Glad Simply Cooking Bags ~ Cooking in Plastic in 2007?

I’ve been reviewing some free samples of Glad Simply Cooking bags.

I must admit I was leery of these from the start. Microwaving and plastic just don’t mix, and these are essentially plastic bags designed for microwave steaming vegetables.

The press materials accompanying these bags claim that because no PVC is used in the bags and they comply with FDA safety regulations. I still wonder why they don’t mention Bisphenol A (BPA) and other chemicals of concern today.

Is it because they don’t want us to know?

That said, I agreed to test the product and I did. And it works. But I didn’t give my son any of the veggies from it because I don’t think kids need food cooked in plastic. Period. They stand up easily on their flat bottom making them easy to fill, which was nice.

I can see these being useful when you’re camping (in your trailer with a microwave, of course) or in a hotel and you want fresh or frozen steamed veggies but the assumption that I’m too lazy to boil water and wash the pot after (which had…water in it) is a bit much for me and certainly not worth the risk of cooking in any kind of plastic, PVC or not.

If you want to try them yourself, they’ll be coming to a grocery store near you in the next few weeks OR you could

(a) boil some water and put a steamer on top

(b) put your veggies in a glass, pottery or porcelain dish with 1 T of water, cover loosely with parchment paper and nuke them the same as you would in these bags.

Neither of those options is difficult or extraordinarily time consuming, but people are definitely getting busier and if you try these & like them, feel free to tell me I’m wrong!