53// Which bento ranks the best?
Which bento ranks the best?
Find out which lunchbox is the most kid-friendly, easy to clean, affordable, versatile, and durable for your family.
Piggy backing on episode 52, this episode gives you the quick and dirty stats on how the six bento boxes that our family has owned over the last six years rate in terms of: being the most kid-friendly, easy to clean, affordable, versatile, and durable. Having had experience with each and all of them now, I wanted to share a synopsis of how these compare so that you can shop according to what matters most to your family and your feeding priorities.
If you have wondered about any of the following lunchboxes, see how each of these rank in comparison to the other:
Easy Lunchboxes, Yumbox, Bentgo, LunchBots, OmieBox, and PlanetBox.
Listen to this episode of The Veggies & Virtue Podcast now!
Full Episode Transcription
Please note this a raw transcription. If something doesn’t read correctly, toggle to that timestamp in the show so that you can listen in on what was actually being said!
[00:00:00] So I admit I had to push back some of the upcoming episodes that I had planned and actually already even recorded because when I was epi or when I was recording episode 52, about the six different mental boxes we've used over the last six years, it came to me that. I know each of you are different in your learning styles and may relate to different things.
[00:00:20] And some of you may like a little bit more conversational tone that takes a little bit longer to get out, but it just kind of helps you think through things, maybe the way that I think through things in my brain. And so if that's the case, I hope that episode 52 was helpful for you. To hear some of the pros and the cons of each of the given bento boxes that we've used over the last six years.
[00:00:40] However, that said, I know some of you, many of you just want me to tell you what to do and just want the quick and dirty tip sheet of how these rate in order of best to worst. And while I don't think any of them have been bad options. As I was getting to the end of episode 52, I was thinking this could have been done a lot better and I'm new.
[00:01:04] I still feel very new, I should say to the podcast space and in a blog post, I can just edit it and add things in. But with the podcast, I really do wanna honor your time. And I really do wanna try and stick to the 15 to 20 minutes per episode. And since episode 52 had already gone a little bit longer than I'd hoped, and I hadn't even done the recap that I was wanting to.
[00:01:24] I thought let's just squeeze in another episode where I can rate each of these six bento boxes in order of my most favorite to last place. So if you're looking for a more conversational tone on this topic, make sure you listen to episode 50. Otherwise, if this is more your jam stay tuned because we are gonna jump into which one rates best in each of the given categories, which one is most kid friendly, the easiest to clean.
[00:01:50] The most durable, the best price and offers you and your family. The most variety.
[00:01:59] Hey mama, I'm Ashley, and welcome to the veggies and virtue podcast. In this podcast, you will find simple menu ideas, kitchen, organizational systems, spelled out for mom life and feeding tips and tricks that are both evidence based and grace laced. I believe that you can find flexibility when it comes to feeding your family so that you can feel calm, capable, and.
[00:02:17] Did in the kitchen as a registered dietician and Christian mom of three myself. I want you to break free from the mealtime battles and to feel equipped while feeding your kids all day long, pull up a stool at my kitchen counter. And let me pour you a cup of coffee and say a quick prayer for you. It's time to chat about the meal times messes moments and ministry of motherhood.
[00:02:39] As I was going back to record this inserted episode. With my review of the six bento boxes and which one rates best. I was thinking to myself how reflective it is. Not only for me as someone who's still relatively new to the podcast space, but also just for us as moms in the feeding space of how sometimes we have to do things scrappy.
[00:03:01] And I think especially as we were at the beginning of the school year, A lot of us may start out really strong. And I love that. And it's always fun to see that when people share that. But what a lot of people aren't sharing right now is they're scrappy because we may start the back to school routine with really aspirational goals for our kids and our families and sending beautiful lunch boxes and any of us know, whatever our starting place is.
[00:03:27] Fatigue sets in the busyness sets in the short fuses happen. The chaos with kids, the sick days, everything, it can be a lot. And while social media, obviously doesn't always showcase this really scrappy nature of taking imperfect action. I just wanna share with you, I hope that this podcast reminds you to do that because while yes, I can edit out my dog barking or the lawn guys blowing the leafblower right outside my office window and other things that just happen.
[00:03:57] You know, when my kids are home for summer, goodness knows the number of interrupt. That happened when kids weren't in quiet time as they should be and things like that, I can edit things, but I also want this to be, as I've shared in the intro of every episode, I want this to be a really relatable place.
[00:04:13] And I want this to be a place that you feel like we could be having this conversation at my kitchen counter. And just talking about these things, because with my best of friends, they ask me what my favorite lunch boxes are. And with those of you that I've never met, but who feel like friends online? I know you also wanna know what the best lunch boxes are.
