February 2007
Storing food the high-tech way
SEEING RED Stain Shield, above left, lived up to its name. Lock&Lock, above right, remained stained even after washing, but it kept
food a bit fresher.
The claim. To protect food, Heritage Lock&Lock Airtight uses latches and a “space-age silicon seal”; Rubbermaid Stain Shield uses an
“exclusive dual material storage lid”; Sharper Image Fresher Longer uses polypropylene that’s impervious to air and odor.
We paid $23 for Lock&Lock (17 pieces), $69 for Stain Shield (20 pieces), and $70 for Fresher Longer (12 pieces).
The check. We filled two sets of each type of container with soppresatta salami, fresh mozzarella, grapes, and strawberries--separately, of course. Then we popped one set in a refrigerator and, for a tougher test, left the other at room temperature.
To check stain resistance, we filled containers with red pasta sauce, left them overnight, microwaved them, washed them, and took a close look.
CR’s take. Use Lock&Lock or Fresher Longer and you’ll get less mold than in Stain Shield. With Lock&Lock, you’ll also pay one-third
the price. At room temperature, soppresatta, mozzarella, and grapes in Stain Shield were moldy after five days; in Lock&Lock
and Fresher Longer, those foods had little or no mold. By day nine, all foods in Stain Shield looked much worse than those
in Lock&Lock and Fresher Longer.
On the other hand, Stain Shield revealed no remnants of nuked-on pasta sauce; Lock&Lock and Fresher Longer did. All were dishwasher safe.
The check. We filled two sets of each type of container with soppresatta salami, fresh mozzarella, grapes, and strawberries--separately, of course. Then we popped one set in a refrigerator and, for a tougher test, left the other at room temperature.
To check stain resistance, we filled containers with red pasta sauce, left them overnight, microwaved them, washed them, and took a close look.
On the other hand, Stain Shield revealed no remnants of nuked-on pasta sauce; Lock&Lock and Fresher Longer did. All were dishwasher safe.
