Freezer bag alternatives…

With spring planting on the horizon, we are finding it useful to freeze a whole bunch of meals for nice days. My wife likes to do the once a month meals.
The problem is storing them in the freezer. Mason jars are not space effective and take longer to thaw. Same for glass tupperware, with the added expense. Bags really make the most sense.
I really want to avoid plastic, both for the waste and the micriplastics. We have a few silicone bags, but expense aside I worry that nasty stuff might leach from them too (haven’t read anything on that, but I have smelled some silicone lids, and it concerns me).
What are the options? Is there some sort of bag version of a wax wrap that might work? Any thoughts?

If you are handy with a sewing machine you could make cloth bags the size you want and then coat the bags with beeswax.

If you are not able to sew them some companies sell these bags.

I know you don't want to use bags.
But maybe saving them from the landfill will work for you.
I buy organic sugar from Aldis.
The bags it comes in are stronger than any freezer bag you can find.
The zip closure is very strong and they have a window in the side.
I'm not sure how many times I can reuse them, because I haven't had one break yet.

I have also found the blue diamond almond reusable zip loc bags are very strong and mylar inside,...
but the zip close will rip away from the bag if you open it in the center.
The habanero barbeque bags are orange so when I look in the freezer I can find the peppers right away.

Maybe there is a product you use that is sold in a strong resealable bag.

I can definitely sew, but I am not sure straight beeswax would work - it gets brittle and cracks when frozen. Have you tried it? I  wondering if combining it with oil might work.
Reusing bags is good, but I recently have been reading about the shedding of microplastics from plastic containers, so I am hoping to get away from reusing them for food - I use them for wool!

I don't do it all the time, but I have put food wrapped in beeswax-cloth into the freezer. I don't recall whether I've ever opened it right away or just let it thaw, but the cracking wasn't a problem -- either because I waited or because cracks just seal themselves as soon as the wrap gets warm.

If you are unsure why not try one as an experiment?  Once frozen the bag could be wrapped in butcher paper to be on the safe side.

Then don't defrost it without putting the contents in a bowl or pan.

You could line a container with foil, wax paper, cellophane or  parchment paper, add food and freeze.
Once the food is frozen, remove it from the mold, fold the liner closed, label and stack.
Foil can be recycled at a scrap yard, wax paper used as tinder, cellophane is made from trees and is biodegradable,  I'm not sure about parchment paper...

There are also a lot of square sided stainless steel container's available used, from the foodservice industry.
They make all kinds of lids for them, including silicon.
I have a box of them, purchased as surplus, and they have no off gassing smell.
If you never subject them to heat, I think they would last indefinitely.

Regarding the beeswax in cold weather thing....trappers commonly wax their traps to prevent rust, and we do it using a combination of beeswax and paraffin. It works very well in cold weather, at least on a chunk of steel. It's plain white oderless wax. You can buy trapping wax from any trappers supply place online, such as Minnesota trapline supply. A big 5lb block will only set you back $20ish.

Yes.. I have been trying to get away from plastics myself. I make beeswax wraps with my honey bees wax. I had so much wax this past year I wanted to give it a try.  I did I mix of oils, pine resin and wax. It seems to be good so far. I can let you know if they work. I just put some in the freezer to try this out. You can message me for more info if your interested in trying them out.

Lina Joana wrote:With spring planting on the horizon, we are finding it useful to freeze a whole bunch of meals for nice days. My wife likes to do the once a month meals.
The problem is storing them in the freezer. Mason jars are not space effective and take longer to thaw. Same for glass tupperware, with the added expense. Bags really make the most sense.
I really want to avoid plastic, both for the waste and the micriplastics. We have a few silicone bags, but expense aside I worry that nasty stuff might leach from them too (haven’t read anything on that, but I have smelled some silicone lids, and it concerns me).
What are the options? Is there some sort of bag version of a wax wrap that might work? Any thoughts?

Years ago (when we were homesteading in the 70s) my wife and I sourced square Tupperware-like inexpensive freezer containers. We reused them many times, replacing them only for "upgrade". Off-gassing was never apparent, and I doubt it would be for any plastic container used only at low temperature. I think plastic is a superior material for such use and much better than the old time alternatives, especially breakable glass. Also, the square freezer containers packed and nested beautifully.

