So I thought this week I would have a little play around with out new Thermos FUNtainer Food Jars and see just what I could and couldn’t pack in them and more importantly if they really did keep food warm long enough that it could be enjoyed for lunch if heated in the morning. Here is a little and very informative article re food safety.

So I thought the best way to road test them would be to send one to school with Mr 7 and keep one at home with me for me to check at 12:50pm (Mr 7′s school lunchtime), using the exact same batch of leftovers, heated to the exact same temperature, at 8:30am (or there about) just before we head out the door for school run each morning.

So over the week we had soup (not just any soup, my super awesome Potato & Bacon Soup), slow cooker casserole, chicken, rice and veg, and 2 other things I will talk about a little further down.

The verdict: By lunchtime it was still warm, not ‘just served up’ warm but kid-friendly warm, one of my worries is that Mr 7 might burn himself on the food inside but I think after 4 hours its not possible no matter how hot the food is when first put in there, so that’s a win in my book.

Thermos recommend pre heating the FUNtainer Food Jars by filling them with hot tap water for 10-15 minutes prior to use, I found this quite easy as I just filled it up and popped the lid on before making Mr’s recess and heating up his lunch, it was then just a matter of giving it a quick wipe with some paper towel and we were good to go.

Ok now for something that didn’t work in there, for some this will be a “well no der” section but for others it will be a light bulb “ah of course thanks for saving me the mistake” moment lol

As you can see anything bread wont work! I tried with my Pop ‘em Pizza balls but it was a big fat fail due to the condensation created by the hot pizza (I really hope I’m not the only one who would have tried a bread dish without first thinking about the condensation factor hehe) the bases were all soggy and not fit to eat, so that means no quiche, sausage rolls, crumbed anything etc but they are all fine cold anyway

Another cool thing was that I tend to be super busy in the morning don’t always get around to having breakfast but if I super heat a cup of milk (the packet calls for 1/2 a cup but I found this just wasn’t enough and I’d have dried up porridge YUK) and pop an Uncle Toby’s  oats sachet into the Thermos, pop the lid on and leave it on the bench, I can enjoy a nice hot breakfast after I get home from the school run and the other bits and bobs I have to do in the morning (usually I’m out the house for an hour) I loved being able to come home and have hot porridge waiting for me

Things that would be great in the Thermos;

Saucy pasta dishes such as bolognase, mac and cheese, etc.

Instant foods such as noodles, tin spaghetti, tin baked beans, porridge etc

Soups

Rice dishes

Casseroles, stews or any other saucy meat dish such as deviled sausages etc

Potato bake and other ‘bakes’

The Thermos FUNtainer Food Jar holds 290mls and retail for $23.99, we have them in our online store for $22.95, we currently stock 4 designs, Blue Camo, Multi Sport, Butterfly and Flower. There are also matching drink bottles available from our online store for $20.95 (RRP $21.95) and they hold 355mls which I have found is just perfect, Mr 7′s old stainless steel drink bottle held 500mls and it was just too heavy once filled with water and the drink bottles are insulated too just like the food jars so they will keep drinks nice and cold.

***We have been able to add a little package deal to our website, so you can now purchase any food jar and any drink bottle for just $40 which is a saving of $3.90 (and $5.90 of the RRP) the discount automatically applies once the products are added to the cart***