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Box lunches: Hot or cold?

A question I’m often asked is if we eat our box lunches hot, cold, or at room temperature. I mean, I often pack fruit next to savory foods that could heat up nicely in the microwave, so what do I do? Nuke the fruit?!? Unpack our lunches and then replate after warming? What a pain.

The answer is that because Bug hasn’t started preschool yet, we usually have our lunches outside at a park, zoo or playgroups where there is no microwave. So we eat them at room temperature or chilled unless I’ve packed them in a thermal food jar or a thermal lunch jar such as the Mr. Bento. But there are a number of tricks to keep in mind when deciding how to pack…

Reusable ice blanket for packed lunches

For a room temperature lunch:

If there’s a microwave where you eat:

If you’re using an all-metal lunch container and want a warm lunch:

(EDIT: I’ve fixed the bug that prevented readers from being able to comment on posts over the past couple of days — some comment code got scrambled up with the Feedburner form to subscribe to daily Lunch in a Box posts by e-mail. All good now, sorry for the inconvenience!)

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August 6th, 2007 | Categories: equipment, parenthacks, tips | Print This Post Print This Post | Email this post Email this post
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29 Responses to “Box lunches: Hot or cold?”

  1. Jessica Says:

    Great tips.

  2. Biggie Says:

    @1 from Jessica:
    Ah hooray, you’re able to post comments again! Thanks for bringing the problem to my attention in e-mail, Jessica.

  3. Jessica Says:

    @ 2 Biggie,
    I settled for trying to make a small comment and it worked ;). So hooray indeed :).

  4. Niphil Says:

    I found the ice blanket a few days ago, right where you said it would be in Target. I love it! Although, I accidentally made two packets pop because I cut too close to the fluid.

  5. grapeshot Says:

    Hey, I just found one of these at my local supermarket:
    http://www.fit-fresh.com/lunch.html
    (no affiliation, yada yada)
    So far I’ve used it two days in a row, and will be using it tomorrow. That little ice-shelf in it’s center, which acts as a shelf for holding the two little boxes, works really well to keep my food cool until lunch time. The box fits right in my vinyl, insulated lunchbag, too. I can fit enough food in it for lunch, and a snack in the late afternoon, too. So far I’m very happy with it. (We’ll see if I’m still satisfied at the end of the week.)

  6. Biggie Says:

    @4 from Niphil:
    Great that you found it! (and US$2.50 is definitely the right price) Too bad about the mess, but happy safe eating…

  7. Biggie Says:

    @5 from grapeshot:
    I have a couple of the Fit & Fresh containers — the salad one and the soup/salad combo. They’re a bit bulky, but I like the built-in ice pack. (The ice ring on the soup/salad combo is faulty, though, and breaks the first time people freeze it — myself included. Grrr.) I’d be interested in what you think of the lunch container at the end of the week, grapeshot; let us know!

  8. Melissa Says:

    Thanks for this information. I have been wondering about whether you reheat food or eat it cold. Very useful tips. I’m glad I found your site before school starts so I have some time to find packing materials.

  9. Biggie Says:

    @8 from Melissa:
    Perfect timing, then — cool. I really like those little thermal food jars; they give me a lot of flexibility for soups/stews/curries as well as warm rice, even. Like $15-17 at Target or Walmart.

  10. Kaits Says:

    @5 from grapeshot:
    I also bought that container and find it quite nice. It’s a very good size and is pretty sturdy. I especially like the ice pack.

  11. Shopping for bento boxes « Main-Main Masak-Masak Says:

    [...] LunchInABox has made me realise the advantages of having boxes of different sizes and shapes to fit the kind of food and pack it securely. It also makes lunch more exciting when there’s variety in the packaging [...]

  12. Eileen Says:

    I just wanted to know if you had any ideas on which container would be bestfor keeping “hot” sandwiches hot for a school lunch?

  13. Biggie Says:

    @12 from Eileen: Gosh, what kind of sandwiches are we talking about? I can’t think of the ideal container offhand; for something like hot Sloppy Joes I’d pack the filling in a thermal food jar or thermal lunch jar (like the Zojirushi Mr. Bento) and make the sandwich just before eating.