[00:04:33] And so just as I go back and realize after an episode, Ugh, I probably could have done that better. I could have been more succinct, which is the story of my life, but I also think about different friends and how different friends would want me to just ramble on and on about every pro and con in every lunchbox.
[00:04:49] And they'd wanna see every detail as I tried to highlight in episode 52, I other have I have other. who want the bullet points and who have very, either it's their personality that they just don't want the long-winded version of things, or they're in a season where they need the cliff notes and they just need you to shoot it to 'em straight because they don't have the mental capacity to care about all the details.
[00:05:11] And so. While, I don't know where you fall on that. I just want to offer this episode out in case it might help simplify episode 52, take all the info that I shared there and consolidate it down to the categories that may be of most importance to you. So to jump right in, as I mentioned, episode 52. I talked about the six bentos that we have tried out in my home with my three kids over the last six years.
[00:05:36] My kids have been through modern day out preschool and elementary school. And this coming school year, I have a third grader, a first grader, and my son just turned four. So he's in like the early pre-K. And with this, the things that have been most important to me when shopping for a bento box have varied.
[00:05:52] And so I want to just narrow it down for you. What I look for in a bento box and how each of these. So some of them are gonna be first placed in their given category and some of them are gonna be last placed, but I want to give you a little bit of a scope. So you can think of if this is the category that most appeals to me and my family, that you know exactly how they rate.
[00:06:12] So when we look at the kid friendly nature of given bento box, we're talking about things like if your kid drops it, is the lid gonna stay. Is there a handle or is there a latch that makes it really easy for them to open or is the latch either non-existent or difficult for your kid to open and you know, how, how does the overall box function?
[00:06:32] This is particularly important when it comes to young kids who are still developing. Some of their fine motor skills and may need a little bit more assistance when it comes to lunchtime at school. However, I also wanna include things like the fun nature of these is are there fun patterns and colors and things that excite kids to bring a homemade lunch?
[00:06:52] Or is this something that's a little bit boring and drab and it kind of eliminates that novelty factor that I often talk. So when I look at the six different lunch boxes that I reviewed in episode 52, for those of you who maybe either don't remember, or haven't listened to that, I reviewed easy lunch boxes, yum box bent, go lunch box, the OME box and the planet box.
[00:07:15] And so when I talk about those six, those are the only six that I'm gonna be reviewing for the context of this episode. And for the sake of time, I obviously can't get into any and every. Bento box out there. So among those six boxes, the one that I consider most kid friendly is the bent go box. They have the most colors and designs.
[00:07:34] They have an excellent kid friendly latch. It's lightweight, and it's just very kid friendly, especially if you're needing a good solid. easy beginner bent to O box. I gave the yum box second place. I think it has a very similar kid friendly nature. The styles are not quite as fun. I would say as bent go, but still a really great kid friendly option.
[00:07:57] And third I rated the planet box. It has a great latch. So if you're wanting a stainless steel option, I think it offers the best option. Unless you wanted to do something like the yum box Presto, which is a blend of stainless steel with still the leakproof lid, but from a stainless steel, a whole stainless steel box.
[00:08:16] I think that the planet box is the most kid friendly option followed by easy lunch box in fourth place. It's a really simple, easy option. However, because the. Is not super secure. If your child drops it, it will probably pop open. The only box I think is great in a lot of the designs, it has the handle.
[00:08:36] It can kind of be a standalone lunch box bento for your child. However, I consider it harder to open the inside seal of the Thermo container. And it's quite a bit heavier. So in the context of putting a bento box in a lunch bag in their backpack, it can weigh a little bit more than some of the other options.
[00:08:56] And then in last place, I put the lunch bots. Again, none of these brands I think are bad options. I just wanna rate them in full disclosure and honesty of what my experience has been. And the lunch bots seems to be the least kid friendly. I enjoy using it, but I do find that the lids are really difficult.
[00:09:13] For my kids to remove on their own. And the fact that it is not leak proof makes it really challenging for my kids to cope and adapt with the options that we can send in it. When we talk about which bento is the easiest to clean, I said the easy lunch boxes is the easiest. It's a Tupperware. As I said, in episode 52, they all fit together really nicely in the cupboard.
[00:09:35] You can throw 'em in the dishwasher. There's not a lot of nooks and crannies to clean out. It is the easiest option. If you remember from episode 52, I also talk about the aspect of, of durability with with plastic. And even though these can be easy to clean, if we're cleaning them in a dishwasher, exposing 'em to the high heat of a dishwasher long term, it may be easy to clean, but that plastic.
[00:09:57] Does begin to deteriorate. And that's why from a standpoint of which one cleans the best I did rate planet box next, it's a very smooth, sleek stainless steel design. And so I'm not worried about, you know, the wear and tear of the plastic on it, but it's very simple. It doesn't have the leakproof nature, which is unfortunate, but at the same time, it does make it easier to clean because there's not the same grooves to be cleaned out in each of the gaskets of some of the plastic.
