Kitchen tips: thermoses are a great lunch hack

UAA is getting some new dining options this fall, but is it very rare that a person can afford to eat out every day of the week. If you spend $15 for one hot meal four days a week, you are out $60 every week. That is $240 for 16 meals if you do it for the month. If you need to cut back, bring lunch from home.

There is nothing wrong with bringing a sandwich and a few snacks to work or school every day, but if you want to expand beyond that, a thermos is very helpful. I decided to experiment with some online thermos hacks and recipes.

Deciding what you will take as a meal to work or school depends on what you can afford, what you like, how you can make it and how to transport it. I like to use as few ingredients as possible and take as little time as I can. The fewer the dishes, the better.

Technology is always changing, so every year I buy new containers for my family. I like to buy local whenever I am able, so this year I bought a stainless steel food jar and a stainless steel mug from Fred Meyer to test out.

At its base, the mug is almost 3.5 inches across which is just a bit too wide for the cup holders in my cars. The mug is perfect for my husband’s work where it isn’t likely to get knocked over, and it retains the temperature of whatever he is drinking. My daughter also likes it for the same reason while she is doing schoolwork.

The food jar has a leak-proof lid and a collapsible stainless steel spoon that nestles inside the twist-cap. The cap comes apart and becomes more parts, so unless you live alone, you will want to wash, dry and reassemble all at once. The labels say that the jar can keep food warm for 12 hours and cold for 24, while the mug can keep food warm for 6 hours and cold for 12.

I have experimented with the food jar and the mug. My experience is that the heat and cold retention depend on several factors. If you have your heart set on bringing hot or cold food with you on some excursion, do a trial run.

My first experiment was making a grilled cheese sandwich from “the kitchn.” Their recipe page advises to cut a grilled cheese sandwich “into sticks and pack in a thermos, so when lunchtime rolls around the cheese is still warm and gooey.”

I enlisted my husband’s help and warmed up my food jar and my mug with hot water for five minutes, then as soon as he flipped the sandwiches over, I poured out the water and dried each hot jar. By then, my husband had cut the sandwiches into sticks and I put them into the jar and the mug, fastening the cap on each as soon as I put them in. I placed both inside an insulated lunch bag.

After two hours, I opened the mug and found that the sandwich was soggy and the cheese was congealed and stuck to the sides and bottom. I opened the jar and the sandwich was warmer, but like the mug, it was soggy and the cheese was also congealed. Clean-up was tedious in both and required soaking. I will think twice before putting cheesy food in a thermos again.

Many lunch hack websites swear that keeping a grilled cheese sandwich crispy and just-off-the-frying-pan-fresh in a thermos is possible, so I tried to make it work. Shelfcooking.com suggested stuffing paper towels into the bottom of the thermos to soak up moisture, but I ended up with a damp paper towel and another soggy sandwich. Carbs tend to get soggy, period. If you want a hot sandwich, you are better off eating it right after you make it.  

I found greater success with only putting liquid inside the mug, but it would have been nice if it had worked for food.

The foods that retained heat longer were variations of soup. I tried one pasta dish, but it got mushy during its time in the thermos. If you’re cooking pasta, pack the sauce in a food jar or thermos, but store the pasta in a separate container.

I found that for food to stay the desired temperature, the thermos needed to be either preheated or pre-cooled, and the food needed to be put in the containers steaming hot and filled to within two inches of the rim, the cap being securely and quickly locked on.

I prefer food jars and thermoses to basic containers for sauces and soups as they are easier to pour and they don’t leak as easily.

My family’s favorite recipe for thermoses is what I have been doing for years. The recipe  is chicken with a cream-based soup that is easy to make in a slow cooker. You get to wake up to it being done and put it in your thermos, or you can put it in a slow cooker before you go to classes and come home to it. You can find the recipe at the Crazy for Crust website. I prefer to bring cooked rice, pasta or mashed potatoes in a separate container because they go great with the chicken.

Some people are used to rinsing their lunch accessories and planning and preparing meals every night, while for others it takes some getting used to. I go through this every fall. Take small steps and keep going. Preparing sustainably packaged, nutritious and tasty meals can turn into a habit after a few weeks and it will become second nature.

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