(Disclaimer: The Amazon links in this blog post are affiliate links, so I can make a few extra coins to help pay for a fraction of the cost to host this website. #CommissionsEarned)
Tom Saaristo had an excellent post on his foodie blog about plastic disposable food containers. He suggested several options including Gladware, Ziploc, and his choice US Plastics. But I wondered how much it costs per ounce for these containers. Here’s the results for the cheapest plastic storage sets:
| Name | Container Size | Container Name | Number of Containers with Lids | Total Cost | Cost per container | Cost per ounce |
| Ziploc Snap ’n Seal | 32 oz | tall square | 24 (it really is 24, see note under chart) | $10.97 | $0.46 per container | 1.4 cents/ounce |
| Glad Ware | 64 oz | Rectangle Deep Dish | 18 | $17.18 | $0.95 per container | 1.5 cents/ounce |
| Glad Ware | 48 oz | Round Big Bowl | 5 | $3.79 | $0.76 per container | 1.6 cents/ounce |
| Safety Lock | 32 oz | round | 1 | $0.68 | $0.68 per container | 2.1 cents/ounce |
| Glad Ware | 25 oz | Square Entrée | 30 | $17.18 | $0.57 per container | 2.3 cents/ounce |
| Glad Ware | 24 oz | Rectangle Soup & Salad | 30 | $17.18 | $0.57 per container | 2.4 cents/ounce |
| Safety Lock | 24 oz | round | 1 | $0.60 | $0.60 per container | 2.5 cents/ounce |
| Glad Ware | 32 oz | Round Small Bowl | 4 | $3.79 | $0.95 per container | 3.0 cents/ounce |
| Ziploc Snap ’n Seal | 32 oz | square | 4 | $3.99 | $0.95 per container | 3.1 cents/ounce |
| Safety Lock | 16 oz | round | 1 | $0.52 | $0.52 per container | 3.3 cents/ounce |
| Ziploc Snap ’n Seal | 56 oz | large bowl | 2 | $3.99 | $2.00 per container | 3.6 cents/ounce |
| Safety Lock | 12 oz | round | 1 | $0.46 | $0.46 per container | 3.8 cents/ounce |
| Rubbermaid Plus 50-pc. Set | Round 8.2 oz 22.5 oz 11.8 oz 41.6 oz 16 oz 32 oz
Square | Round and Square | Round Square (that’s 526.8 total ounces) | $19.99 | $0.83 per container | 3.8 cents/ounce |
| Ziploc Snap ’n Seal | 24 oz | tall round | 4 | $3.99 | $1.00 per container | 4.2 cents/ounce |
| Ziploc Snap ’n Seal | 14 oz | round short bowl | 30 | $20.33 | $0.68 per container | 4.8 cents/ounce |
| Smart Spin storage system | 24 oz 16 oz 8 oz | round | 8 (24 oz) 8 (16 oz) 8 (8 oz) | $19.99 | $0.83 per container | 5.2 cents/ounce |
| Safety Lock | 8 oz | round | 1 | $0.43 | $0.43 per container | 5.4 cents/ounce |
| Ziploc Twist ’n Loc® | 32 oz | round medium | 2 | $3.99 | $2.00 per container | 6.2 cents/ounce |
| Food Storage 24-pc. Set | 4 oz 8 oz 16 oz 24 oz 32 oz | Round | 5 (4 oz) 4 (8 oz) 1 (16 oz 1 (24 oz 1 (32 oz) That’s 124 total ounces | $9.99 | $0.77 per container | 8.1 cents/ounce |
| Betty Crocker 48-Piece Superseal Food Saver Set | Round Square Rectangular | Round, Square, and Rectangular | Round Square Rectangular | $35.99 | $2.00 per container | 8.7 cents/ounce |
| Glad Ware | 4 oz | Mini Round | 96 | $34.35 | $0.36 per container | 8.9 cents/ounce |
The runaway winner is the 32 oz Ziploc Snap ‘n Seal. Not only is it the cheapest in cost per ounce. But it’s the second cheapest per cost of container. The amazon page for it is kinda confusing, cuz it looks like you only get four containers. But you get SIX SETS of four containers.
(Disclaimer: The Amazon links in this blog post are affiliate links, so I can make a few extra coins to help pay for a fraction of the cost to host this website. #CommissionsEarned)
here’s some advice that will save everyone hours of frustation: Buy one kind of disposable plastic storage device and stick with it. Don’t buy any other sizes. My wife and I don’t throw about our plastic ziploc box things. However, we’ve amassed quick a varying collection through the years and it’s very frustrating trying to match up the right container with the right lid. buy one brand and stick to it!
spud, you trying to use a square-formatted photo for all your blog posts? The one accompanying this post is pretty bad. It doesn’t fit in the square very well. Or at least scale down the ziploc photo so it fits comfortably in the square. It’s kinda fugly how the left and right edge of the photo butt up against the edge of the photo, but then you have all this white space above and below the photo.
oh yeah, i try to do a 150×150 photo for my blog posts. But I wrote this post at home where I didn’t install Photoshop on that G4 yet, so I just grabbed the image off amazon and used it as is. Eventually I’m gonna go in an fix that.