Cooking in Quart ziplocs and BPAs

From the Ziploc.com FAQ: "SC Johnson does not use BPA in its plastic products, Ziploc® Brand bags and containers, and Saran™ brand wraps."

On the other hand they say don't use the bags with boiling water, but do condone use in microwaves where steam and fats can reach much higher temps.

In our family we have completely eliminated using plastic for heating or hot food at home. Camping is another story, but since at the most we spend less than 15% of the time camping I think the convenience is worth the risk. (Most of our family camping is car camping and we don't boil in the bag there anyway).

I think the main reason that they are not recommended for boiling water is because of the risk of burns. That said, I find I can taste plastic if I use boiling water in the bags so I tend to use water that is close to boiling but not quite that hot.

The aLoksaks from http://www.loksak.com are rated for temps up to 140ºF and are perfect for rehydrating foods with boiling water and even better – they are much sturdier than freezer bags and reusuable.

BPA is a hardener so is used in rigid containers.

As for bags, they are food grade plastic, a polyethylene blend. This is the common plastic used for microwave safe plastics.

bisphenol is not the only chemical that can leach, just the most publicized – most plastics give off something when heat is applied or even at lower temps

http://www.ecologycenter.org/factsheets/plastichealtheffects.html

While personally I see nothing wrong with freezer bag thickness ziplock bags, PackitGourmet has FDA approved bags suitable for boiling.

Boil Safe Cooking Bags w/ Gusseted bottom

Thanks for all the responses.

Other options include turkey roasting bags as well as Food Vac bags (food vac bags are rated for submersion in water as well – though one doesn't do that with FBC style meals)

I recently picked up some Ziplock steam cooking bags. They seem to be made of a different material than the freezer bags…stiffer and crinkly. Anyone have any experience with these?

The steamer bags work well. They were designed for long periods in the microwave to cook items like raw fish and veggies.

They work well for meals, especially for bigger meals for two in a bag. Use them often!

Sarah,

Can you compare total weight of the steamer bags vs. quart freezer bags?

Do the vents allow any leakage of powdery foods when jammed in a bear can? Related question- Do the vents make packing in a bear can easier or harder?

Weight wise they are very similar – the steamer bags are thin though – and one has to be more gentle when packing. They are wider/shorter as well.

When I use them I load up the dry items, then roll up gently, then seal. If kept rolled you should have no issues with the vents.

Open the zipper carefully as well – don't yank on the them.

The cool thing is they do make a bowl, as they have a bottom pleat.

I made cozies for them for a long time. The steamer bags are nearly the same size as the freezer bags sold in the UK!

I think that I am going to start using the Ziploc containers.

They are polypropylene which is the purest and most stable plastic in common use.

Should have no BPA's and no plasticizers to leach into the food.

Also they are very light, some would say ultralight ;)

Just don't sit on 'em, PP is not as flexible as PE.

The problem with the air vents, even if you roll the bag up, is that they allow moisture (from the air) into your dehydrated food and that can cause issues such as spoilage. Depending on conditions – a few hours with humidity and air getting in can be a problem especially if you are on a trip that is a week or more in length. Food for thought.

Just a warning about the Ziploc containers… the lids crack fairly easily.

Hi Richard, I've been using Ziplock containers to rehydate my food and also to help protect my caldera cone. But I found this article recently which gives me pause.

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/11479/bpa-bisphenol-polypropylene-bottles-plastic.html

Any comments?

The Ziploc steamer bags that I bought (purchased at Bartell's) are called Zip'nSteam and have no vent or pleated bottom. In fact they pretty much look like a regular ziplock except that the material feels like a heavy cellophane. The large measures 10"x10", which was all they had but a medium would be more to my liking.

Yeah Dondo I saw the Science article too. I generally go for a "better safe than sorry" approach with plastics. Too much we don't know about them IMO. YMMV.

Dondo, I think the best clue on this is “who” the information came through- "Lawyers and Settlements.com” they might be worse then the fox guarding the hen house. These are the guys who are suing anybody about anything because there "might" be a connection to something. I’d wait to see something from a more (far more) reliable source like the AMA, EPA or some real scientific group (I wouldn't call an unnamed "group of researchers" a reliable source)

Hey Tad, the paper was published in "Science" which is an extremely prestigious scientific journal. You can read the paper yourself (it's not very long).

Anyway the only thing it proves is that polypropylene also leaches stuff. Whether that stuff proves to be a health concern is unknown.

Ashley, I read the link before but could not find the source other then the newspaper referred to 'science'. I also could not find anything at ScienceMag.org to substantiate the claim.

Here’s the link to the Science article.

Thanks, Dondo, but DARN! Well hopefully it will only make me sleepy as opposed to giving me testicular cancer :grimace:

Does anyone know if PE might be safer than PP? I just hate the taste of plasticizers from PE…never looked into what causes that plasticky (sp?) taste but assumed that it wasn't anything good.

Here is the referenced article.

Edit – oops, already linked to. I wasn’t looking at the most recent post.

Tad, sorry to bring lawyers into this.:-). In fact, I hesitated before posting the url. But you have to pay to read the full article in the "Globe and Mail" as well as in "Science".

Ashley, thanks for providing a link to the "Science" abstract.

Personally, I'm not that wedded to the idea of pouring boiling water into plastic and can easily go back to rehydrating my food in a .9 L pot.

The hard containers do not contain BPA – they are still flexible. Do take a look at the manufacturers websites if you don't believe me.
BPA was primarily used in baby bottles/water bottles – the kind of things used to hold liquids that would shatter if dropped from a distance. Sandwich boxes would not work well with a hardener added – they need to be flexible for the lid to go on right.

On the boiling water point….take a digital thermometer with you and test it – by the time you get to adding the water to your food it is below boiling. And even more so as you go higher in altitude. If one is worried just let the water sit for a minute or two in the pot, then pour.