How to Store Thanksgiving Leftovers: Japanese Wrap, Jars and Cases

Why Thanksgiving leftovers go wrong in the fridge

The meal is the easy part. What breaks is the hour afterwards, when eleven half-full dishes need to fit in one fridge, the foil will not stay on the bowl, and somebody is standing at the door holding a paper plate you are trying to cover. By Saturday the turkey is dry, the fridge smells like stuffing, and half of it goes in the bin. Almost none of that is a cooking problem. It is a wrapping and container problem, and it is the one part of the day nobody plans for. We compared the published specifications for the Japanese kitchen basics we stock and picked four that solve a specific part of it: the wrap that actually seals, the jar that takes a portion, the case that gets a plate home, and the pan that reheats it properly on day two.

The short answer, and when it holds

Buy the wrap first. If you only change one thing this year, change what you are covering bowls with, because that is what decides whether the turkey is still worth eating on Saturday. Add a vacuum-insulated food jar if you routinely send someone home with food or take a portion to work, and an insulated case if the food has to survive a car ride. The pan is the day-two purchase rather than the day-one one. That order holds on one condition: you are storing leftovers in the fridge in covered dishes, which is how most households do it. If you portion everything into freezer bags the same night, the wrap matters much less and you should skip straight to the jar and the case, which are the two pieces that keep working long after the holiday is over.

What the numbers actually say

Saran Wrap is not a marketing story, and this is the part worth knowing. Asahi Kasei makes it from polyvinylidene chloride rather than the polyethylene used in most supermarket wraps, and the company publishes the difference. Its own comparison lists oxygen transmission at 62 cm³ per square metre per day against 17,000 for polyethylene, and moisture transmission at 7.3 g per square metre per day against 14. It also states heat resistance of 140°C and cold resistance of minus 60°C. Oxygen and moisture are exactly what dry out a sliced turkey breast and what carry the smell of stuffing into everything else in the fridge, so the gap between those two numbers is the whole argument for changing wrap. The company also publishes a cutting-force figure, 2.4 cN against 148.8 for polyethylene, which is the reason the sheet tears cleanly instead of stretching and bunching when you are working fast.

Saran Wrap 30cm x 20m

This is the one to buy even if you buy nothing else on the list. The 30cm width is the household standard in Japan and it is wide enough to cover a serving bowl or a pie dish in a single pass, which matters when you are wrapping eleven things in a row and do not want to overlap sheets. Because polyvinylidene chloride is stiffer than polyethylene, it clings to the rim of a bowl and stays there instead of peeling back in the fridge overnight, and the published oxygen and moisture figures above are what that stiffness buys you in practice. Asahi Kasei lists heat resistance of 140°C and cold resistance of minus 60°C, so the same roll covers a dish going into the freezer as well as one going into the fridge for two days.

Best for: covering bowls, plates and pie dishes that go straight in the fridge.

[[product:saran-wrap-premium-cling-film-30cm-x-20m]]

Skater Insulated Food Jar 540ml

A vacuum-insulated jar solves the part of Thanksgiving that tupperware does not: sending one person home with a proper portion that is still warm when they get there, or taking your own share to work on the Friday without reheating it in a shared microwave. At 540 ml it holds a full plate's worth of turkey and sides rather than a snack portion, which is the size that actually gets used after a holiday meal. Skater builds it as a stainless vacuum-insulated container, the same construction as a thermal flask, so it works in both directions and will hold a cold salad or a chilled dessert just as well as a hot one on the way somewhere. The other argument for it is what happens after November: a jar this size goes on being a soup and rice container all winter, which is not true of the disposable containers most households buy for the holiday and then throw away in December.

Best for: one portion, kept hot or cold, that has to leave the house.