Back in the day (yes, I am nearly as old as the dirt I study), the most common freezer wrap was freezer paper and freezer tape.  It is a heavy duty paper with a wax coating on at least one side to reduce moisture transfer.  One of the common shopping bags we use for cold items in warm weather is made with an aluminized lining.  They are very rugged.  Perhaps it would be useful to identify how one wishes to store frozen items: meat; specific vegetable; or time of storage (that is one I like).  Wrap different items in freezer paper in a container, stainless would be wonderfully efficient here, and then remove from metal container and place wrapped item in a specific heavy duty cold bag.  That way, even when removing from freezer, the wrappings would be less likely to loosen and it would be possible to haul the whole bag to where the items could be easily removed before returning the rest to the freezer.

One issue I have with a freezer is that it can lose power occasionally and then everything starts to thaw, refreezing when power comes back.  I have also had a child fail to ensure the freezer is properly closed (imagine that!).  Transferring frozen items into a secondary cold bag would add a bit of safety buffer and possibly reduce moisture loss and resulting freezer burn.

Just a thought.

I use saved jars from sauces and peanut butter. They work great for produce in the freezer if you leave about 1 inch of headspace for expansion. Great if you are recycling also. It is important to eliminate all plastics from our lives. If you eat boxed cereals you can save the liners and use to separate any meats you may freeze

Another option to consider for the wax bag idea is cheese wax. It is a little softer than straight bees wax and may remain more flexible. I would store it in some sort of container though as other items could puncture it or rub it off.

Lina Joana wrote:With spring planting on the horizon, we are finding it useful to freeze a whole bunch of meals for nice days. My wife likes to do the once a month meals.
The problem is storing them in the freezer. Mason jars are not space effective and take longer to thaw. Same for glass tupperware, with the added expense. Bags really make the most sense.
I really want to avoid plastic, both for the waste and the micriplastics. We have a few silicone bags, but expense aside I worry that nasty stuff might leach from them too (haven’t read anything on that, but I have smelled some silicone lids, and it concerns me).
What are the options? Is there some sort of bag version of a wax wrap that might work? Any thoughts?

The "once a month meals are a great idea. As long as the meal is already prepared, though, why not can these meals? Glass is safe and reusable and you won't have to thaw anything. It is a big time saver too, as well as a big energy saver.

I've been wondering about this too. I have one silicone bag I got from a plastic substitutions outfit, Our Planet Our Children or something like that. Along with waxed cloth, which I ended up giving away because I never used it--didn't trust its sealing capacity. I was told the silicone bag would last a lifetime, was not plastic but made of sand, could be frozen baked, or dropped into boiling water--the downside of that is the bag is so thick and not as flexible, so it takes up much more room in the fridge or freezer. Plastic really works best--I use square (and round) plastic containers in the freezer, and bags--I have two sets of glass containers in four sizes that I use in the fridge.

I have some Revere Ware square metal pans that my mom had had.  They have lids, although they are not terribly tight fitting, but work wonderfully just to store leftovers in the fridge.  This post got me to thinking that I'd like to get more storage containers for my freezer, so I just went and ordered some metal square containers.  The Bento type are ridiculously expensive although they have a neat concept.  I don't need heavy steel for the freezer and I do need quantity, so that was out.

They should come as ten squarish metal containers with lids for $24.99, and I got five sets.  Fifty should be enough to get me started.  Throughout the summer, I make pesto and store it in one cup containers.  I also freeze a lot of asparagus, mushrooms, strawberries, etc.  Writing this, I'm thinking I should probably double my order again! I think it might be prudent to see what I get first, though.  I do like the idea of square containers that stack for efficient use of space and reading more and more about microplastics being found in our bodies, I would really like to switch out all of my plastic.

Cj, what oils did you use? And is there a supplier for pine resin? What is the ratio of the miwture?
I like your idea and hope it works.

When I researched silicone containers, utensils, etc for food use, silicone (with an e) is silicon-based PLUS PLASTICIZERS. Which plasticizers (and their leach-ability) is unknown for a particular product. Make your choices and place your bets, folks!

I did buy more mason jars - had to switch to small-mouth, though, as the only ones that boasted extra durability are small-mouth ones. (Sure, makes sense from a materials strength point of view, but who wants small mouth?)

I also became more careful with cooling broth in the frig before freezing, and to not let jars directly touch the sides of the freezer where there would be more temp differential.

