We have watched with dismay otherwise accomplished cooks try to stretch a single flimsy sheet of grocery-store plastic wrap over containers of prepared food.  PFI staff members have been known to shed real tears over such scenes, and have insisted we provide instruction in proper wrapping techniques.

Give away those unapproved wraps and buy 3000 foot box of foodservice film from Sams or Costco.  Good wrapping requires inherent tensile strength and extravagant use of material that only the big box rolls provide.  Ignore the setup instructions provided by the manufacturer and do not thread the film up through the box top.  You will expose yourself to the visciously sharp and potentially injurious cutter bar, but you will be able to wrap quickly and efficiently...and not feel like a wimp.  Find an unencumbered counter or tabletop to work on...you'll lots of layout room

First, pull out at least three times as much film as the length of the container to be covered.  Lay the container in the approximate middle of the span.  Fold over the outlying edge of the film and prepare to execute the most critical step in the wrapping process...

The cutoff!  There are two essential techniques: the full-arm drop (pictured below) and the gather-and-rip (not pictured at all).  Position your arm across the film just beyond the cutter bar and parallel to the tabletop, drop your whole, stiffened arm as one unit, all at once to the table top.  The film will part from the mother roll like a hot knife through butter. 

To execute the gather-and-rip place a hand on either side of the film just beyond and below the cutter bar.  With each hand simultaneously gather the film toward the center while dragging it across the cutter bar.  By the time your hands meet all but a small part of the film should be still attached to the roll, and that can be detached with a quick downward rip.  The chief advantage of this method is the ability to gather and pull out additional film before cutting if the workspace is limited or the item to be wrapped is especially large. 

Once detached double over the end and finish the sides with proper hospital corners.  If storing, freezing, transporting your pkg, it's best to repeat the wrapping by turning the container 90º doing it all over again.  To keep the contents from sloshing over and into the complications of the wrap, prepare a  "rope" of film by tearing off a piece equal to 1.5 times the perimeter of the container and roll it lengthways into a thin tube, stretch tight around the container just under the rim and tie a square knot. 

Here's the finished wrapping almost air and water tight.  If you've kept the film nice and taut across the top, it should be possible to stack several thus-wrapped containers on top of each other.

Use foodservice film to combine multiple bottles or plastic quart containers into a single easily handled and stored unit.  These must be wrapped in at least two directions, pulled nice and tight.  And, it's not a bad idea to use your strapping tape device to add a few critically placed stripes of adhesive packaging tape.