Can the Stainless Steel Lunch Box Go in the Oven?

The box is on the counter and the recipe is on your phone. One question before the batter goes in: does a lunch box take the oven, or does it warp?

Yes. It goes in.

The stainless steel lunch box is oven-safe. Bake in it, roast in it, reheat yesterday's lasagna in it. The baking tin and the lunch box are the same object, and that is the whole trick.

What comes out of the oven on Sunday is packed on Monday, without changing dishes. How it gets clean afterwards is at the bottom. Short version: dishwasher.

What comes off before it goes in?

The lid and the seal. Both stay on the counter.

The box itself is uncoated 18/8 stainless steel. There is no lining to peel, no coating to flake, nothing that minds the heat.

That is not a happy accident. It is the reason the box takes the oven at all: there is nothing in it but steel.

The seal is silicone, and it does the sealing, not the baking. The lid carries the seal, so the lid stays out with it. Take the dividers out too. A cake wants the whole box.

Never the microwave. Steel and microwaves do not get along, and that goes for every steel box. The freezer, on the other hand, is fine. Prep a batch, freeze it in the box, bake it when the week gets busy.

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What can you bake in it?

Think of it as a small, deep pan. Two recipes we keep coming back to, one sweet and one for a weeknight.

Fill the box no more than two-thirds, so the cake has room to rise. Whatever does not fit goes into a second box, or into the freezer for next week.

The 47 oz box gives the most room. The three sizes are compared in best stainless steel lunch boxes for adults.

Chocolate cake, baked in the box

Ingredients

• 7 oz (200 g) sugar
• 7 oz (200 g) butter or margarine, softened
• 4 eggs
• 5.3 oz (150 g) flour
• 1.8 oz (50 g) cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 3.4 fl oz (100 ml) milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) and grease the box.
2. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter until fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix well after each.
4. In a second bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
5. Add the dry mix and the milk to the butter in turns, mixing as you go.
6. Pour the batter into the box. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Take it out and let it cool. Then serve it, or close the lid and take it along.

Lasagna from the lunch box

Ingredients

• 1.1 lb (500 g) ground beef, or a beef and pork mix
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 28 oz (800 g) crushed tomatoes
• 7 oz (200 g) crème fraîche
• 12 lasagna sheets, the no-boil kind
• 5.3 oz (150 g) grated cheese, mozzarella or gouda
• Salt, pepper, Italian herbs
• Olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C).
2. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
3. Add the meat. Fry until crumbly and browned.
4. Stir in the tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and herbs, then simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Grease the box.
6. Spread a layer of sauce, then a layer of lasagna sheets.
7. Dot with crème fraîche.
8. Repeat until everything is used up. Finish with a layer of sauce.
9. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden and bubbling.
10. Let it rest for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy. And whatever is left over is already in its lunch box.

More lunches that go in the box, no oven needed: bento box lunch ideas for adults.

How do you clean it after baking?

In the dishwasher. Every part of it.

Box, lid, seal and dividers all go in the dishwasher, and there is no special program to pick. Take the seal out now and then, so the groove underneath dries fully. That is the only habit worth having.

Baked-on cheese at the rim? Let the box soak in warm water for a while, and it comes off. Steel does not hold on to yesterday's garlic, either.

Want it sterile, not just clean? Seal out, then three to five minutes in boiling water. Tongs help with lifting it out. Let the groove dry before the seal goes back in.

The full routine, from first use to the cotton bag, is in the lunch box care guide.

The seal is the one part that wears. When it gives up one day, you buy a seal, not a new box. And the first spare is already in the package.

Whether the box also works for cooking, not just baking, is its own article. For now: the oven is preheating anyway, and the box is right there.