The Single Greatest Storage Container

I have a lot of likes, and one love

Sorry to the jars and the deli containers and the zip-top bags and the vintage Heller jars with the colorful plastic lids, but the round Cambro is the most joy-giving vessel in my kitchen.

Here she is!

Generally speaking, I rarely buy storage containers, since the jars that my kimchi comes in are free, as are the quart and pint and half-pint containers that show up with delivery orders or the grab-and-go hummus and tabbouleh from Damascus Bakery. Dijon mustard jars, White Moustache jars, empty spice jars, tall pepperoncino jars: I wash and save them all. Why I have more lids than jars is a mystery I’ll never solve, but I save those too.

But: just look at it! First of all: it’s so cute and transparent. Round may not be the most efficient shape for square cabinets, but this container is pleasing in every other way.¹ I am a sucker for the 2-quart for its versatility, and also because it’s got the cutest diameter-to-height ratio.

The ladder of red measurements on the outside are giving measuring cup energy but with a “relax, we’re just rounding up” casualness: 1 quart, 1 liter, 2 quarts, 2 liters. No halves. No milliliters. This broadness serves as a reminder to myself to not be so uptight about everything. It’s approximate, okay, which is how everything was before the invention of watches, and there was no such thing as being late.

Kimchi jar, Cambro, Heller jars off Etsy, and a plastic container I bought at Container store approximately 97 years ago.

It’s restaurant-y, for sure. The Cambro is a nostalgia-inducing item that reminds me of the way I felt while taking inventory in the calm privacy of the dry storage room at Union Pacific, casually noshing on dried sour cherries that we technically weren’t allowed to eat. The order. The abundance. The conformity. The stackability. The masking-tape-and-Sharpie artistry of it all. Having a piece of that industry energy reminds me: Yeah, you did that.

It’s important to keep things in your kitchen that you like looking at, holding, and using. I have two round 2-quart Cambros and two square ones. I use the square ones for the fancy raw dog food patties that Marge eats; they ease into the bottom shelf of the fridge in a pleasing way. (She is one spoiled bitch, literally.)

To convince you that you need the round ones: chicken and veggie stock, soup, cooked grains, or beans all belong there. Marinate a bunch of shrimp or chicken thighs in an airtight way. Create an adorable ice bath for cooling down hard boiled eggs, or for soaking radishes and fennel so they get curly.

Other regular rotation items: Cereal, alt flours, uncooked rice, beans, popcorn, farro, brown sugar. I decant everything, including protein powder, Medjool dates, almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, and rolled oats. The lid clicks. We love a lid that clicks.

I also use it for feeding sourdough or proofing doughs because it’s easy to tell if something has doubled. Also perfect to pop onto a digital scale for weighing out dry ingredients. I recently used it for cooling and storing béchamel for an upcoming recipe. You could do exactly that with pudding, chocolate mousse, ganache, frosting. Also recommend it for housing whole chiles, homemade granola, cookies.

We love functionality and great form. We love a new kitchen purchase that can be justified because it satisfies the “something you will touch and use everyday” rule. We love a Cambro, and so will you.

1. Indeed, there are square Cambro containers, of which I have a few, but the lid is harder to get on and off and it bends in a helter-skelter manner that I don’t care for at all.