Hi, what have people found to be the best storage bag/container to freeze meals?

smart idea to portion up. I bought a food sealer a few months ago and find it super handy. I've frozen small portions of chili, soups and meats. We don't have a lot of room in our freezer so it works for us. Best of luck in your food prep ventures!

If you want something that is single use, I can recommend this type of box.

We purchase them in bulk at a restaurant supply store, but they’re also available at Amazon.

Pros: Relatively inexpensive and pack very well. Biodegradable.
Easy to write on, very helpful for date and other details.

Cons: Once they’re used they’re not recyclable. Can be difficult to source if you don’t have a good restaurant supply nearby.
Must buy in bulk for best price.

I often use zip lock plastic sandwich bags, removing as much air as possible and then I freeze them flat. It's the best use of space I have found as I can store my meals like books in a library once they're frozen. I use Chinese style plastic takeaway containers a lot too.

I hate using single use plastics, but I haven't come up with a better option. I have to store things in flat packages. I have an apartment sized fridge with an apartment sized freezer. The freezer is about three quart-sized freezer bags wide, so the prospect of using glass bowls or meal prep boxes is a non starter, particularly since I'd estimate that probably 70% of what I eat is frozen, so space is at a premium. I re-use when I can, but I'd love ideas that store flat and don't require a mountain of Stasher bags at $20 a pop.

wendymoreland3796 wrote: »

I have the Food Saver brand vacuum sealer and have been using this brand for over 10 years. The way everything lays flat and then you can just drop the sealed bag into boiling water to heat up and then eat( if it was already cooked prior to freezing) is so convenient. I frequently make double batches with one to freeze of spaghetti sauce and meatball( can even add noodles to it and freeze all together), precooked turkey burgers, all types beans, smoked chicken,smoked brisket.

I also have a Food Saver brand vacuum sealer and really like it.
I mostly use it for dehydrated foods, which is a whole other discussion.

For cooked meals i use normal plastic containers. My freezer space is limited and those take up a minimum of space. Perfect. For non-cooked food items I use small ziplock bags for freezers. Or for several of the same I might portion it, put it in plastic bags and then all together in a ziplock. Not great, because I hate wasting plastic, but no other idea.

Adventurista wrote: »

I make large batches of stock and freeze in quart ziplocks which i can lay flat, or use those to divide and freeze other things. When on sale, ziplock type bags have seemed easier/less work and less expensive than the seal bag systems. I should price compare again.

I also wash and reuse small dairy containers that i can take with and throw away when out and about.

For short-term freezing, for sure zip-seal bags are more cost effective. The only two advantages to using a vacuum seal system are:

1. For long term storage, air in the container can allow ice crystals to form on the surface of food. This is known as "Freezer Burn." It decreases the quality of the food when thawed and eaten. It's less of an issue for some kinds of food.
2. For some applications, like pre-cooked meals sealed and frozen and taken on a raft trip, you can just get a big pot of water simmering, put an upside down bowl in the bottom of the pot, and put the bag into the water to re-warm for a meal without a big pot to wash. You can do this at home, too.

A trick to prevent freezer burn in plastic containers is to put a layer of plastic wrap over the top of the food and then, once frozen, a layer of oil on top of that. Of course you may end up eating extra oil! This helps keep air away from the food.

Also, for longer term storage, a deep-freeze that is not frost-free is better. The thaw-freeze cycles in frost-free freezers can also damage food over time and can increase freezer burn. If you have space in your home, you might consider a small chest freezer. I didn't think I had space for one, and I'm very glad I found out I could make space. It's not a perfect space, but it's so nice to have the extra freezer capacity. This is especially true for preparing for river trips. I use the regular freezer to GET things frozen and then transfer to the deep freeze. I can keep jugs of frozen water to keep in the raft cooler, and I can keep plenty of frozen meals or anything else I want to keep for longer term storage. I keep dried fruit from my trees there and pull out a bag at a time. I even keep bags of cubed ice. When you buy ice at the store, it's right about freezing, not much below. Over time in the -10F, that ice is much colder and will absorb more heat before beginning to melt.

But yes, if I was making a bunch of broth to freeze and use within a month or so, the cheaper zip-seal bags would work fine.

Another thing I like about my vacuum sealer is that if I'm brave enough to bring home chips or other salty crunchy snack, I can weigh out two servings, cut the bag straight across the top, and re-seal. I can then pretend I don't know how to open it and save the rest until another day. It's not foolproof, but it helps.

"Adventurista wrote: »

Have been pondering sous vide as well.

The sous vide wand has been great for me because I am not fond of that stringy “pulled pork” type texture associated with braised meats (typically around 80C). When I sous vide braising meats at 57C for 12 to 72 hours the texture is soft but steak like.

The modern sous vide wands (immersion circulators) are the size of hand held immersion blenders so take up very little room in a drawer. For large batches I sous vide small portioned ziplocks in a big plastic bucket and toss anything not eaten on day 1 in the freezer to brown later in the air fryer or on a cast iron skillet.

I typically do duck confit and corned beef from the Serious Eats recipes. I do char sui from pork loin which is otherwise hard to cook because the cut is so lean that it dries out easily. For batch cooking I also use brisket for beef rendang (Indonesian curry), lamb shanks and beef short rib. Using unpopular cheaper cuts feels like a more sustainable way to eat meat. I remember reading about a butcher who said that on a Saturday he would sell 12 cow’s worth of ribeye to 2 cow’s worth of brisket. Stefan’s Gourmet Blog is another good source of sous vide recipes.

@acpgee ~ ty, i can see a need for tender cooking of difficult meats. Worth serious consideration, ty!

