Hi mamas,
I made all of my son's babyfood and used the Beaba (http://www.beabausa.com/product-multiportions.cfm) to store the portions. This worked well when I only needed 2oz portions. They were nice but not airtight or very space-saving. At this point, I'd like to return to using purees in other recipes and will need to freeze larger portions for up to 3 months. I shy away from using plastic bags bc of the BPA and phalates that can leach into food. Does anyone know of any air-tight, silicone or polycarbonate containers that would work well for this?
Thanks!
I thought the dangers of using plastics for food only applied to when the food/plastic is heated up...then the BPA/chemicals are released. I think if you're just storing in the freezer you should be fine. I always froze my baby food in ice cube trays then put it in freezer ziploc bags for storage.
I have always used these: http://www.freshpreserving.com/products/freezer.aspx
Glass canning jars (can use plastic lids) or the 6 oz baby food jars with screw on lids...
I use little glass bowls made by Anchor. Pyrex makes these too. The smallest bowls can hold 8 oz. You can buy bigger bowls too. They can go in the freezer and the microwave. If you want square or rectangular containers, you can try Glasslock containers. I think they're a little more expensive, but they stack a little better in the freezer.
Small jars with lids. Anything from jam and jelly jars to the smaller ones from olives and pickles. Make sure you leave a little room for expansion or the glass can break.
I used to scoop 1-oz portions onto a wax-paper-covered cookie sheet, then put the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, the 1-oz servings can then be put into a larger container & stored in the freezer.
Not sure if this helps or not, but neither ZipLoc nor Saran nor Glad bags contain BPA or PVCs (which I also try to avoid). I'm not sure, though, that we'll ever know what's in various plastics or how the chemical components influence our health over time.
When I've had questions about certain plastics & their BPA content, I've found a quick search <product or brand name> BPA to be effective. Not only does it turn up the manufacturer's site, but also other "watchdog" type organizations.
I usually use yogert or cottage cheese containers for everything that I freeze. That way too, they are reusable.
:)
Ice cube tray, cover with plastic wrap. Dumps cubes into freezer safe container.
Pyrex makes the glass Tupperware-style containers. They're great. You can freeze in them AND microwave safely (I wouldn't try one immediately after the other though... they ARE glass). I use the larger ones to store soup, but even the smallest ones (about a serving size) would hold quite a lot of puree :)
You can use Pyrex, canning containers etc. Blah
However, being in the Plastics industry 25+ yrs, to get the damage from BPA ( media hype for fear mongers) you would have to inject BPA into your bloodstream daily to see a harm with BPA leaching into your system.
It's sad that the media has hyped this up so much. If you go test your hands right now.... You'll find traces of arsenic and more. If you are this worried about BPA.... Rest assured you have traces of all kinds of chemicals in your system.
Get facts about Products. Good luck
I like the princess house storage containers. They are glass but can be put into the freezer.
