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That eliminates most of the frozen meals section. Before the jump in with “then don’t buy those”, you’re not wrong. It’s easy to point out the many things in society we shouldn’t be doing, but not quite as easy to step back from them all.
Sadly true. I’ve been known to warm those meals up just enough to transfer them to a plate or bowl, and then finish their heating. It doesn’t undo the plastic contact that happened when the food was prepared and packaged, nor does it help the with plastic waste problem, but it’s better than nothing. Meanwhile, I look for frozens that come in paper fiber trays instead of plastic.
When I find a packaged food that I like enough to buy again, I’ll sometimes email the company to let them know I would buy more if they replaced their packaging with something less toxic. My voice alone won’t make much difference, but if they hear it from multiple customers, perhaps they’ll put it on their roadmap. (This seems like a marketing opportunity, especially now that microplastics and other forever chemicals are getting attention in the news.)
Also, there’s always the option of cooking/buying a big batch of food and freezing it in single-serving glass/stainless containers. No plastic at all this way, and the food is often better. :)
Where I live sous vide are pretty common in the readymade dinner section - wonder if they’re better for you than microwaving and if we should maybe be doing that instead
Good article.
“Though various plastics are marked as microwave-safe—and plenty of plastic lobbyists have defended them as perfectly safe—the term is somewhat misleading. It’s simply referring to plastic types that won’t crack or melt when heated, not their chemical makeup.”
Wow. I honestly didn’t think much about microwaving stuff like tupperware before, but I think this convinced me to switch to glassware.
I started replacing my food storage containers with glass a few years ago. It’s not only safer, but also nicer looking and easier to clean.
I didn’t want my old plastic to go in the waste stream, so I use it for overflow dry goods, hardware storage, and household cleaning tasks.
We ALL need to do what you’ve been doing.
My household eliminated plastic and non-stick items. We’ve been using only cast iron and stainless steel for stovetop, glass and stainless steel for oven and mixing, glass and stainless for eating. Even the pets’ bowls are stainless steel.
Plastics and Teflon coatings are pure poison.
Pro tip for stainless steel: Bar Keepers Friend is an inexpensive, mildly acidic cleanser that makes short work of even the toughest cooked oils stuck to pans. Just be sure to wash & rinse afterward, so residue doesn’t end up in your food.
It also works wonders if you have spilled something on your induction stovetop and forgetting that wiping it away with a fabric rag, thereby melting the rag on the burner…
Basically, that shit will take off plastic, the irony with the thread lol
If you have anything stainless steel BKF is a must-have. It’s crazy how dingy my kitchen sink basin gets.
I agree with all of this but I want to go further. Just tossed that dishcloth that I think is plastic. Have not yet figured out replacements for my dobie scrubber or all these microfiber dusting cloths I have…suggestions welcome!
Also need to replace more of my plastic cooking tools: flip turners, etc.
replacements for my dobie scrubber
Non-abrasive scouring pads made of coconut or agave fiber are becoming more common. They look like Scotch-Brite pads, but are brown/beige instead of green/yellow. (Note that plastic lookalikes exist, so it’s worth checking the label.)
microfiber dusting cloths
I find that a slightly damp cotton washcloth picks up dust pretty well. If you have lots of dust, it’s easy enough to rinse, wring, and repeat.
Thanks, ono! Great ideas.
Just ordered new scrubbers. Scamazon has some made from sisal. I did not find any there made from coconut or agave but I’ll check stores when I can.
Great catch on those scrubbers - I hadn’t even thought about everything I use to clean, aside from plastic-free dishwasher pods. Thanks! And ono’s suggestions are awesome!
You are welcome.
Also…use powder not pods in your dishwasher. Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04
Dusting cloths: tear old cotton flannel sheets into squares. You can do this to sheets in your own rag-bag, or buy sheets at the charity shop. Old towels work well, too. They can be washed and re-used for quite a while. Old cotton knits work fine, if you don’t mind waving your dingy old tightie-whities and sweat stained tees around.
Anything soft and slightly fuzzy, and if the cloth alone doesn’t do the trick all you have to do is get it damp with plain water.
Take up knitting and knit yourself some washcloths and dusting cloths! Pretty common here in Scandinavia (you can actually just get cotton machine knit ones in the supermarket but I’m not sure those are a thing elsewhere) and they’re pretty much baby’s first knitting project because it’s just, a square
Is there glassware with lids that closes well enough to transport it?
Yes, glass and stainless steel containers with air-tight lids exist. Some use a silicone or natural rubber gasket for the seal.
If you can’t find those, canning jars (Ball, Mason, etc.) have been around for ages, and you can always wash and reuse empty jars that once held food from the market. You can avoid food contact with the lid coating by keeping the jar upright.
When I need a microwave-safe lid, I find that a damp paper towel or upside down plate works well.
I like my glasslock. Glass body, plastic/rubber top. They seal incredibly well, you can turn it upside down and shake and it won’t leak.
Just don’t microwave it with the top on. I just toss a damp paper towel over it before microwaving.
Jars
Ikea has plenty of options, with either plastic lids or bamboo and silicone (neither of which are microwave safe)
Any suggestions for food storage containers without plastic lids?
Compact: Fido jar, wide mouth Ball/Mason/canning jar, emptied sauce jar.
Large: Saucepan, dutch oven, stock pot. (These are cheap at thrift shops.)
Stackable: Mixing bowls with bamboo lids, steel lunch containers with clamp-on steel lids.
In a pinch: Any bowl with a plate on top.
Yeah I’m starting to think about this as well
Ok… but what about the plastic in the microwave that’s part of the microwave?
