Two scales

What a container rating is not

On this page14

What it is Published on all 208 containers here What it is not, first What it is not, second What it is not, third So the rating eliminates rather than permits Which is the same reading the meal prep property reaches And the same reading the compounding property reaches A rating also says nothing about duration Or about gradient Or about thermal shock So one field, four things it does not cover Read it as a floor on the question, not an answer References

It describes the wall. Nothing else.

What it is

A statement about the temperature range the container tolerates. A material and geometry property.

Published on all 208 containers here

Which is complete coverage, and the field takes three values on this shelf: 120 F, 190 F and 300 F ceilings.

What it is not, first

A flashpoint. The container has no flashpoint; the contents do, and the two numbers describe different objects.

What it is not, second

A flammability statement. A container rated to 300 F does not make its contents less flammable and one rated to 120 F does not make them more so.

What it is not, third

A claim that a container may be used with a flame, a candle or a fuel. Only a manufacturer makes that claim and we publish none.

So the rating eliminates rather than permits

A 120 F ceiling settles that a container is not going near sustained heat. A 300 F ceiling does not settle that it is suitable.

Which is the same reading the meal prep property reaches

There, 109 of 176 containers topped out at 120 F and the pages refuse to turn a ceiling into a microwave claim.

And the same reading the compounding property reaches

About our five-point chemical resistance rating, which screens candidates and settles nothing.

A rating also says nothing about duration

A container rated to 300 F is not rated to be held at 300 F indefinitely, and a candle burns for hours.

Or about gradient

A candle heats a narrow band of wall above the melt pool, which is a local stress rather than a uniform temperature.

Or about thermal shock

Which is a rate problem. A hot container meeting cold water fails on rate rather than on temperature.

So one field, four things it does not cover

Flashpoint, suitability, duration and gradient. Which is a lot to leave out of a number that looks definitive.

Read it as a floor on the question, not an answer

And then ask the manufacturer, which is the only route to a real claim.

References

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. A temperature range is published on all 208 containers in this group and takes three values: -40 to 120 F on 146 containers, -100 to 300 F on 33, and -100 to 190 F on 29. A container temperature rating describes what the container tolerates. It is not a flashpoint, it is not a flammability statement, and it has no bearing on whether contents will ignite.

16 CFR 1500.3(c)(6): "The term extremely flammable shall apply to any substance which has a flashpoint at or below 20 degrees F (-6.7 degrees C) as determined by the test method described at Sec. 1500.43a"; "The term flammable shall apply to any substance having a flashpoint above 20 degrees F (-6.7 degrees C) and below 100 degrees F (37.8 degrees C), as determined by the method described at Sec. 1500.43a"; "The term combustible shall apply to any substance having a flashpoint at or above 100 degrees F (37.8 degrees C) to and including 150 degrees F (65.6 degrees C) as determined by the test method described at Sec. 1500.43a". These definitions describe a substance and are part of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act labeling scheme; the test method cited is not described here, and nothing on these pages says whether any product is a hazardous substance. law.cornell.edu

Written from 16 CFR 1500.3(c)(6) and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Those definitions describe a substance and say nothing about a container: a flashpoint is the temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapor to ignite and a container temperature rating is what the container tolerates, so a container can be inside its rating while its contents are above their flashpoint. Nothing here says whether any product is a hazardous substance, what labeling it requires, or whether any container is suitable for a candle, a fuel or a flame. The test method cited in the definitions is not described.