A school lunch box is the last thing you want to think about in the morning. It has to stay shut in the school bag, open at the lunch table, and come home in the afternoon without the apple sauce all over the books.
More and more parents choose stainless steel for that. Here is what to look for, and what steel can't do. Most guides skip that second part.
Why stainless steel for a lunch box
No plastic touches the food. On most lunch boxes the box is steel and the lid is plastic. Ours has a steel lid too. There is one silicone seal in the lid, and we name it: two materials, both named. Why there is silicone in it.
It can take a playground. Dropped, steel dents at worst. A plastic box cracks at the corner, and a crack is where smells and crumbs stay. We guarantee the steel for ten years, which covers all of primary school.
It doesn't hold on to yesterday's lunch. Steel takes on no colour or smell.
To be straight about it: steel is not completely inert. We wrote about that separately. The measurable effect is about hours of cooking in a pan, not a sandwich in a box.
Which size for which child
- Toddlers and reception: a snack and a small lunch. A small round container of about 400 ml is often enough.
- Primary school: sandwiches plus fruit or vegetables. Think 800 ml, preferably rectangular, because sandwiches are too.
- Big eaters and secondary school: 1400 ml, or an 800 ml with a small container next to it.
Our sizes, so you can check them against the school bag: the rectangular 800 ml is 170 × 120 × 60 mm, the round 400 ml is Ø 115 × 66 mm.
Which lunch box with compartments suits a child?
Many children don't want their food touching. Our rectangular 800 ml and 1400 ml lunch boxes come with a divider you can move or take out: two compartments sized to what you pack, or one big one. The round containers have no divider.
Want more than two compartments, bento-style? A second small container works better than a box with five sections. It's one more lid to wash, we'll say that too. This is how we pack a school day in two compartments.
Does it leak in the school bag?
Our lids close with a silicone seal and are leak-resistant. Not leak-proof: we don't use that word, because no lid holds everything in every position. Yoghurt, apple sauce and a dip are fine when the box stands upright in the bag. Soup is better in a bottle.
Can your child open it?
This is the most important question, and we haven't tested it with a class full of children. So try it at home the first evening: let your child open and close the lid a few times. If it doesn't work, you have 30 days to return it.
And the bottle?
Our 500 ml stainless steel bottle is not a children's bottle: no spout, no straw, but a steel screw cap. Everything the water touches is 304 steel, including the cap, with one silicone ring. The outer wall is 201 steel, and it never touches the water. At Ø 70 × 220 mm it fits the side pocket of most school bags. It works for children who already drink from a normal bottle. For a toddler still used to a spout, it doesn't.
What steel can't do
- No microwave. If the school warms lunches, the food goes on a plate first. Here's why.
- It doesn't keep things cold. The lunch box isn't insulated. Put a cold pack in the bag.
- You can't see through it. A name sticker on the lid helps at school.
In short
A good lunch box doesn't stand out. It closes, survives the day, comes home clean and is ready again tomorrow. For years, and maybe for a younger brother or sister after that.
See the stainless steel lunch boxes for school → The School Start Duo is an 800 ml lunch box with the bottle. The School Start Trio adds a round 400 ml container for the snack. A snack idea: veggie sticks with hummus in one container.
Food should be stored without doubt.