Rubbermaid 42-Piece Food Storage Containers with Lids

Leaving my original review for comparison. I originally left 4 stars, changing to 5 now that I've had these a couple of weeks and had a chance to use them, wash them, close and re-open and re-close them. 5 stars. Read my pros and cons with this in mind; I wrote them after checking out the containers when I first got them, BEFORE I used them. Having said that; I would move the lids to the pros side. They may not snap on as easily as the older ones, but they do seal well. They cleanup easily also, Add that to the pros. I tried one in the microwave to see what would happen; they seem to do well, no excessive softening or discoloring like the older ones did. I will still be careful what is in them in the microwave just to be safe. All in all; seems to be the quality I expect from Rubbermaid. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Stars. I purchased these to replace the older set that I have. You know; the ones with the pinkish-purple lids. I read the reviews and couldn't find anything extremely negative, so I bought them. The containers I am replacing are over 10 years old and may be as much as 14 years old, so only time will tell if this new set will have the longevity I've come to expect in Rubbermaid products. I won't say that I am unhappy with the purchase, just skeptical of the quality and possible lifespan of these new containers. Here is what I found as pros and cons, others may find other points as well. The pros: First off; the price was great! I always watch for sales and this was a good sale. The vented lid seems like a good idea, the vent seals well. There are a good variety of sizes in this set, including one larger container. The cons: The material on these new ones is not as heavy. The lids do not snap on as easily and don't seem to seal as well. Overall; if they have a lifetime close to the last set I bought, they are an exceptional value for the money. Only time will tell the story. I give them 4 stars because I am skeptical that they will last.

Update July 2023 I bought another set. Like anything else, they don't last forever, but it's not far from it. I still have a few left in my scrub stack from my first purchase. The impressive part is that over the course of about a dozen years, the lids and containers from all generations fit each other. This is very unusual in the containers market since molds and materials can change over time, yielding different results. The only thing that has changed over time is now there is a flippable steam vent that didn't exist in the first few iterations. The steam vent has some benefit, though I haven't even thought about getting rid of those lids that don't. Pop the corner and microwave away. The place I found this steam vent to be most handy is when packing hot food. The remaining air inside the tub doesn't heat up and pop the lid. Just vent the cap and put it in the fridge if you don't have time to let it cool first. So far I've lost a few containers, but it's been due to my abuse of them, not due to any defect or wearing out. One got too close to the stove, I've left a few with friends or at my kids' house and I reheated some oily food in the microwave. 350F oil and plastic don't do well together. Even in the last case, it didn't really destroy the container so much as it made it very unsightly and kind of crazes the finish, and there's just a point where it has to go because you have better ones and you need the space. I now keep three stacks of containers, however. One stack is for everyday life, which is worn and not looking great. The second stack is my stack for breaking in and back up to the first stack when needed like on holidays. The third stack is when I have to take something to a function or take dinner to a sick friend. Watch the prices of these things as it fluctuates wildly. The set I just got was for $19 on Prime Day, which is less than half of what it is now, a week later. ****************************** I've bought these Rubbermaid containers now for about 10 years and they provide excellent service and just don't wear out easily. They are what Tupperware used to be 25 years ago. All the lids fit tightly and I haven't had a single one of the vents snap off, which was an initial concern of mine. The great part is that over the course of a decade, the product remains consistent from batch to batch and year to year, meaning that old lids fit with new containers and vice versa. I think they are the only containers I've bought that have retained this much compatibility with earlier versions. Nothing lasts forever and I don't expect these to either, but I have had a few that I've had to toss. There are essentially two problems that have caused their demise: 1] Frozen with food and being dropped coming out of the freezer due to being brittle. I've never had a lid crack, but the clear body has cracked a couple of times. But in all cases, they've still been usable for a while and they've never split open and cost me my food. I can't blame the device. It's my clumsiness and nothing is unbreakable. 2] Over time the containers can become a bit glazed looking and stain up, particularly when storing food with high acid or the food was extremely hot. Red tomato sauces and yellow turmeric colors in curry are the worst stainers, though even this coloring still eventually comes out. When storing these foods, I've learned to spray the container first with Pam cooking spray and that helps a lot. Despite the loss of a few containers, these will stay my food storage containers of choice and I will stay a Rubbermaid customer.

They stack empty, they stack full, they work great. The only thing is that heating marinara in a microwave left a mark, but I love these things. All the same-size lids work with any size tub, and the different size tubs stack inside each other like magic to save cabinet space. Love them.

These containers are great. Functional is the key here. Size graduations work well, from a dab to a large portion. Lids fit well and don't leak. Easy on easy off. The square shape fits in the refrigerator without wasting space.

I really do like these bowls. They're nice and sturdy, the lids snap on tightly, and the snap together feature is a great space saver for holding leftovers. The new design with the air vents in the lids for the larger bowls is a great idea - love it for reheating in the microwave. Now for the things that I don't like (and the reason that I only gave 4 stars to a product that I really like). There are ENTIRELY too many small containers. In my wildest dreams, I cannot fathom why they thought somebody would need so many of such tiny containers. I mean, I'm pretty sure that they were not added for any real reason they thought their customers might need them for. Seems to me that they were solely added just because the smaller containers are cheaper to produce, and putting them in these sets allows them to raise the number of pieces in the sets, (remember, the item count includes each bowl AND each lid), which also makes it sound like a better deal, rather than for any foreseeable use for their customers. Of course, I did know what I was buying, they had pictures and everything, but you cannot buy any of their sets that do not include these. What you get with the smaller sets is less of the larger, usable bowls. And buying the larger bowls alone costs so much that it doesn't make any sense to just buy those. Secondly, the bowls stain with tomato sauce. Storing leftovers in the fridge stains most of the time (though there are exceptions, maybe based on what type of sauce it is). Do not EVER put anything with tomato sauce in the microwave, even with the handy new vent lids. It not only stains, but it almost looks like the sauce has kind of melted itself into the bowl. Nothing else that I've ever reheated does this - only tomato sauce, for some reason. And our family loves things with tomato sauce, so we always have to make sure that we have other brands of containers as well, just to use for tomato sauce. I probably will buy them again, and I will probably be frustrated each time because of these things, but like I said at the beginning, they are nice sturdy bowls with lids that snap on tightly and seal well. Can't have everything, I guess.

Great set with a nice variety of useful storage units at a good price. The lids have a nice range so you don't have a lot of useless lids and all are nicely stackable

This is a great set. I was looking for a storage set that also had vented lids for microwaving. They are very hard to find. I was initially worried that only some of the lids would be vented, but I was happily surprised to find that all eight are. This is a very well made set. All the containers stack together nicely and the lids snap together as well. One of my best purchases ever.

Very secure lids. Love the various sizes. Stack for easy storage & space saving. These are truly the best brand of food storage items.