ceramic bakeware--cracking!

This is the second time this has happened: I was roasting a chicken on a rack in a ceramic baking dish, and at cleaning time I discovered it had cracked! The last time it happened I had been roasting fish. Both times the highest the oven had been was 425...too hot? I've roasted veggies in these dishes at even higher temps with no problem. What did I do wrong? And, am I right to assume that once it's cracked it's good for the garbage? I'm very frustrated as I loved both these dishes, but perhaps they should be used only for lasagne and vegetables? Please help before I ruin any more cookware!

Thanks

Did you set the dishes on a cool surface when they were hot out of the oven? A tile or marble or wet counter? This is an easy way to do it. I hate hearing the dreaded 'ping'......... doh!

I didn't set it on anything, but in both instances I put something room temperature into the already hot dish...I was wondering if this might be the problem. I "preheated" the dish in the fish/vegetable instance, and with the chicken I added some veggies/potatoes to the pan 15 minutes after I had started baking the chicken. Would this have done it?

Don't preheat the dish. Sudden cooling caused by moisture landing on a sizzling hot dish will crack it.

An empty dish with no food insulation might be prone to cracking, but that's not what you did. Hmm..... They shouldn't have cracked.

Well, if it's any comfort, I keep using my crazed dishes until they crack all the way through. Which they usually don't . I kind of try to bend them, and if they don't snap, I figure they're good for one more round!

Out of curiousity, what was the brand of these ceramic dishes. This shouldn't be happening. I'd call the company.

One was Emile Henry, the other was a less expensive brand I can't recall the name of...made in Portugal is all I can remember. I'm hesitant to call Emile Henry until I'm sure I didn't do something I shouldn't have...