  14. melissa Says:

    i have a cute lunch container my mom picked up somewhere (there is even a little slot on the inside for a cute fork and spoon that are ultra skinny and nestle together) but it does not say what kind of plastic it is, all it says is “made in china” it does not have the cup and fork symbol. any concerns of putting food in it? maybe just not certain foods? i’ve been doing crackers so far..
    thanks!

  15. Bitsy Says:

    Hi! I know this is an old post, but was hoping you’d see this comment. Do you have any experience microwaving onigiri after it’s already been wrapped in nori? Sometimes I send it to lunch for Hubby already made… then he puts it in the fridge at work. I tell him that microwaving it will soften the rice again, but what will it do to the nori?

  16. Biggie Says:

    @14 from melissa: If you have concerns about it, you could always pick up a surface lead test kit from your nearby hardware store. They’re super-sensitive, though, picking up ANY presence of lead (not just unsafe levels). You could also try lining the box with a piece of lettuce or food wrap.

  17. Biggie Says:

    @15 from Bitsy: You know, all of my Japanese bento & onigiri books say to just freeze the onigiri without nori, and wrap it with nori after you’ve microwaved the onigiri. Long story short, I haven’t actually experimented with freezing & nuking already-wrapped onigiri. If you wind up trying it out, I’d love to hear your feedback on results!

  18. Metanoia Says:

    Biggie I looked everywhere here for some of those mini icepacks that you use to no avail and didn’t want to pay a huge amount to ship them in. My dad came up with an equivalent and managed to get me a couple for free. They are a special type of icepack which stays cold for DAYS! Literally. I clocked one at 2 days and still cold. Amazing thing.

  19. Biggie Says:

    @18 from Metanoia: Wow, those ice packs sound amazing!!! Do you have a product name and/or link you could share with us?

  20. Metanoia Says:

    @19 Biggie: They say “Dry Ice 2000″ on the pack, but I really have no idea where you can get them in a domestic sense.

  21. Biggie Says:

    @20 from Metanoia: Hmm, a Google search on “Dry Ice 2000″ doesn’t turn up anything useful. Too bad.

  22. Amy Says:

    Look at this site. This type of ice pack is said to remain cool for days.

  23. Biggie Says:

    @22 from Amy: Fascinating products! It took me a while to find their pricing (on their Products page, not on the Order page), but interesting nonetheless!

  24. Laptop Bags Australia Says:

    Good advice and a nice post. I had no idea there is an issue with plastic containers and microwave ovens. Is it all plastic?

  25. Wedding hair Brisbane Says:

    Yes, apparently some plastics when microwaved give of cancer causing gases. I don’t know how you can tell which is which.

    I always try to use china or glass when microwaving.

  26. shindig1000 Says:

    Hi, when you pack the rice or the balls of rice, do you reheat it or just eat it? Thanks.

  27. » Can you Recommend Some Cold Lunch Ideas? | Working Mother of a Toddler on Parenting, Motherhood, and WAHM Issues | Modern Mami @ TheParentBlog.com Says:

    [...] Lunch in a Box: Box Lunches [...]

  28. Carla Says:

    Biggie,
    Came across your site & I love it, great advice, I have an preschool lunch time issue that I wanted to see if you could help me with.

    My 4 yrold daughter will be starting summer camp next week. They do not have a micro or frig so the lunches will be kept outside. I drop her off at 7:30am, she eats lunch at 12:15 & snacks at 3pm. I’m trying to figure out how to pack cold & hot foods together. I read some where you must keep cooked food, meats, dairy ect. below 40 or above 140 or bacteria grows within two hours which means if I want to pack cooked food for example baked ziti, chicken cutlets, mac & cheese I would have to pack it very hot or cold (don’t think she’d like cold mac & cheese). I was thinking of buying a two sided thermal lunch pack keep the cold stuff on one side in a cool-gel bento with ice packs and the hot food in the other . I’m having more trouble figuring out how to keep hot foods above 140 degrees.
    Any suggestions?

  29. tate Says:

    How would you keep a chicken sandwich hot for a school lunch?

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