[[product:skater-insulated-food-jar-lake-green-540ml]]

THERMOS Insulated Lunch Case RFH-002 2L

The car journey is where most leftovers get ruined, and a 2 L insulated case is the answer to guests who arrive with a dish and leave with three. THERMOS builds the RFH series with what it calls an Isotec four-layer insulated structure, and the 2 L version is the larger of the two sizes, sized to take a full bento box rather than a sandwich. The wide opening is the detail that matters on the night, because you are loading containers with one hand while holding a door with the other. It is also the piece with the longest life after the holiday, since the same case does school lunches and picnics for years afterwards. If you are choosing between the two sizes in the series, the deciding question is whether you need it to swallow a stacked container rather than a flat one, because that is where the 1.5 L version runs out of room and this one does not.

Best for: sending guests home, or moving food between two houses.

[[product:thermos-insulated-lunch-case-rfh-002-black-2l]]

Sori Yanagi Iron Frying Pan 22cm with Lid

Day two is when leftovers are either good or a chore, and a microwave makes stuffing soggy and turkey rubbery. A covered iron pan does the opposite: it crisps the outside while the lid keeps the inside from drying out, which is the right treatment for almost everything on a Thanksgiving plate. This one was designed by Sori Yanagi, and the maker's support site lists the 22 cm size with a lid included and the range as IH compatible, so it works on induction as well as gas. The surface is a double-fiber nitriding treatment rather than a non-stick coating, which is a different category of finish from the pans most households replace every few years. The lid is the part that earns its place here, because it turns the pan into something that reheats a mixed plate evenly rather than only searing the side touching the metal.

Best for: reheating leftovers properly instead of microwaving them.

[[product:sori-yanagi-nitrided-double-fiber-iron-frying-pan-with-lid-22cm]]

Who should skip these

Polyvinylidene chloride wrap is not an oven material. Asahi Kasei publishes 140°C as its heat resistance, which covers a microwave with the wrap loose over a dish but does not cover a hot oven, a grill or direct contact with a pan, so if your reheating plan is the oven you need foil for that step and the wrap only for the fridge. The insulated jar and case are not refrigerators either; they hold a temperature for a journey, not for storage, so anything that will not be eaten within a few hours still belongs in a fridge. And an iron pan asks for drying and a wipe of oil after washing, so if you want something you can leave wet in the rack overnight, this is the wrong pan for your household and a coated one will suit you better.

Your next step

Work backwards from your own Thursday night. If the problem is the fridge, buy the wrap and stop there; it is the cheapest change on this list and the one that shows up on Saturday. If the problem is guests leaving empty-handed because you have nothing to send food in, add the jar and the case together, since one holds a portion and the other carries it. If the problem is that nobody wants the leftovers by day two, the pan is what changes that. One practical note: buy the wrap before the week of Thanksgiving rather than during it, because shipping slows down as the holiday gets closer. For more on the containers themselves, our Japanese bento and thermos guide goes deeper, and our odor control picks cover the fridge smell that follows a big meal.

FAQ

What makes Saran Wrap different from ordinary cling film?

It is made from polyvinylidene chloride rather than polyethylene. Asahi Kasei's published comparison lists oxygen transmission of 62 cm³/m²/day against 17,000 for polyethylene, and moisture transmission of 7.3 g/m²/day against 14.

Can Saran Wrap go in the microwave?

Asahi Kasei lists a heat resistance of 140°C for Saran Wrap. Follow the instructions printed on the box for microwave use, and do not use it in an oven, under a grill, or in direct contact with a hot pan.

Can you freeze food wrapped in Saran Wrap?

Asahi Kasei publishes a cold resistance of minus 60°C, so the same roll covers dishes going into a home freezer.

How big is the Skater food jar?

It holds 540 ml, which is roughly a full plate's worth of turkey and sides rather than a snack portion.

Is the Sori Yanagi iron pan induction compatible?

Yes. The maker's support site lists this iron frying pan range as IH compatible, and the 22 cm size comes with a lid.

Which one should I buy first?

The wrap. It costs the least, it is the thing you will use most on the night, and it is what decides whether the leftovers are still good two days later.