Stretch-to-Fit Food Covers

January 2022Update:I’ve just received my new Cover Mates! Yep! A repeat buy after 18 mo. I use these every single day. Uses, wash under running water and clip to dry. What could be easier! After 18 mo some had started to tear away from the plastic and others had food stains. These also have 2 small covers for cans. I don’t recommend putting them in the dishwasher or micro, however. Once I can’t use them anymore, into the plastic bag for recycling with the plastic shopping bags.I first discovered Cover Mates at my local grocery store and I was so impressed! There was a small one that would fit over the exposed top of a cucumber. That one I used a lot. Well, it bit the dust so I was on a mission to find a replacement and I found this set. Ok, it doesn’t have a small cover to fit my cucumber; but I can wrap the cucumber in the medium one.I use these covers all time. They are easily washed/rinsed in the sink and then clipped to the towel rack with a clothes pin to dry. They are colored coded to easily grab the one needed. I keep my lettuce spring mix in a bowl lined with a paper towel with a large cover. The lettuce stays fresher so much longer. I have not microwaved them...I have a thing about microwaving plastic; but supposedly they can be used in the microwave. No more trying to find a “Tupperware” lid to store leftovers any more. Does that date me or what?

One day while using some Glad wrap, it struck me that I wasn't glad using so much petroleum waste. I imagined a re-usable plastic cover, maybe with a rubber band or elastic. I was pretty excited, and also disappointed that my idea was already taken, when I found these on Amazon. As I thought, it's a great alternative to plastic wrap. But it has some serious cons:1. Hard to wash. Being one huge mass of wrinkles when not stretched over a dish, it's almost impossible to wash it satisfactorily. Even when washed, it holds water inside all the crinkles, which starts to smell if stored wet too long. Someone should perfect this idea and use rubber that's more like a balloon: It stays smooth whether stretched or relaxed.2. Tears around the seam fairly quickly. Most of mine are already torn where the elastic is fixed inside the border.

Okay, I'm going to exaggerate here: Best Kitchen Product Ever Made! I've purchased a box of these previously from a grocery store but I used them so much the elastic stretched out and I was repairing them with twisty ties ("NO....Don't Die!") I could not locate them again until I found these. And the villagers rejoiced!! I purchased two packages and am happily enjoying them. They work great for storing lettuce and my favorite, broccoli. After I wash my lettuce, I put it with a few sheets of paper towel into a metal bowl, and cover with one of these. It lasts soooo long. Also, I'm not a fan of covering items with plastic wrap, a useless product, so I use these instead.

I like this collection of bowl cover sizes. We use these covers almost exclusively to put away leftovers which means one roll of plastic wrap at our house lasts several years. In fact the only time I get the plastic wrap out is if guests are taking home a treat, and I'm too stingy to share my "bonnets" as we call them. These are well made compared to others I have used. And I love that they are color-coded. No more wasting time because I couldn't determine right away what size bonnet I grabbed. They wash up easily and dry overnight on a magnetic hook on the side of the fridge, right near the drawer where they live between gigs in the fridge.

I bake weekly, and I use these to cover bowls of flour and proofing dough for bread. You can see through them enough to be useful, and they are much more durable than the competition. I have tried the cheap ones...these are well worth the higher price.

Works well on most sizes, but beware of overstretching. Fiddling with one of the "can-size" covers to see how far it would stretch resulted in the rubber band becoming detached, so it was no longer usable (no big deal for me, as that was a size I was unlikely to use).Oh, for those wondering about the "smell" described in some of the comments: these use rubber bands for the stretchiness. Rubber bands do have a bit of an odor, but it's not bad, imo. If you have a strong aversion to that particular smell, however, you may prefer a brand that uses something else for its elasticity.

These covers are great for everything from small containers to covering a half of watermelon or other large fruit. I also use the little ones at times for covering a small glass of juice or small bowl with leftovers rather than using a tear off of plastic wrap that is overkill for what I am covering. It's also a smart way to cover something that you are bringing to a party so you don't have to worry about storing the lid somewhere when the food is being displayed (especially outdoor parties).

We've basically stopped using plastic film since getting these. They come in so many useful sizes and are easy to use--unlike the heavier silicone ones we'd gotten which only fit a very narrow range of items, these stretch and shrink to accommodate what you want to cover.Good for potlucks, too, to keep insects away from the food.

I paid for the more expensive pack with the bonus tin cover but was sent the cheaper pack with less covers

Love them! Wish I has ordered them long ago. They are great for containers where the lids have been lost or broke./