[00:10:25] For third, I gave Benko. I think it as also has a really smooth design. The corners are a little bit more rounded, which makes it a little easier to clean out than say what I rated fourth, being the yum box. It's also easier to clean. They both have inner liners that you can remove and put in the dishwasher, but the bent go, I find is just a little bit smoother and easier to wipe out or to wash out than the yum box.
[00:10:49] the fifth place I put for cleanability is lunch bots. And again, it has kind of squared off corners and so more things can get stuck there. And even though it's pretty easy to rinse out, if you say have just a bunch of dry foods, if you do have wet foods and things, the little corners that aren't sealed off just seemed to, you know, gather a little bit more things.
[00:11:11] And it isn't my favorite in that category. Last place for the cleanability is the OME box. If you. Don't have to insert in it for the Thermo. It's pretty easy to Rente out. The only downfall there is that the silicone gasket that keeps the items from leaking is supposed to be removed. And I find that really cumbersome, not so much to remove into clean, but to put back if that's an expectation every day, that's just not real life for me and my family, particularly with three kids, lunch boxes, but then you add in the added component of the little Thermo.
[00:11:45] And it's a little bit more cumbersome. That's also the aspect that I forgot to mention with the lunch bots is because it's not leak proof and you have to use a lot of additional containers, like little dip containers, or stainless steel containers with a silicone lid. They're just additional dishes to clean.
[00:12:01] And so that is not my preference. I'd rather kind of have you one and done as much as possible. And so just a reminder with the stainless steel items, there is gonna be that added aspect of what you need to. If you're including containers, that won't leak from a vulnerability standpoint and wear and tear over time and how long I expect to, you know, what's the life span I expect to get out of a bento box.
[00:12:24] I rated planet box number one, full disclosure. I can't prove this because this is our first year using planet box. However, I was willing to invest in it this year because I assume that I will get several years to come out of it with my kids and I don't expect it. falter. I know I've read some reviews that the latch on it may weaken a little bit and things like that.
[00:12:46] So I'll have to report back as we use it, but from everything I've read and from everything I know in the research of wear and tear on plastic versus on stainless steel, I feel more comfortable with the potential wear and tear that will happen on the plate up box. From a stainless steel perspective. I gave lunch box second place, because again, I expect that the durability of this will last longer.
[00:13:09] We do have to use like the silicone liners in that one. So I feel like that's an added component that may need to be replaced as they just get kind of used and dirty and things over time where the planet box doesn't need to use those. And then third I gave, I rated the Oni box. I do think that the functionality of the Thermo insert does depreciate over time, just from my own experience with my kids.
[00:13:33] It doesn't seem like it functions. Obviously as say a separate Thermo. And so I do think that the durability of that depreciates in a way that doesn't make the box quite as durable, however, the box itself is still in good shape for us. You know, we haven't had any issues, even though we use that one less frequently.
[00:13:51] So that might also play in. from a durability standpoint. I said that fourth, fifth, and sixth place where fourth was young box fifth was the Benko and sixth was easy lunch boxes. And that, again goes back to something I mentioned in episode 52, being the wear and tear that we see on plastic. That even if these are top rack dishwasher, safe options, they are going to depreciate in their quality over time.
[00:14:16] More than say some of the stainless steel. Or the items like an OMI box that just has a thicker BPA free plastic. The fourth category I wanna to rate was on cost. This is honestly a really tricky one, especially with back to school sales going on, and there being so much variability in how much each of these bento boxes can cost.
[00:14:37] But when I look at, in general, what I anticipate the price to be, and depending on if I was working with a family and I. Their budget on a given item. What I would probably advise as the most appropriate option if cost was one of the main factors would be first and foremost, easy lunch boxes. You can get four different boxes for under $15.
[00:14:56] So if you have several children or you just want to pack one for your two kids, yourself and your husband, and they all stack really well in the fridge together, easy lunch boxes can be a great option for families. They are by far the most cost. however knowing that that is not always the best option overall, I gave Benko the second best price in the category of cost.
[00:15:19] And as mentioned in episode 52, it is one that goes on sale, often on a variety of different sites. They have a lot of different sales and promos and specials. And so I think you can find that for a really affordable price as. For a cost, I would say yum box and lunch bots are pretty similar. What I found to be the differentiating factor is that Yu box is an all in one system.
[00:15:41] And so the price that you see for the lunch box itself or the bento box itself is the price where with lunch bots, you often need to add the little silicone miners and, or the little dip containers as well, which come at an added cost for fifth place. I said planet box, as I've mentioned several times now in the past few episodes and talking about.
