It's a personal choice—glass is more durable and recyclable, but also more expensive. Plastic is typically budget-conscious and lightweight, but it's not exactly sustainable. Whatever your needs are, we tested the best freezer containers for soup, meal prep, and more.
By far, glass jars are the best containers for freezing food. Glass is impermeable, meaning no staining or stink. Glass also won't leach toxins into your food like plastic does, plus it's 100 percent recyclable (unlike plastic, which is super complicated to recycle).
By far, glass jars are the best containers for freezing food. Glass is impermeable, meaning no staining or stink. Glass also won't leach toxins into your food like plastic does, plus it's 100 percent recyclable (unlike plastic, which is super complicated to recycle).
Room can be left in containers to account for this expansion but it is not always able to prevent damage to a container. Polypropylene and PVC are both plastics that are brittle at temperatures below freezing. Polystyrene is considered brittle at 68°F and is very brittle at temperatures below freezing.
By far, glass jars are the best containers for freezing food. Glass is impermeable, meaning no staining or stink. Glass also won't leach toxins into your food like plastic does, plus it's 100 percent recyclable (unlike plastic, which is super complicated to recycle).
Only freeze food in plastic containers designed for the freezer. Only put plastics in the freezer if they have a freezer-safe label. Single use containers, such as ice cream or milk cartons, should be avoided for freezer use.
Yes. You can use regular zip-top storage bags in the freezer. However, foods stored in these bags in the freezer might not hold up as well over long periods of time, and can be more prone to punctures and rips.
A benefit to using glass jars for freezing is that they tend to be more airtight. (Just leave about an inch of space for the soup to expand as freezing, so the jar doesn't break.) When using plastic freezer containers, find the kind you can “burp” to release excess air.
Only if it says freezer-safe (usually tempered glass). Otherwise, it can crack and that's no fun. Also make sure to remember that liquids expand, and glass has no wiggle room, so if you're freezing in a freezer-safe glass container, you still want to leave a little room at the top.
The Rubbermaid Brilliance Food Storage Container is our top choice because it comes in multiple sizes, is leak-proof, and prevents microwave messes with splatter-proof vents. If you need a ton of tubs, but are looking for something budget-friendly, we recommend the DuraHome Food Storage Containers with Lids Combo Pack.
Our borosilicate glass products can be put into freezer and can resist till -40°c.
Plastic, glass, or metal containers are good options to keep your ice cream safe in the freezer.
Zip-top bags are great for freezing food because it's easier to get all the air out of them than it is with rigid containers. And zip-top bags have an added space-saving benefit: You can stack them, if you lay them flat to freeze first.
Glass containers are usually made of natural, sustainable raw materials and can be recycled repeatedly. Plastics can often be recycled, however, they degrade with each event, referred to as “downcycling.” Using glass is more sustainable for our earth and a healthier option for our bodies.
Glass is particularly vulnerable to thermal shock—it's why glass windows often break or blow out when there is a fire inside of a building. Glass containers can also crack if they are too full of liquid when they go into the freezer.
What Are the Best Containers to Use? Glass, plastic and even freezer-safe bags all work perfectly (just make sure the bags are heavy duty). No matter what container you choose, pick something that's airtight.
If a jar is narrow, or has sides that taper inwards, the extra pressure placed on the glass sides as the contents freeze will make it crack (which relieves the stress).
Defrosting frozen filled jars
To defrost your frozen filled jars, just place the jars onto the counter the morning of the day you want to use them, and by dinner time they should be totally defrosted and ready to use.
I generally use quart-sized Ziploc freezer bags. Don't overfill the bags: Liquids expand as they freeze, so be sure to leave a little extra room to account for this. In a quart-sized bag, I usually put only two to three cups of food. In gallon-sized bags, I put about three quarts (12 cups) or so.
Food grade materials, such as aluminum foil, heavy freezer-weight plastic bags, heavy plastic wrap and parchment or freezer paper are excellent choices. It is safe to freeze meat or poultry directly in its supermarket wrapping, but this type of wrap is thin and lets air in.
Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.
If you are freezing food for a shorter period of time (2-3 weeks at most), you can wrap in unbleached butcher paper or waxed paper sheets or bags. Butcher paper doesn't seal the food as well as waxed paper, but it makes a good first-layer wrap. Double or triple for longer freezing periods.
Additionally, traditional sandwich bags may not offer sufficient insulation to protect food from freezer burn or moisture loss, potentially impacting the quality and taste of your food.
Ziploc® brand bags made with polyethylene are a great choice for food storage, but should not be used for sous vide cooking (boiling in water) as the softening point is 230°F and boiling point for water is 212°F. Are Ziploc® brand bags, Ziploc® paper bags and Ziploc Endurables® recyclable?