When you start getting into cooking and meal prepping for weight loss, it’s important to consider your on-the-go lunch for work. It’s said that the majority of people who begin then abruptly stop their progress with their weight loss program is because of lack of convenience when it comes to eating while they’re out of the comfort zone of their house. It’s easy when you’re at home. You get to prepare your meal at home and enjoy it while it’s still piping hot or straight out of the fridge cool. Or you have meal prepped for the entire week but your type of work or place of business lacks the support of having a fridge or microwave to help cool or heat your food. That’s when many a first timers start straying off the beaten path of successful weight loss and start eating out at fast food restaurants and junk food (after all, it’s more convenient right?)
Related: 5 Reasons Why We Eat So Much Fast Food
We have reviewed some of the top purchased and reviewed food thermos containers and we judged them based on usability, portability, looks, and of course functionality. To keep the playing field level, we have chosen thermos specifically made for holding hot or cold food, with a capacity of 16 oz., and all under $25.
Here’s a quick glance at the top 5 thermos we have reviewed for your convenience, and below we will review each one individually and mention their strengths and weaknesses.
| Brand | Hot Time | Cold Time | Dishwasher Safe | Amazon Link |
| The Food Jar Company | 6 Hours | 8 Hours | No | Check Price      |
| Ecopod | 5 Hours | 10 Hours | No | Check Price |
| Cayman Kitchen | 5 Hours | 10 Hours | Yes | Check Price |
| Thermos SS King | 9 Hours | 14 Hours | No | Check Price |
| Thermos Food Jar | 7 Hours | 9 Hours | Yes | Check Price |
The Food Jar Company 16 oz. Stainless Steel Jar For Kids
The first thing you may have noticed is the fact that the product title says kids, am I right? Well, it’s not just for kids. This double lined high quality stainless steel jar is both functional and stylish. It has a wide mouth that is very useful for filling and eating straight out of. The whole kids’ functionality of it just makes it easy for kids to open close and carry since it’s lightweight yet it seals very tightly. The rubber base makes for a great non-slip base keeping it firm on any surface while you are filling it or eating out of it.
Hands on review
I poured in some hot chicken noodle soup while it was uncomfortably hot to eat. I went about my day and eight hours later, I opened it to notice my soup was still very warm but comfortable enough to eat. The final verdict is that it keeps up with its promise to keeping the food hot for 6 hours, and I could go on to say that it will keep your food comfortably warm for an additional 3 hours.
As for the only weakness I could come up with is the fact that you cannot use the lid as a bowl. So if you’re looking to share your delicious home cooked Healthy Chipotle Turkey Chili, your coworker is just going to have to use his cheap Tupperware to get a share.
Additional cool points: It comes with a motivational quote “Beautiful life come true” and a convenient carrying strap.
Ecopod 16 oz. Stainless Steel Food Jar
While this jar lacks stylish looks, its simple design still makes it beautiful and sleek looking. Although it doesn’t pack the 8 hours of hot meals punch as The Food Jar Company model, it more than makes up for it on the cold side; keeping your cold salads and cool soups the way they’re supposed to for 10 hours plus. Its seamless double stainless steel walls are perfect for keeping ice cream and fruit smoothies cold for hours and hours. It’s amazingly easy to hold in one hand besides its short stout design, and the lid keeps the cold/heat out and your contents in tightly.
Hands on review
I found that prepping the container before I poured in my chicken noodle soup really helped with its advertised keeping your food hot for 5 hours. I poured in some boiling hot water and left it in the jar for 10 minutes. I then poured in my soup, and it kept piping hot for 6 hours and warm for an additional 2 hours. The next day, I really wanted to try my luck with some ice cream. I filled it to the brim with some rocky road ice cream and was pleasantly surprised when I went to dig into it 4 hours later. It was consistent all throughout, and at 6 hours it began getting a bit mushy and by 8 hours it started to turn into more of a smoothie.
On the down side, I wished it had some sort of rubber or silicone base for the non-slip comfort. The lid also doesn’t double as a bowl, making sharing your delicious ice cream close to impossible.