Ok… but what about the plastic in the microwave that’s part of the microwave?
I think a glass and steel microwave oven could look pretty damn cool, but until we have those, I simply try not to cook my food on the microwave’s surfaces. :)
What about the radioactive waves that touched my food?
Radiation isn’t always the same as radioactivity. Microwaves aren’t gonna cause you to mutate (they could boil the water in your body tho) or make your food irradiated. But I’m pretty sure the plastic is still plastic, and if all plastic is bad plastic then maybe we shouldn’t use microwaves at all.
When it was growing in sunlight, aka red shifted gamma radiation coming from an open nuclear reactor?
Whelp, I may be screwed. Don’t have the money to replace everything
Do you ever buy things that come in glass jars, like pasta sauce or jam?
Do you have a thrift shop nearby?
I go through the stuff very slowly, so it will still take a long time to build up what I need
Slow and steady wins the race. :)
Then don’t - get a small glass/Pyrex casserole dish with a glass lid and decant your leftovers into that every time you go to heat something up. I think IKEA sell some nice sized ones.
If you don’t drop it they last for decades and that’s what I’ve been doing. I do not reccomend looking for vintage stuff though - the reason why they stopped using the original original glass formula is because it chips easily and yeah, something that gets used on a very regular basis with its lid constantly going on and off is going to start chipping something awful over time
We’re gonna be needing a probiotic that breaks down plastic in the future.
Breaks it down into what though? The article stated that several of these plastics are made of toxic chemicals. So if we are not careful, that could make things even worse.
Ideally into something that doesn’t poison us, something that we could either safely absorb, or expel from our bodies all together.
At the end of the day, they’re still carbohydrates and theoretically could be broken down into Co2/methane/alcohol or other short carbon components.
There are fungi that break down plastics. Maybe if we are lucky we can find a fungi that wants to feed off of the poisons that we eat and live in our bodies taking up what our organs can’t safely absorb.
This is how we end up living in The Last of Us.
I for one welcome our fungal overlords. I look forward to a world of peace brought by the shared mycilial network.
Could also have a type of penicillin that we inject to clear the plastic out of our blood if we go that route.
Put the fungus in your blood, no problems will happen I’m sure.
Are there glass lids that can be used to cover food so it doesn’t scatter when it explodes? We already don’t use plastic/tupperware in the microwave but don’t have a lid if we need to cover it.
Damp paper towel.
Why damp?
It makes it much easier for it to stay in place. Mainly from the spinning, but if your food explodes a damp towel stays put way easier than a dry one.
Probably to prevent it from burning and to make it heavy enough to stay in place.
Unless you really really really go nuts with way too much time on timer, a dry paper towel is not going to ignite in your microwave.
It helps hydrate the food. Helps out with rice in particular
This is a good question, already covered in the other comments.
I will add here that exploding food has been much less common since I figured out how to choose a reduced power level on my microwave. (But I still cover the food anyway.)
I’ve always just used a bigger plate/bowl to cover things. They’re much easier to clean than any plastic lid.
In the microwave, I always use the lid of a bigger glass bowl on top of my large, wide, glass, measuring-pitcher. It doesn’t fit perfectly, but I turn the lid upside down so it doesn’t slide when I carry it.
Pyrex/borosilicate dishes work pretty well here. Both Pyrex and IKEA do little single serving casserole dishes with a lid that work fantastic. Been using them for decades now
Alternatively you could upend a plate on-top of your bowl
Meh. Gonna die anyways. I’m probably 40% plastic by now. Might as well bump it up.
After 30 years of putting plastic in the microwave … I think I’m fine, definitely not worrying about my sperm count ;)
Obviously, it’s good they study this, but apparently the microplastic is already in everything and we don’t really know what it’s doing to humans. Good luck, trying to convince the fossil fuel industry to produce less plastic.
I actually disagree with this cooking MYTH.
But; it depends on the TYPE of plastic. Don’t trust takeaway containers or soft and flexible plastics.
Hard and rigid plastics are in fact SAFE if marked as “Microwave-Safe”; they HAVE TO BE SAFE to have that marking.
DO:
- avoid soft plastics
- avoid takeout containers
- avoid heavily damaged tupperware
- replace old tupperware plastics once in a while; especially if they’re all scratched/dinged up.
As per the article:
"But what if my container is ‘microwave-safe’?
Though various plastics are marked as microwave-safe—and plenty of plastic lobbyists have defended them as perfectly safe—the term is somewhat misleading. It’s simply referring to plastic types that won’t crack or melt when heated, not their chemical makeup. Supposedly microwave-safe products can still contain bisphenols, phthalates, and plenty of other potentially harmful ingredients."
Did you read the article?
I know plastic is scary but guys, you don’t need to replace your entire plastic container selection - you could just, decant your food into a different container before microwaving it? The microwave is what’s doing this, not the fridge.
I’d recommend getting a small borosilicate/Pyrex dish like This. I’ve been using two of them my entire life (did none of you get taught that microwaving plastic with food make it go funny as a kid?) And they last a good while. Provided you don’t drop them. I think IKEA sells them and I’ve seen them around in my local kitchen store in non-pyrex brands. Also they’re oven and dishwasher safe too!
Also I don’t reccomend hunting for vintage Pyrex here - old pyrex chips super easily and constant use and slamming the lid on will chip the edges to hell and back. The European formula isn’t actually the same as the old one so it’s fine but unless you like glass chips in your cupboard and super sharp edges, don’t go for it.
The microwave is what’s doing this, not the fridge.
Nobody said the fridge is doing this, but it doesn’t prevent it, either. It happens through contact. The microwave accelerates it.
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