[00:16:01] They do run sales back to back to school sales earth, day sales, things like that. And so you can get it for a discounted price so that it's not necessarily the most expensive. So I'm taking that into view as I rated it in fifth place and I rated OMI box in sixth place because it tends to be the one paired with planet box that I see families compare about cost on.
[00:16:23] So they're probably, while I said young box and lunch box lunch bots are pretty similar in. Outside of the added compartments that you need to purchase for a lunch box planet box and an OMI box are also pretty similar. The differentiating factor between those two, which is why I put the planet box ahead of OMI box is because I anticipate it to last longer.
[00:16:46] So I don't anticipate the cost that I'm paying for it to have to be replaced and purchased again, as frequently as I do with something like the OMI box, where the Thermo compartment. Or, you know, added aspects of it may need to be replaced, even little things like the little separator that is in it. I find it really helpful, but I've had to replace it because it falls out or gets lost and things like that.
[00:17:09] So over the lifespan, I find that planet box would be a better investment and at a lower price point overall, then something like the OMI box last but not least. Of course, this is one of my favorite topics is talking about the variety. What can a variety, can we. With any of these given bento boxes. As I mentioned in episode 52, there are so many different factors to any one of these different lunch boxes and really the bento boxes within each of these brands can vary quite a bit.
[00:17:40] And so outside of maybe the easy lunch boxes and the O box, most of them have several different models that are gonna help you achieve whatever amount of variety that you want to send with your. so in attempts to narrow it down to most favorite to least favorite, I gave OMI box number one on this, I think the opportunity to have hot and cold included, or you can remove that insert altogether, put in a sandwich or a larger item offers the largest range of any of these six bento boxes for a temperature control standpoint.
[00:18:16] And just in terms of the space, it has really deep compartment. I've never ran into an issue of not being able to fit something. The only challenge here is that it doesn't have quite as many compartments. So you do have to have that little divider or find little containers that'll fit in it, but that doesn't help as much from the leak ability standpoint within one of those larger compartments.
[00:18:36] But I do find that this tends to be the one that I can fit the most food in and have the most variety in. So assuming that you're not looking to like add a Thermo to any of the other bento boxes, the OMI box is the one that I think offers the most. second would be Benko. I think Benko has done a lot in the product development space to expand the range of options that they have.
[00:18:58] So depending on if you want kind of the standard five compartment box, you want a three compartment box. You want one that keeps cold. They have a wide range of options that I think can help meet the variety needs that your family is looking for. Close behind. Bent go is Y box. I love the variety that they've op or, or that they offer with their different options.
[00:19:17] we, as I've mentioned, we own every one of their boxes. It's given us a lot of variety over the years, and I find that between the different sizes and the different configurations, it affords us the opportunity to include a lot of different variety that said that's between the models and not within one single box.
[00:19:35] And so when we're looking at the amount of variety that these boxes offer, we have to think about one, how much range do for a variety. Do I have with this. And also how much range for a variety do I have with a given box, which is why again, only box got number one because the single bento box itself offers the most variety.
[00:19:55] However, when I look at boxes like the Planet box and the lunch box I gave that fourth and fifth respectively, because I think that they offer good variety within the box, but you still really have to come up with your own ideas. There's not quite the same range in terms of the space compartments.
[00:20:13] The depth is a little bit more shallow. The opportunity to include different containers within it to prevent items from leaking is more limited to their specific contain. And ultimately it just doesn't offer quite as much variety unless you're looking at something like my combination cards as a reference and you know exactly what to put in it.
[00:20:31] It relies a little bit more on you to add in the variety versus having that potential within those two boxes, the sixth and last one for variety is the easy lunch boxes. It has the three standard compartments. It's very easy for me to come up with, but I feel like it becomes a little bit more redundant of like a square meal.
[00:20:48] It's a large section, two small section. It just doesn't afford you quite as much potential as some of the other boxes. And so for that reason, I put easy lunches or excuse me, easy lunch boxes in last place for that category. So I hope that this was helpful for you. I hope that me kind of narrowing it down and giving you my perspective on how these all rank is helpful.
[00:21:11] If it is, it would mean the world to me, to hear from you on apple podcasts, all you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of the podcast player and click write a review. You click five stars, say what you wanna say. And I get to read each and every. It encourages me a lot to know. Are you the type who likes the long-winded shows where I get a little Ramly about all these things that I could talk forever about?
[00:21:31] Or do you want the ratings and the reviews and the rankings of how I order different things in terms of best to worst? What relates with you? How does this show help you? And is it encouraging you to have this information? If you can take the time to do that? That truly means a lot to me and helps me to know how to create content.
[00:21:46] Anything for additionally, if you leave me a review, you will be entered in for a drawing to. Free access to my digital download of combination cards. Perfect. For you to use for filling these into boxes