Additional cool points: it comes with a lifetime warranty. If you or your child breaks it, it’s replaced no questions asked.
Cayman Kitchen 16 oz. Stainless Steel Food Jar
Here we have another all stainless steel food jar great for on the go meal prepping. It has double wall insulation that will keep your food hot for up to 5 hours, and your food cold for 10. The high quality stainless steel will avoid your food impregnating the thermos, and keep your thermos rust proof for years on end. The Cayman model is very convenient in the fact that it’s dishwasher safe, the first among the top 5 competition.
Hands on review
I was very pleased when using this container because I measured exactly 16 ounces of meatball soup and it fit tightly with the lid on. Why do I say this? Well, because other 16 ounce food jars say they’re 16 ounces, but when you put 16 ounces in the container, the lid doesn’t fit. You’ll start getting liquid running out the sides, so they’re more like 15 ounce containers. I used it without prepping the container and found that it barely made its 5 hour promise to keeping your food hot, but if you prep your container by using the boiling water for 10 minutes trick, you’ll easily get the 5 hours plus an additional 2 for warmth. The container is very sleek and stylish, which I liked, it looks very high tech and expensive.
The cons I would have to say that when I used it a few times over, there was sometimes the lid didn’t fit the way it was supposed to. You really have to get used to tightening the lid the right way to get maximum benefits. Again, the lid doesn’t double as a retractable bowl forcing you to eat your soup straight out of the jar, and this certain model also doesn’t have the non-slip silicone or rubber base.
Additional cool points: This model is dishwasher safe.
Thermos Stainless King 16 oz. Food Jar with Spoon
It comes with a folding spoon. Enough said in my book. All stainless steel design inside and out will keep your hot food hot for 9 hours and your cold food cold for up to 14. It features a double lid design in which
the first lid is insulated and holds your foldable spoon, and the outer all stainless steel lid doubles as shareable bowl!
Hands on review
This is by far one of the better food jars I have ever used. When you prep it for long hauls in your day, it really keeps your food hot for a very long time. I used it for some clam chowder and I was blown away by how hot it kept after 9 hours. This particular model wasn’t put through the cold test, but I can assure you it will perform its advertised 14 hour cold promise. The foldable spoon is needless to say very handy, it’s very easy to clean, and both lids fit tightly on the container.
I couldn’t find much to write a downside to it, only to say that the lid that doubles as a cup is a bit small, but hey, that works out for you! (Less sharing)
Additional cool points: It comes with a spoon dude! The double lid feature is a great way to assure your contents will not spill out all over the place in your lunch bag.
Therm
Thermos 16 oz. Food Jar with Spoon
This dishwasher safe all stainless steel meal prep food jar is both good looking and functional. It has the double wall vacuum technology we have all learned to love from Thermos. It also comes with a foldable spoon making traveling a breeze. It comes in a beautiful blue stainless steel color, and comes with a silicone base making it non-slip and scratch resistant to surfaces.
Hands on review
This time around I tested my shrimp cocktail to see how this thermos keeps the food cool. It went straight from the fridge into the thermos and was pleased to know that 4 hours later it was still about the same temperature as when I placed it in. After about 6 hours though, I noticed the temperature drop slightly and then realized maybe I should eat my cocktail before it went bad. The thermos’ built in spoon is awesome and wish other companies take this into consideration for future models.
On the downside is the fact the lid doesn’t double as a bowl, and also it doesn’t seem to keep up its promises with the advertised hot/cold times. It does do a little better when you prep your container, but it doesn’t advertise “7 hours hot when you prep your container correctly!”
Additional cool points: It only weighs 8 ounces!
Finding the right food container for on the go food meal prep can keep you highly motivated and maintain you on your path to living a healthy eating life style. You will see that you no longer have to worry about having a fridge to store your cool meals, or a microwave to heat your lunch; it will all be taken care of by your awesome food thermos. I hope you have enjoyed this review of the top 5 popular food thermos on the market today.
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