Why David Chang Says There's 'No Reason' To Buy Food Storage Containers (Yes, Even Ziploc Bags)

Food storage falls right behind cooking and eating when it comes to the top three most common activities in the kitchen. Though storing your leftovers or those deliciously innovative Mason jar meals is a passive activity, it's still pretty important. Storing your food properly doesn't just preserve its freshness, it also contains odors that might contaminate other items in your fridge, keeps vermin out of dry goods stored in your pantry, and makes meals portable so you can easily take them with you to the office or classroom.

Of course, high-quality food storage containers can be expensive, and those that aren't are also usually lacking in terms of durability. Fortunately, Momofuku founder and professional chef David Chang has a pretty genius hack for collecting durable, uniform food storage containers. The idea is to save your plastic takeout containers, especially the black heavy-duty ones with transparent lids that many Asian restaurants use to protect endless orders of mouthwatering General Tso's chicken, egg rolls, beef lo mein, and more.

In a video for GQ, Chang says there's "simply no reason to throw these out," as they're easy to wash with lids that lock tightly into place. They also come in fairly standard shapes and sizes, meaning they'll also be no problem to store, as you can simply stack like shapes together. That's the other facet of genius in this idea — saving takeout containers from your favorite restaurant means your food storage containers will always be uniform, eliminating the endless hunt for lids and containers that match each other.

The biggest drawback to this hack is that most Asian takeout can be tough on your wallet if you order in too often, offsetting the advantage of getting "free" reusable plastic containers. One way to mitigate this is to institute a set number of takeout days per month — say, every other Friday. That way you can add to your collection without blowing up your budget. You can also host takeout nights with friends where everyone chips in and you ask them to leave their empty containers, or request that friends and family save them for you when they order out themselves.

Of course, some insist that ditching plastic storage containers in favor of glass is best, as it reduces the amount of microplastics that make it into your food and digestive system. However, this doesn't mean you have to toss all of your carefully collected takeout containers. Instead, try using glass containers for storing leftovers and heating food, while relegating plastic containers to tasks like holding dry goods in your pantry. Since heat is the main culprit in BPA transferring to your food, storing dried beans and rice in your takeout containers should be fairly safe.

In fact, removing most of your pantry items from their original packaging and storing them in these airtight containers instead can help your favorite snacks and baking ingredients have a longer shelf life. Smaller containers are also great for portioning out snacks, especially for younger kids.