It might be timely to address glass food storage containers -- pretty hard to find. -- from an e-mail
The reader asking about glass storage also pointed me to the recent column by Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times - yet another piece which addresses the possible problems of phthalates.
I wrote about the concerns surrounding plastic food storage - and your various storage alternatives - back in May, but I've got some updates to share.
First of all, Lorraine Thompson has an interesting post where she lists six reasons why glass food containers are better than plastic - from the safety side, to beauty, to flavor.
If you want to buy glass food storage with glass lids, your choices are indeed quite limited; Anchor Hocking is still a good choice. Here's an Australian site that sells the Anchor Hocking containers. There are 2-cup, 5-cup, and 12-cup options. You can find them on Amazon.com, too, in all three sizes. (A number of other places also sell them.) The containers shown at the top of this post are from Anchor Hocking. Update on July 20, 2011: The Australian site I originally listed no longer sells the Anchor Hocking storage.
The Container Store still has glass storage with glass lids, too. There's a 2-cup and a 12-cup option. They look a lot like the Anchor Hocking ones.
And I just discovered are a few Martha Stewart products at Target which seem to have glass lids. There's a 5-cup version; the 2-cup version says it has a plastic lid, but it sure looks like a glass lid in the photo, and the customer reviews says "no plastic parts." These are both on sale, and the prices say "while supplies last." (There's also a 3-quart option, but it's out of stock.) These also look very similar to the Anchor Hocking products. Update on Oct. 7, 2010: I'm no longer finding these Martha Stewart products at Target, but I see some at Macy's.
Great information. One thing I've always wondered about glass storage products is whether they're airtight enough. Any thoughts on that?
ReplyDeleteI don't know the answer on the airtight question, BigSis; I wonder about that, too. Maybe another reader can comment. But not all situations require airtight - refrigerator storage of leftovers, for example.
ReplyDeleteIf you need airtight, these containers from IKEA might be good - but again, I can't swear to how airtight they are. And my prior post listed some other options that might work, if you don't want to constrain yourself to glass containers with glass lids.
Take a look at thrift stores, estate sales, and yard sales. A lot of old Pyrex and other brands is available in those venues. --Mary
ReplyDeleteMAM, that's a fine suggestion. I touched on that point very briefly in my prior post; thanks for highlighting this option in more detail.
ReplyDeleteisn't that cute. all those glass refrigerator containers made between 1930 and well..1970 are all back in fashion.
ReplyDeletejgodsey: Funny how that works, huh? I remember my mom having this type of container when I was a kid.
ReplyDelete