I still store non-liquids in plastic as I try to figure out how to transition away from plastic and still do food storage - rightly or wrongly, I figure cool dry lumps are going to touch the plastic in fewer places and otherwise be more inert in the interactions.

Unfortunately Craig no Albis in Canada but I rewash all the plastic bags without holes, that pass through the kitchen via various people.

I rarely need to replenish my bags.

Regular bags are used with a clip in the fridge to contain anything "open"
Those awful milk bags turned inside out make good mittens for picking up dog poop
Ditto for frozen veg bags
The ziplock bags of any grade are used for years and finally when they need patching with red housewrap tape, they are relegated to seed saving with food attached, labeled in freezer door, or for bagging clothing items and washcloths before a camping trip / vacation.

I use yogurt containers when I can, but when I leave my dog with my homestead sitter, I need to make homemade daily portions a no brainer and hope they get used, and some sandwich bags I was given 20 years ago get used, all of them in an oversized ziplock with label inside. Nice flat little packages with instructions to return the empty bags to the oversized bag and I will collect them from the freezer and wash them again upon returning.

It's not great, but I override the guilt with the joy of seeing all my bags hang drying over the sink with my sock drier I also acquired for nothing somewhere along the way.

I finally had to buy more vegetable bags: I had mine for 12 years, but mostly I use reused paper bags when I can for veg -- or arrange parsley in glass beakers and bag and secure with an elastic band -- another item refused

As you might notice, one of those awful fluorescent bulbs is installed there. There was a time about 12 years ago when I was duly gaslighted into believing these were environmentally good,
and a pack of them has been sitting around since then, and obviously someone found them.

Although there is fat chance it will get smashed, and I suppose it may as well stay I still feel the urge to give it away to a good home and put a rough service bulb in its place!

William Bronson wrote:
... cellophane is made from trees and is biodegradable,  I'm not sure about parchment paper...

I never knew this so I did some checking:

Parchment paper uses silicone and does decompose (like I was pretty sure it had -- I re-used mine from my butcher wrapped beef until it was best for lining bird cages then it was innoculated for the compost

Baking paper is better -- I had never heard of it -- cellulose based

Cellophane is supposed to me made of "regenerated cellulose, a bioplastic derived from natural sources like wood pulp, and is known for its transparency, flexibility, and low permeability to gases, moisture, and bacteri" according to the AI that sources wiki, science direct and Britannica

So then I thought: can I order cellphone bags for next time I want ziplock bags and yes! I can get cellphone zIplock bags on Amazon Canada -- so I checked the material and it says plastic

So if anyone knows where I can get real cellophane bags, even better somewhere in Canada, I have an inquiring mind and want to know!

Thanks William for pointing me in this direction


On the topic of mixing an oil with beeswax -- an interesting thought... I have been wondering about seal oil for all kinds of things but starting with a pure cotton canvas tent tarp... It would be interesting to try mixing the two on a tent peg bag and just work it by hand


By the way my wall-of-shame pic of a fluorescent bulb over the sink with the sock dryer plastic bag gizmo protecting it, was switched out with the last remaining one and I put them in my house sitter's rec room that had 2 blown out bulbs, put the last remaining different frosted enclosed fluorescent bulb with the sock dryer, and the other two remaining bulbs are 100W rough service (like they should be)

I know that there is hemp based ‘plastic’ out there but I don’t know much about the products. If you’re worried about the bad stuff in plastic you can look up the type you’re using by checking that number with the recycle symbol on the bottom. Search to see if it contains phthalates, parabens, or any other endocrine disrupters. UV light, heat, acids break down plastic.

It's difficult to find food that hasn't been wrapped in plastic at one point.

Information on silicone here
https://lifewithoutplastic.com/silicone/

Excerpt:

   "Silicones are not completely inert or chemically unreactive and can release toxic chemicals. They can leach certain synthetic chemicals at low levels, and the leaching is increased with fatty substances, such as oils.

       One study tested the release of siloxanes from silicone nipples and bakeware into milk, baby formula and a simulant solution of alcohol and water. Nothing was released into the milk or formula after six hours, but after 72 hours in the alcohol solution several siloxanes were detected.
       Another study found siloxanes being released from silicone bakeware, with leaching increasing as the food fat content increased."


I'm so disappointed– I thought it was inert and safe. On eBay I bought (used) bags to hold veggie scraps for stock,  and ice trays. The good news is the frozen contents have no oil or alcohol.