Insulated Food Flasks

Up to 14 hours hot and up to 19 hours cold. Rinse the flask with boiling water before you fill it, pour that out, then add the food. Five minutes of boiling water first buys you up to another hour.

530, 730 and 1000 ml. 530 ml suits a snack or a child portion, 730 ml is the usual lunch size, and 1000 ml is the one for a big appetite or a meal to share.

The best food flask is the one that matches the portion, so start there: 530 ml for a child portion or a snack, 730 ml for an everyday lunch, 1000 ml for a big appetite. After that it is the lid that separates a good food flask from a frustrating one. Ours carries an anti-vacuum plug, so it still opens by hand once the food has cooled and pulled a vacuum inside. All three sizes hold food hot for up to 14 hours and cold for up to 19.

Hot food cools inside a sealed flask and creates a vacuum, which is why some thermos flasks refuse to open at lunchtime. The plug in the lid lets that pressure equalise, so the flask opens by hand every time. The design is patent protected.

Yes, soup, stew and sauces stay inside. The lid seals against a food-grade, BPA-free silicone ring, and a spare ring comes with every flask.

Yes, and porridge is one of the most common fillings. Cook the oats at home, spoon them straight into the flask, screw the lid on. It is still hot at eleven, and it would still be hot at nine in the evening. Rinse the flask with boiling water for five minutes first and you buy up to another hour. The spork travels in the cotton bag.

It carries a warm lunch to school without needing a microwave. That matters, because stainless steel never goes in one. 530 ml holds a child portion, 730 ml a bigger one. The lid seals, so the school bag stays dry. And a name engraved on the flask tells two identical ones apart on the pegs.

A stainless steel spork, a 100% cotton bag with a pocket for it, a natural bristle cleaning brush, a spare seal and a spare stopper set. Spork, seal set, inner lid and cleaning brush can all be reordered on their own.

Rinse it out the same day and let the brush do the work. The 530 and 730 ml flasks take the same brush, and the 1000 ml has its own, so order the size that matches your flask. After a curry, wash it warm and leave it open to dry. An engraved flask we would wash by hand, so the engraving stays sharp.

Dishwasher yes, microwave no. Stainless steel does not belong in a microwave and the appliance can be damaged. The food flask is fully dishwasher safe: body, both lids, the anti-vacuum plug and the seals all go in the machine.

Yes, the names overlap: thermal lunch box, soup flask and food flask thermos all describe the same idea, a vacuum insulated container that keeps a meal hot. Ours holds food hot for up to 14 hours, and the anti-vacuum plug makes sure the lid opens easily at lunchtime.