in many ways to create certain effects. For example, Nucleated beer glasses have the inside base sand blasted to allow more gas from the beer to be released. This gives a longer lasting head and improved presentation.

One piece stemware is pulled or drawn in a molten state and is generally more durable than two piece stemware, which as the name suggests is made in a bowl and stem and then joined together.

Even the rims of your glasses are different. A cold cut rim is beaded to give it more durability, whereas a hot cut rim is where the bead is cut off to give a fine rim.

MECHANICAL IMPACT

Put simply, mechanical impact occurs when your glassware comes in contact with things like beer taps, other glasses or cutlery, causing chips, cracks or abrasions that ultimately weaken the glass’s strength.

Preventing mechanical impact is as easy as stopping glass contact with beer taps, using a plastic scoop and never a glass when scooping ice, never stacking glasses hard against each other, not picking glasses up in bouquets and always placing glassware directly into partitioned racks.

If any signs of mechanical impact are noticed, take the glass out of service immediately.

THERMAL SHOCK

As glass retains temperature, rapid change can cause damage. If a glass that has had ice in it is put straight into the dishwasher, some damage is almost certain to occur.

Likewise glasses straight out of the dishwasher should never be immediately filled with ice or cold water, but allowed to cool to room temperature before going back into service.

To avoid thermal shock, it is important to ensure that you have enough glassware that will prevent just washed glasses having to go straight back into service.

Never put cold water or ice into a warm or hot glass. Empty ice from glasses before placing into dishwasher racks.

Remove any abraded glass from service as soon as you notice it. Importantly, your dishwasher’s wash or rinse cycle must reach a water temperature of at least 77°c.