Containers that don't waste space

cheerios

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 9:02 am

All the containers I found so far are tapered at the bottom (to make them stackable) or had wide rims that made them waste so much space. I need a lot of them and the 2 inches or so between each adds up to a lot of wasted space. I'm looking for something that can be placed side by side touching each other like cardboard boxes. (online or in Brooklyn.)

zaq

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 5:26 pm

Do you mean food containers? because for nonfoods, shoe boxes of different sizes are in fact ideal. Just label them since you cannot see the contents. For frozen foods, put ziplok bags inside cardboard containers, or loaf pans, or any container of the desired shape, fill with the food, freeze, then remove the box and lay the now-rectangular bag flat or upright in the freezer. Tupperware makes "square-round" containers, which are basically square but with rounded corners. You DO want this, my friend, because angular corners are impossible to clean properly. The rounded corners do not trap food and dirt the way angular corners do, and they are well worth the negligible loss of capacity.

However: do you keep your containers full at all times? Because, take it from the voice of experience, possessing many containers that do not fit one inside the other becomes a storage nightmare during those times that the containers are not in active use. A slightly tapered silhouette allows you to store multiple containers within the footprint of one. The only way to do this with straight-sided containers is to have graduated sizes so that each one fits completely inside another--but then you may end up with containers in sizes that are less than useful.

zaq

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 5:29 pm

PS for freezing and especially fridge, you need air circulation between containers and should NOT look for containers that will form a solid pavement wall to wall. Wall-to-wall is fine AFTER food is completely frozen.

cheerios

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 10:26 pm

Sorry I wasn't clear. I'm looking for containers to organize my pantry. One for cans, one for snacks, etc. Somehow I find that when they are not in a bin/container you can utilize the space so much more efficiently. I started putting them in bins, and don't have where to put everything. I lost space.
Btw, thanks for the freezing tips as well!

seeker

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 11:26 pm

Also interested in finding bins with straighter sides. You're right, they all seem to have slanted sides or indentations somewhere making it much harder to organize the contents!

seeker

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 11:34 pm

If clear is not important to you, maybe go with boxes instead of bins. I don't know if they make them out of plastic but you can find pretty sturdy coated cardboard ones.

cheerios

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 11:37 pm

I have had cardboard, but they are barely strong enough to hold 2 bottles of pasta sauce. Space-wise, they were great. (do you know of a strong cardboard box?)

MagentaYenta

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 11:37 pm

Have you considered mason jars, or is the glass too heavy? I use them for everything, they stack and are air tight and see through.

seeker

Sun, Jan 25 2015, 11:42 pm

I have never even considered putting pasta sauce in a box. It's heavy and stacks well enough as it is! I just stack cans/jars straight in the cabinet. Perhaps you want a can holder thing? Not sure if that's what they're called but I have seen them, they are long rectangles that hold cans horizontally and they all shift down as you pull one from the front.