Thermos Talk and the cons of stainless steel

[Jimibell]

Hi

I would like to buy a good quality thermos for my dd to bring to school for lunch. I know that Thermos brand makes good quality ones, in terms of heat retention but what about the safety of the inner lining?
I know it's ss but I've heard recently that ss has aluminum in it and is therefore unsafe. Any thoughts on this?
Any other brands? I would like one with glass on the inside, is that crazy? I hate that every move I make has to be made only after carefully considering whether or not we'll be poisoned.......

[Blueone]

Well, there is kleen kanteen. But you aren't supposed to put hot things in it. You could try a pyrex glass container and put it in an insulated lunch box. There is also the Mr. and Miss Bento lunch boxes that work wonderfully at keeping food warm. There is even a bottom soup container in it!

[kjbrown92]

So far I've gotten three different plastic (non-glass lined/non-stainless steel) ones for the kids to use in lunches this year. None of them keep the food warm until lunchtime (leave the house at 8am, lunch is around 12:30) at school. Yes, I put boiling water in it first, and the stew/soup/meatsauce is boiling when I put it in. So next is going to be something else, but I'm still researching too. I don't want to do glass, because my DS, who uses it the most, is a wild boy who swings his lunchbox around. So I've been looking into the stainless steel ones. But no purchase yet so I'm curious.

[melamama]

I've never heard of ss having aluminum in it (chromium and nickel yes but not al). I can't imagine why anyone would add aluminum to ss, I'm not sure what property they would be going for. I have heard of it in terms of cookware having an al core (for heat distribution), but the al would not be exposed to the food.

SS is pretty inert. I prefer glass for most storage, and will use it for dc lunches (though we also use a ss tiffin), but if they want to have something hot, we have ss thermos, and I use that. We have one wide mouth thermos that we've been using for lunches for 3y now, and the inside is completely unchanged since it was new. There is no pitting or corrosion on the ss surface.

But on the topic of looking for a glass liner--I have so many childhood memories of going to open my thermos and hearing the broken glass slush around, and not getting to have my soup.

[Jimibell]

Originally Posted by melamama

I've never heard of ss having aluminum in it (chromium and nickel yes but not al). I can't imagine why anyone would add aluminum to ss, I'm not sure what property they would be going for. I have heard of it in terms of cookware having an al core (for heat distribution), but the al would not be exposed to the food.

SS is pretty inert. I prefer glass for most storage, and will use it for dc lunches (though we also use a ss tiffin), but if they want to have something hot, we have ss thermos, and I use that. We have one wide mouth thermos that we've been using for lunches for 3y now, and the inside is completely unchanged since it was new. There is no pitting or corrosion on the ss surface.

But on the topic of looking for a glass liner--I have so many childhood memories of going to open my thermos and hearing the broken glass slush around, and not getting to have my soup.

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Melamama, thanks for the tip on the glass breaking, that could be pretty depressing for a kid to not be able to eat their lunch!

Actually, I guess it was nickel in the ss. But you say that not all ss has nickel in it?

[sunnysandiegan]

We use a Thermos brand food jar (wide-opening, short "thermos") for DD's lunches a LOT! She loves hot food for lunch and does not enjoy school lunches. No need to even pour boiling water in it, just run hot tap water into it before filling. (We then use it to wash breakfast dishes.) Food stays hot until lunch. We walk to school at 7:20 am and she eats lunch about four hours later.

[Jimibell]

I guess at this point I'm looking for a thermos that has no nickel in it.....does that exist?

[melamama]

I think ss is very stable, it just doesn't leach. Even though nickel is a component, unless you are very sensitive I don't think there is a danger.

I don't think this is anywhere near the category of plastic linings in bottles/cans.

[sunnysandiegan]

In my research, glass and stainless steel are the best food storage containers to use. I use mostly glass, but it isn't always appropriate. With hot foods, SS is the best if you want to retain the heat and not put anything potentially harmful into the food.

The only thing I am aware of for potentially problematic stainless steel is lower quality items with exposed soldering joints. That joint material could contaminate your food.

[Rikki Jean]

Kleen Kanteen is coming out with an insulated bottle for hot liquids very soon! It's not on their site yet, but a girl that runs a co-op group that I'm in was able to pre-order some, so they will be out soon!

[peacenlove]

I use the ss Thermos ones and they work great. I have never heard of concern over ss as it is the industry standard in most kitchens.

We love ours anyway, sorry if I didn't help

[Naturally organic]

Stanley

Stainless steel does contain nickel, but it does not generally leach from the container like, say, bpa does from plastic.

I personally like the Stanley brand of ss insulated bottles. The outside isn't the cheap plastic that other brands seem to be. My papaw used to take his coffee to work every day in a Stanley, he worked road construction and must've used the same one for about 20 years. They are really sturdy. I've got 3: a briefcase size, a large one that holds 2 pots of coffee and a wide-mouth for soup.

[mamadelbosque]

We have Foogo (thermos) brand water bottles and love them. When DS starts school, I could totally see getting the foogo food containers for his lunches. Honestly, if your worried about stuff leaching out of SS, I can't imagine what you'd use to put food in.... Everything leaches/wears down eventualy - even glass!!

[MamaMamaMama!]

Stainless steel with nickel in it is not magnetic; if it doesn't have nickel then it is magnetic. So bring along a magnet with you when you shop for ss and only buy the stuff your magnet will stick to.

[Naturally organic]

BTW, if you google "insulated Klean Kanteen" there are several shops that are selling them.

I tried the magnet on my Klean Kanteen and it is NOT magnetic. Yay! Thanks for the tip.

[Kimber47]

Originally Posted by Rikki Jean

Kleen Kanteen is coming out with an insulated bottle for hot liquids very soon! It's not on their site yet, but a girl that runs a co-op group that I'm in was able to pre-order some, so they will be out soon!

Totally available! Almost bought one yesterday! : )

Klean Kanteen

[abharrington]

hmm...when i clicked on that KK link, it didn't mention being insulated. they did have a generaic SS insulated wide mouth thermos.

[herbalshakti]

yes. i can see the nickel being a problem. and it definitely is so tiring to have to do the reasearch on EVERYTHING!

Why can't industries/people just abide by the preacautionary pricinple

anyhow, I too have been using the foogo
for my dd, its great at not leaking and it really does keep food warm till lunch time which makes me happy when its really cold outside to think she at least is having something warm while playing outside st school.

it does have a plastic BPA-free, but plastic nevertheless, lid, which does suck
but i have yet to see a super functional alternative that's plastic free....

[Iza]

I have four wide-mouth Stanley jars that we use. They are stainless steel and no, I don't worry about it, just the same as I don't worry about using stainless steel utensils. There is only so much I can reasonably do to keep my family safe.

I worry way more about PVC piping, for example. Now there is an issue.

Iza

[Kimber47]

Originally Posted by abharrington

hmm...when i clicked on that KK link, it didn't mention being insulated. they did have a generaic SS insulated wide mouth thermos.

You are so right! Wrong one! Sorry!

Insulated KK