Reusable silicone bags are beginning to play a very vital role in the storage of any kind of food. These silicone storage bags play a great role in the food packaging industry because of their versatile and inert properties. Food grade silicone bags are collapsible, durable, leak-proof, and safe for use in ovens, freezers, microwaves, and dishwashers.

Benefits of Silicone Storage Bags

Silicone is a very good alternative to plastic that offers a lot of benefits. These benefits include:

• One of the benefits of silicone storage bags is that they are very easy to clean.
• They neither warp or damage
• Even when exposed for a very long time they do not spoil
• It easily washes clean in a dishwasher or boiled to sterilize it.
• Very airtight bags
• They are easily self-seal.
• Also, they are durable.
• So it will take a long time before you will have to dispose of them.
• In addition, they are lightweight.
• Quite easy to transport,
• Save a lot of space.
• They, therefore, easily ship from one place to another.
• Silicone is a natural material that does not contain chemicals.
• No use of toxins such as lead, latex, BPA, and phthalates.
• For this reason, it is hypoallergenic
• Very hygienic
• Odorless,
• Effective against bacteria.
• More so, because it is non-toxic in nature, it does not react with any kind of food and will not give off hazardous fumes.

Other Benefits

• As a result of the non-toxic nature of silicone, these bags are great for use in the storage of food for babies and adults.
• Silicone is able to withstand temperatures, whether hot or cold. It can distribute heat evenly and has the ability to quickly cool off even after it has been heated. Therefore, silicone bags are very useful for storing hot and cold food or beverages.
• Additionally, this material is resistant to moisture, sunlight, chemicals, and age. This makes it suitable for use both indoors and outdoors. You can also use silicone bags in the freezer.
• Although these bags do not decompose, they are recyclable.
• However, you cannot recycle using the general recycling program.
• There are some select locations to recycle silicone bags 100% so they do not form non-hazardous wastes.

Background of Reusable Silicone Bags

Reusable silicone bags are a man-made polymer with a good safety track record. It has a silicon and oxygen backbone, instead of the carbon backbone that plastics have. Silicon is a naturally occurring element found in bounds in quartz, rock, and sand.

However, do not mistake silicone for silicon because they both mean very different things. Silicone is a polymer, while silicon is an ingredient of silicone. The element, silicon, is in silica which is sand, that happens to be widely available on earth.

To transform silicon into silicone, you need to combine with:

• oxygen,
• hydrogen,
• and carbon.

To make silicone, you will have to extract silicon from silica. Hardly found occurring naturally by itself. Then passed through hydrocarbons to create a new polymer. This new polymer has an inorganic silicon-oxygen backbone as well as carbon-based side groups.

Hence, although silicon comes from a highly abundant resource like sand, the hydrocarbons found in silicone are from fossil sources. These fossil sources are natural gas and petroleum.
Therefore, silicone can be seen as a hybrid material that is very useful in making top-notch, safe, and reliable bags. The bags produced from silicone are very hygienic and do not have any open pores that could harbor bacteria. They are very durable and flexible, so they will not scratch or shatter for a very long time.

They are great for use in extreme temperatures and can be used in both the freezer and the microwave. Also, these bags do not stain or smell so they will not contaminate the food or cause any allergic reactions. This is why they are widely used in many homes for the safety of the family.

How to Use Silicone Storage Bags for Your Dishes

• The dishes you choose for storing your food should be 100% food-grade silicone. It is important that there should be no fillers because this can compromise the silicone’s durability and quality.
• Be careful not to mistake thermo-plasticized rubber (TPR) dishes for silicone dishes because they are similar in look and feel. However, TPR dishes are not as durable and do not tolerate high temperature or heat as silicone does. To test them, expose them to heat and see if the plastic will warp.
• Silicone bags are very good to use in storing leftover bulk food such as soups in stews inside the freezer. You can also toss it into a microwave or a pot of boiling water with no worries of whether the bag will get damaged or not. You can even eat this meal inside this silicone bag.
• These bags can be used in packaging weeknight meals. You can neatly package vegetables that have a spinach bed with some chickpeas and a little drizzle of tahini. Then you can add pre-chopped vegetables like sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and beets to the bag.

Other Ways

• Silicone cookware is a healthy option because it is safer and more sustainable. Unlike plastics that offer just one-type use, these bags can be used to store your food, rinsed out, and reused. After using these bags in the microwave, oven, boiling water, and freezer, you can place them in the dishwasher.
• These bags are perfect for cooking packaging lunch using the multi-pack option. They are greener, healthier, and easier to use for packaging school or work lunch.
• The non-porous surface of these bags will not allow bacteria to grow on it. This is very important for food preservation and storage of different types of food.
• You can use silicone packaging for vide cooking too. There are a lot of sizes they come in, which include a sandwich, snack, and half-gallon sizes.

Conclusion

Silicone bags are the renewable food packaging choice for the 21st-century household considering their immense benefits in the kitchen. These reusable storage bags can be used repeatedly for many months after rinsing properly. Households that use these silicone storage bags can prep their breakfasts, lunch, and dinner in a fun and safe way.