Contain It!

You know the drill. You made a large batch of soup. You washed some grapes. You have some leftovers. They all need to go back into the fridge or freezer. What are you putting it into? Most of us rely on whatever aluminum pans (bekelach) and deli-type containers the stores sell. But they’re not perfect. They warp after a while, you need to layer them, and Heaven forbid you drop a frozen container of soup (and you will). So we got technical and found the ones worth buying — or not!

Testing, Testing

1. I filled each container with water and froze it. Then I dropped it on a carpeted floor and a tiled floor to see what happened.

2. I filled each container with freshly cut watermelon. I checked on its freshness
for a week.

3. I stacked each container with the same of its kind to see its footprint.

4. I let ketchup and mustard sit in the container and then washed it to see which ones stained.

5. I washed the containers to see ease of cleaning.

Gladware

Price: $6.99

Notes: Pack of four 24-ounce (980-gram) containers. Survived the carpeted freezer fall. It says it’s for the freezer and prevents cracking — up to a point because it broke on tile. It’s colored blue, unlike all the others, which are clear.

Stars: 4.5

Atecare

Price: $17.99

Notes: Pack of ten 16-ounce (450-gram) containers. Thick! These are intended for freezer use. Survived the frozen carpet fall. Not as cheap as the classic deli-style container. Has a twist off top.

Stars: 4.5

Aozita

Price: $11.99

Notes: Set of 20 32-ounce (910 gram) containers. Same as the Freshware. Has a slightly different pattern near the top if we’re getting nitpicky, but it’s all the same.

Stars: 3.5

PlasticPro

Price: $9.99

Notes: Pack of three 32-ounce (910-gram) containers. It looks nice, but doesn’t
perform better. Has a twist off top. Has markings measuring 16 ounce and
24 ounce as well as milliliters. Has a place to write the date on the lip. Not sure
these features justify the price.

Stars: 3.2

Rubbermaid

Price: $16.99

Notes: Pack of three 7-cup containers. Has a smart vent for the microwave so food doesn’t splatter. Survived the carpeted freezer fall. Shattered from the tile fall. Stacks nicely but didn’t perform that much better than deli-style
containers.

Stars: 4.2

Freshware

Price: $12.99

Notes: Set of 24 32-ounce (910-gram) containers. It’s a deli container. The same one you’d find in your grocery store or if you saved it from takeout. It works well, will crack when it’s dropped. Stains easily, but cheap enough to be near disposable.

Stars: 3.5

The Bottom Line

Freshware and Aozita the classic deli-style container rules. The possible benefits of the other ones are drowned out by the price difference. Freshware is $0.016 per ounce and Aozita is $0.018 per ounce. The Gladware is $0.07 per ounce, so it may be worth experimenting with it more.

In the meantime, don’t drop your frozen chicken soup. That’s where the deli containers utterly failed and lost points. And if you’re prone to that, do it on a carpeted floor and buy Gladware.

Tip: Containers aren’t just for food, but for some reason, the ones made for food are cheapest. Think outside the fridge and use your containers creatively.