Hellobee

Once you decide to start packing bento box lunches, the first thing you need to get your hands on is…well…a box. It can be difficult to decide which kind of box to buy, and unfortunately there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem. Bento boxes come in all sorts of shapes, materials, configurations and prices.

There are a few factors to consider when you are choosing a bento box:

• How much food do you need to pack in it? How much food does your child eat at meal time? Are you packing multiple meals or snacks for him to eat while he’s out of the house?
• How durable do you need the box to be? If you’re going to use the same box every day, you may want to get something really sturdy like stainless steel or high grade plastic. If you’d like a variety of boxes to choose from, you may want to select a few different boxes that aren’t designed to last as long.
• How much are you willing to pay for a lunch box? It may seem like a good idea to buy the best bento box you can afford, but if you or your child are prone to losing things you might want to think twice. Most people can take the loss of a $3 lunch box in stride. A $50 lunch box? Not so much.
• Does the box need to be microwave safe? Dishwasher safe? Are you OK with the thought of washing a lot of little pieces or would you prefer to keep the number of little pieces floating around your kitchen in check?

I’ll be going over all of the basic types of bento boxes over the next few weeks, but for this first installment I’m going to start with the simplest type: the single layer bento box.

A single layer bento box is usually made up of only a few pieces: a box, a lid and sometimes a divider to help separate different types of foods from each other. Lids tend to be tight fitting. I’ve found boxes with self-sealing lids (like you’d find on Rubbermaid or Tupperware containers) and lids with a seal and hinged fasteners. Occasionally I’ll come across a box with a loose-fitting lid intended to be held on with a bento “belt” or rubberbands. If you’re interested in playing around with bento boxes but you aren’t ready to buy any equipment just yet, you likely have a food storage container in a drawer somewhere that would work perfectly as a single layer bento box.

If you would like to purchase a box specifically made for bento, some online sources with reasonably priced options include Amazon and All Things for Sale.

For many examples of lunches packed in single layer bento boxes, visit the Wendolonia Bento Box Gallery.