@mtaratoot ~ cooking in a cooler? Who would've thunk?

When we were young, it was a novelty to have boil in a bag, but didn't like much.... Sounds like sous vide yields better results. Am glad for the chat about it.

Edit to add
~ ps, ty for the info on sealing systems, also worth pondering...

So my kitch is stuffed, love gizmos & gadgets, but want to pare down to essentials.

Upshot, seems the seal systems, sous vide and feezer are on my want list for economic reasons - as we once again are expieriencing skyrocketing prices. Sales and stocking up during sales is more helpful again.

@mtaratoot ~ mmmmmm!
-- freezing beer? Doesn't explode?
- bonus bringing frozen food, and beer.

I also like to cook up beans, portion and freeze. So much easier than imagined, and less expensive.

When we packed up mumsie's house, the gadgets were endless from quesadilla makers, choppers, set it and forget it/rotisseries.. so many things...

I do use crockpots, and occasionally eyeball pressure cookers, but have not taken that on... have been limited as needed freezing instead of canning. I think we will replace our 2nd fridge with a freezer if it will please stop working sometime, lol

Adventurista wrote: »

@mtaratoot ~ mmmmmm!
-- freezing beer? Doesn't explode?
- bonus bringing frozen food, and beer.

Not if you do it right.

• Step one: Get beer.
• Step two: Put it in the refrigerator for several days or a week. This allows the maximum amount of CO2 to dissolve in the beer and not be in the head space. You can even take the beer out once or twice a day and shake them and put them back. Let them sit at least a day after you do all that.
• Step three: GENTLY move the chilled cans to the freezer. Let them freeze completely. Then you can store them in the deep freeze until you're ready to pack the cooler.
• Step four: By the fourth day of your river trip, your frozen beer will be defrosted. I did a three-day trip one October, and I had to sit cans out by the fire to thaw.....

Deal is - gas is more soluble in cold liquids. If you think about it, you can put a beer out in 100 degree heat and it won't explode. There's a lot of pressure in the head space as the CO2 comes out of solution AND the beer itself expands as it gets hot. The cans are that strong.

So when you FIRST get as much gas out of the headspace and into the beer, you can have that head space be at a lower pressure. Then when the beer expands as it approaches freezing temperature, there's some room for that gas to expand without exploding the seal. If you put warm beer directly in the freezer, it will burst the can. The pressure in the head space gets too high. That's what does it.

I have had some beer split cans. I've had some cans deform. Typically those are higher level of carbonation beers, like cheap American light lager. If I freeze Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, it works fine. You have to follow the process though.

To pack the cooler: The day before, add a bunch of cubed ice and let sit overnight to pre-chill the inside of the cooler. Dump out that ice and pack. I put two one-gallon jugs of frozen water in the bottom of the cooler and l fill in space between them with frozen beer and any other food that I want to stay frozen. I cover that with a sheet of Mylar bubble wrap. Non-frozen food goes on top of that. As room allows, I can add other small frozen bottles of water. On top of it all, I put another layer of Mylar bubble wrap. That way, as we eat our way through the food, there's always an inner lid to keep things close together in one thermal mass.

My cooler is a roto-molded model. Holds cold a long time. We have had ice at the end of a 23-day Grand Canyon trip if we practice good cooler management. Don't open the cooler during the heat of the day. Know what is in each cooler; open quickly and get what you need. For frozen things that need to thaw, pull them out the night before and put in a different cooler.

If you're someone who doesn't use jugs and instead uses block or cube ice, you can drain the very cold water from your cooler when you get to camp and use that to make ice-cold beer from the beer in your dry storage. Not draining the cooler means the inside will be at a colder temperature, but it may melt the ice faster. Mostly I don't want my food swimming in water - it's a food safety issue.

Multi-day river trips are great. I have a permit for the Rogue in mid May.

SafariGalNYC wrote: »

I like silicone food storage bags. They travel well and can be cleaned in dishwasher!

That's a great idea. I bought a couple of sylicon bags to reduce reliance on ziplocks for sous vide, but depending on the brand, the seal is not dependable enough for cooking sous vide. I now mostly use them in the fridge to contain condensation when defrosting meat in ziplocks. I must start using them in the freezer.

I do re-use ziplocks that are not too dirty or greasy by turning them inside out and draping them over a tall glass in the dishwasher.

I'm afraid I only have negative silicon bag experiences, but here are my warnings about the two brands I have:

"Stasher" bags have reliable seals, but one of them became brittle in the freezer and tore. I don't remember if I put a hot Stasher bag from the sous vide directly into the freezer on that occasion. I don't know if tearing was due to my low freezer temperature. Most domestic freezers are set to -18C but mine is set at -23C because I freeze to kill parasites in fish that is served raw.

"Fudy" bags have a totally unreliable seal, and just pop open at random.

I have been experimenting freezing meat in marinade, and I can report defrosting in marinade overnight has a similar effect to marinating overnight.
Following a tip from the Serious Eats cookbook whenever I make marinades, stir fry sauces, and salad dressings I will make a batch to keep in the fridge in squeeze bottles so I always have favourites on hand.

I’m a country girl at heart…lol…so I use mason jars for everything from cups I drink out of to storage containers (I also store and freeze meals in them), I even use them as measuring cups…I originally started removing plastic containers from my house after my son was diagnosed as Type 1 since plastic affect your endocrine system. I also find they stack really well if you have limited space in your freezer. I even found jar jackets (it a silicone sleeve that fits the mason jars..I added pictures) on Amazon so I’m not bumping glass on glass and there is also so many interchangeable lids you can get for them for almost anything you can think of. Plus it has a rustic country look to them. lol

Hope this helps