When the folks at Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. sent me a few Glad® SimplyCooking™ Microwave Steaming Bags, I was a little skeptical. After all, I like using my stove top steamer insert, and zapping apples or frozen veggies in the microwave is easy. Plus aren’t using these disposal bags wasteful and expensive? Then I tried them out.
Easy to Use
First I tried cooking a couple of cups of frozen broccoli using the directions conveniently printed on the bag, approximately four minutes. Why frozen veggies? Because if you’re dieting and trying to lose weight like me, you’re always steaming vegetables!
The bags were very easy to use because of their hexagon design. When you open the bag up, you can use your hand to push out the bottom and set them on the counter. They actually stand up making it easier to fill.
Unlike when I microwave frozen veggies in a bowl covered loosely with or lid or plastic wrap, the vegetables were uniformly cooked, but not mushy. I especially liked microwaving slices of apples in the bags. They came out perfectly and in less time than they take in a bowl.
Durable (But Not Recommended)
The plastic bags are durable enough to use many times. If you’re steaming something that isn’t greasy you can just rinse them out with water and turn upside down on your dish rack to dry. However, GLAD™ recommends using the bags one-time only to avoid cross contamination between foods.
So I would only do this if you were cooking veggies or fruits without oil or butter, or if you felt you could get enough hot, soapy water in the bag to do a thorough cleaning. Again, do this at your own risk as it’s not recommended. (For more information on Glad® SimplyCooking™ Microwave Steaming Bags go to their FAQs page.)
Time Saver
GLAD® SimplyCooking™ Microwave Steaming Bags would be very handy in saving time in the morning on your way to work. (You can download this recipe from GLAD’s website.) Just prepare the egg dish the night before, leave in the refrigerator, then pop it into the microwave the next morning for two minutes. I can’t wait to try this with the Extreme Fat Smash Diet eggwhite omelet!
Using the SimplyCooking™ bags is a great way for older kids to quickly make an omelet on school mornings, too. Again, just prepare the night before. There would be no scary stove top use, no food to burn or undercook, no pan to wash, and after they are done, they could just throw out the bag. Heck, they could eat it out of the bag with a spoon so you wouldn’t have a plate to wash!
Cost
GLAD® SimplyCooking™ Microwave Steaming Bags are available in 10-count packages (3-4 serving size bags) at an approximate retail cost of $2.99, so 30 cents a bag. They’re not super cheap and not recyclable. But they’re very convenient, especially when you’re trying to save time, and get your veggies and fruit perfectly cooked.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Huh. Pretty cool idea–maybe I’ll finally start eating my daily serving of vegetables…
Re: “However, GLAD™ recommends using the bags one-time only to avoid cross contamination between foods.” Cross-contamination between, say, broccoli and carrots! Give me a break. Glad (or GLAD, as I’m sure they would prefer) just wants to sell more bags. As you noted, residual oil or butter might become rancid if not rinsed out, but one would smell that the next time and toss that particular bag. At 30 cents a pop and NOT recyclable, I think they ARE doubly wasterful as one-use wonders.
Claire @ http://culinary-colorado.blogspot.com.
It’s like that apply, rinse, repeat instruction on shampoo. Of course they want you to use it only once and toss, so you can buy more. That’s why rinsing ‘em out and soaking them in hot sudsy water should work just fine. I do the same thing with my “disposable” pastry bags and use a baby bottle rack to dry them. It’s amazing how many time you can use a disposible product before it falls apart.