Concerned about BPA and other plastic-related chemicals getting into our hot-foot lunch items, we’ve opted to get rid of the recycled plastic water and hydration bottles, and zipper leftover bags. Instead, we buy this Thermos Vacuum Insulated Double Walled 16-ounce capacity food jar.
It’s a portable, all-in-one lunchbox accessory, because it comes complete with a bowl (in the lid), a stainless steel spoon that snaps onto the top of the inner cap, and a vacuum insulated storage container to boot. Foods and beverages remain hot or cold for at least seven hours. And they stay moderately so for nearly a whole day.
Benefits, Features, Pros, and Advantages of the Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jar
Spoon and Bowl Included
Comes with a stainless steel spoon to eat with. This snaps into the top of the cap. Plus, the outer lid screws off of the unit, revealing a plastic lined food bowl inside.
Spoon is Foldable / Retractable
As such, it folds up and you secure it atop the inner cap. It never need separate from this food jar, thus. It contains two hinges and three sections, so that when folded, it shrinks to about a third of its fully-open size.
Vacuum Insulation
Features the famous Thermos double wall construction, in which air is evacuated from the space between the inner and outer walls, to create a highly effective insulating layer / dead space.
The Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jar Fits in Most Lunchboxes
Holds Enough Food to Satisfy the Hungriest Folks
Keeps Foods and Soups Hot or Cold for Hours
Seven hours for hot beverages and foods, nine hours for cold items like ice, ice cream, potato salad, et al.
Stainless Steel Build
Though not completely impervious to dings and dents, this metal jar prevents liquid spillage when dropped from medium to moderately high heights, onto hard floors and ground.
Reasonable Price
We paid Approx. $24 for ours.
No Glass
The stainless steel inner vessel and its reflective properties, along with the vacuum layer surrounding it, seems to insulate food from the outside temps about as well as those old fashioned, glass-lined Thermos bottles from the 1960s and 1970s.
The Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jar is Fairly Rugged
With a modicum of proper care, this unit should survive years of camping, hiking, and biking trips, and still look attractive as well as retain its full functionality.
Tight Fitting, Sturdy Sealing Lid
When tightly screwed on, the inner cap does not leak at all.
No metal Taste in Stored Food
Unlike most plastic food containers we’ve sampled, Thermos leaves behind no flavors behind in the food, no matter how hot it is.
Cleans Up in a Jiffy
Foods generally do not stick much to the stainless steel interior.
Dishwasher Safe
This jar is small enough to fit on the top shelf of most automatic dishwashers. However, hand-washing it is preferred, as the water pressure in many dishwashers, may be insufficient to reach all the way into bottom and lower sides of this food jar.
The Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jar Comes in Multiple Color Choices
We’ve seen it in black and red.
Owners Manual
AKA, the Care and use guide, they provide inside this Thermos jar.
Limited Five-Year Warranty
Very generous. Apparently, its manufacturer believes in the high quality and durability of this product to offer such a lengthy warranty.
Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Limitations of the Thermos Vacuum Insulated 16 Oz. Food Container
No Packaging
We’ve purchased two Thermos products as of this writing, and both were dented on their bottoms and / or sides. This may have happened because this product is not boxed or wrapped in any way at the store; it’s just sitting loose, on the shelf. So for better protection against cosmetic damages like this, we suggest that Thermos pack each unit in its own box or padded wrapping.
May Dent
If dropped onto hard surfaces, you may ding this Thermos.
No Carrying Handle
Some of the bigger Thermos vessels have large plastic carrying handles on their sides, attached with metal links. Not this one. But not a terribly big deal however, since they’ve contoured the body of this food jar to fit well into most average to large sized hands.
Delicate Finishes
Do not clean with abrasive cleansers, as these might scratch, etch, or dull the shiny silver inner and outer surfaces. No bleach either.
May Need Pre Heating or Pre Chilling
We recommend that you preheat (or pre chill) this Thermos, to avoid its cold metal from cooling down the food you add in too much. Pre heat it by simply filling it half-way up with hot water, installing the inner cap, and shaking the unit around for a half-minute.
The Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jar is Not Suited for Microwave Oven
Due to the virtually all metal construction, vacuum insulated jars like this one should not be heated in the microwave. Doing so will likely damage either the Thermos or the microwave oven.
Our Rating on the Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jar
Finally, we found this Thermos jar to be exactly as advertised. It keeps food piping hot or freezing cold throughout the morning and well into the afternoon. Aside from the lack of individual shipment protective packaging, this product is virtually flawless. We rate it at 95 out of 100 therefore. It’s worth the investment.
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- Farberware Cordless Electric Kettle 104556 Review
- Thermos Double Walled Hydration Bottle, 18 Ounces, Review
- Stanley One Handed Hydration H2O Water Bottle 24 Oz Review
- Thermos Vacuum Insulated Beverage Bottle 68 Ounce Review
References for Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jar Review
- Thermos Food Jar Product Web Page
- Thermos Official Web Site
- Where to buy the Thermos 16 Ounce Double Walled Food Jar
Revision History
- 2019-03-14: Added more tags, keyword targeting, and subheadings. Fixed some typos too.
- 2015-12-08: Added appropriate tags.
- 2015-09-26: Added tags.
- 2014-12-29: Originally published.