Best way to keep lunch hot for school?

[KrisM]

Kids have the Thermos food containers, but would like the food to be more than just warm at lunch time. They just don't keep food hot for long enough. Does anyone have a rec for something that will work for 5 hours or so? DD, especially, would love hot food, but so far won't eat anything I send because it's not warm enough and the texture changes.

[BunnyBee]

Do you pre fill it with boiling water? Other than that, there's not really anything I've found.

[KrisM]

I do. I boil water in the microwave, fill the thermos, put the lid on, and then cook the food.

[wendibird22]

I saw a thermos like container at wegmans that I think was Gogo brand that was labeled to last 6 or 8 hrs hot. I haven't tried it but will likely buy it because I have the same problem with our Funtainer. Last yr it was 6.5 hr between packing lunch and DDs lunch time and things were barely warm in the Funtainer.

[sariana]

Do you completely fill the Funtainer? The food stays hotter if the container is completely full, with no air at the top. Even if she can't eat that much food, fill it up. Then wrap the whole container in something insulated (maybe a wash cloth wrapped in foil?).

[KrisM]

Do you completely fill the Funtainer? The food stays hotter if the container is completely full, with no air at the top. Even if she can't eat that much food, fill it up. Then wrap the whole container in something insulated (maybe a wash cloth wrapped in foil?).

No, it's not full. I don't want to squish the food into it, as she won't eat that either, I'm sure. I send chicken, quesadillas, grilled cheese, not soups, so it's tough to completely fill it. I'll run some experiments and see if foil helps.