"Greasy" plastic containers

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I have lock 'n locks but they are so hard to find in the US since they changed distributors awhile back. I have been trying to teach my son not to use plastic in the MW any more, having limited success. Also having limited success weaning him off the use of kitchen sponges, little microbe factories that they are *sigh*.

He has the same philosophy as another poster - buy the cheap ones, throw them away when they get pitted or crack - stains don't bother him.

Depending on who made them, putting them in the dishwasher can be a sort of crap shoot - they get flipped over and fill with water and have to be washed by hand anyway, or sometimes they just don't get clean. Our current dishwasher is pretty sucky and the only way a plastic box even gives a vague appearance of having been cleaned is if you lay it flat in the top rack and weight the edges down somehow so it won't flip. The dishwasher where we lived before did a much better job.

To store food I also recycle sour cream containers and what not. Glass jars get used for dry bean storage, spices, and other miscellaneous and sundry food storage tasks. Why waste free stuff?
 
My husband gets mad because I save so many saurkraut jars, but when I make a big pot of soup everyone wants some and those jars are perfect for soup. I know if I give them a container they won't give it back.
 
I have lock 'n locks but they are so hard to find in the US since they changed distributors awhile back. I have been trying to teach my son not to use plastic in the MW any more, having limited success. Also having limited success weaning him off the use of kitchen sponges, little microbe factories that they are *sigh*.

To store food I also recycle sour cream containers and what not. Glass jars get used for dry bean storage, spices, and other miscellaneous and sundry food storage tasks. Why waste free stuff?

Teach your boy to nuke the sponges instead of the plastic! It sterilizes them. Just make sure they're very wet, put on a paper towel, and nuke for 1 minute.

I like free stuff too, and have a tough time putting perfectly good glass jars in the recycling bin. I just realized I have a very large collection....
 
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Teach your boy to nuke the sponges instead of the plastic! It sterilizes them. Just make sure they're very wet, put on a paper towel, and nuke for 1 minute.

I like free stuff too, and have a tough time putting perfectly good glass jars in the recycling bin. I just realized I have a very large collection....

It doesn't sterilize them very well, and it's useless if you don't sterilize them every. Single. Time. You. Use. Them.

I really really hate sponges.

It's kind of strange how much people will spend on little glass jars for spices and whatnot when you can get them for free simply by not throwing useful jars away! It was a HUGE disappointment when I recently discovered that the few glass baby jars that are left are no longer any good for storage because they've got some weird sealing system on them - they are no longer screw top lids, they have plastic gaskets instead. NOOOOOOOO!
 
Tupperware not available over here for years. I use "Lock and Lock" - not cheap but not as expensive as T'ware would be - and find them very good. They can be used in the freezer and the microwave (with the clips loosened) and they don't feel greasy. They do stain if you freeze anything tomato-y in them but I get round that by putting a poly bag inside and the tomato sauce, etc., in that. Can you get L&L where you are?

My most containers are from Tupperware, I don't know about
"Lock & Lock" are they better? I will ask for that brand.
 
It's kind of strange how much people will spend on little glass jars for spices and whatnot when you can get them for free simply by not throwing useful jars away! It was a HUGE disappointment when I recently discovered that the few glass baby jars that are left are no longer any good for storage because they've got some weird sealing system on them - they are no longer screw top lids, they have plastic gaskets instead. NOOOOOOOO!

Previously we the food products used to come in glass jars, now all are coming plastic containers or pouch packs. I have some of those glass jars, I generally keep the pickles in glass jars.
 
Previously we the food products used to come in glass jars, now all are coming plastic containers or pouch packs. I have some of those glass jars, I generally keep the pickles in glass jars.


I used to use canned sauerkraut until I realized I could re-use the jars, now I boy only the jarred. I also buy Ragu Pasta Sauce and keep those jars. Around Easter, I make beet horseradish and for that I use jars the size of small olive jars, or jars from roasted red peppers. Maybe you don't have as many items that come in jars in your country.
 
I used to use canned sauerkraut until I realized I could re-use the jars, now I boy only the jarred. I also buy Ragu Pasta Sauce and keep those jars. Around Easter, I make beet horseradish and for that I use jars the size of small olive jars, or jars from roasted red peppers. Maybe you don't have as many items that come in jars in your country.

Glass is heavy and expensive to transport, and it can break. Plastic and pouches are much lighter and more durable for shipping, so they are the wave of the future.

A funny story: When I was growing up, my mom saved glass jars primarily to put grease into for disposal, so when DH and I moved into our first apartment, I did the same. Being inexperienced in the kitchen, I didn't cook much, though, and certainly didn't fry anything, so the jars just accumulated under the kitchen sink till DH said something about it one day. There must have been a hundred jars under there! :ROFLMAO: I try to keep it down now ;)
 
It doesn't sterilize them very well, and it's useless if you don't sterilize them every. Single. Time. You. Use. Them.

If it was really that dangerous, I would be sick with food poisoning all the time. I take medication that compromises my immune system and have always used sponges. I don't clean them nearly that often :ermm:

Google "hygiene hypothesis" and read for a while.
 
99 times out of a hundred you can probably get away with eating chicken that's been left to sit out too long, too. Nevertheless, I choose not to play Russian Roulette in my kitchen.
 
This is not in reply to anyone in particular but something that I want to keep in the forefront of my mind.

Plastic, greasy or not, bags or not, when discarded take a LONG time to disintegrate/biodegrade, if ever.

That's my main reason for wanting to switch to glass and to avoid plastic. That AND the grease!:)
I'm not proposing that everyone should think like me, though.

HowStuffWorks "How long does it take for plastics to biodegrade?"
 
If it was really that dangerous, I would be sick with food poisoning all the time. I take medication that compromises my immune system and have always used sponges. I don't clean them nearly that often :ermm:

Google "hygiene hypothesis" and read for a while.

I had to be careful for a full year after chemo for my immune system to get up to snuff and two years before I could get any immunizations.
 
re Lock 'n Lock - Unfortunately they (Amazon and QVC) have very little choice. Before the changeover in importers, you could buy any lock 'n lock on their site - now I have to get them from China or India! And it is actually cheaper, even with shipping, to buy them overseas than from Amazon.

Sometimes you can find them in Asian grocery stores for pretty ok prices.
 
I have never seen a single Lock 'n Lock in any grocery store I've ever been in - and only in one Asian grocery. I've never even seen them in the kitchenwares section of a department store. BBB has like one or two types once in awhile. I'd say you're pretty lucky!
 
My first ones I got at Linens and Things before they went out of business. I saw the Bins on TV and ordered them through a website. The rest I have gotten at the grocery store. I am pretty diligent about looking for them. I found L'nL water bottles, too, they are extremely easy to clean.
 
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