Hi there one and all!
Today I have another entry into the world of western bento from Smash, the entertainingly named Nude Food Movers range.
Now, Smash won bento of the year in my top 10 countdown a few weeks ago so I have high expectations for this one!
It is simply called the “Rubbish Free Meal Box” so it doesn’t have a specific use in mind.
It’s special feature is it’s microwaving vent, which I will show you later, and it also comes with a dressing pot and 2 extra forks.
I’m not sure about you but to me it seems like the idea for this was a little confused.
It can be microwaved, which is fantastic, but it also has a dressing pot which would generally be used on cold foods…..hm….
Tadah!
On opening we have the fork with it’s own little recess.
It is a very specific shaped recess which is a little worrying as they’re giving away extra forks, probably expecting them to break.
It could end up that replacements will be a troublesome business.
The build quality isn’t as bad as a disposable fork, the handle is actually quite sturdy though the fork prongs do feel like they would snap without much force.
I do wish they had put more materials into a better quality fork rather than just adding more but at least they did something and seem to be aware of it.
I’m guessing it was late into production when they realised and it was too late.
Strangely enough the fork really locks into place without any clips and no amount of me shaking it would dislodge it, a great plus!
As you can see on this close up, the two middle prongs on the fork are very much on the slim side so are fragile.
The vent for microwaving is a simple premise which is well made, it’s just a switch which can reveal a hole for steam to escape from while microwaving, rather than the steam staying inside and making things explode.
So, I mentioned this came with a dressing pot?
Well, this is where this gets a bit bizarre.
The dressing pot pops on to the bottom of the main box lid.
The whole pot can be taken off so it’s not going to be an extremely awkward process trying to screw on when full but it means the food you put in will either be squashed by the pot, or the pot will be covered in whatever food you’d added.
Unless you avoid putting any food into the part where this sticks out I can’t think of a way this would work well. I guess it’s good when in storage?
Still, it’s not the end of the world, you can always leave the dressing pot to the side, it pops in and out easily and the whole thing can be used elsewhere.
Our added extra forks!
When the package said “Bonus 2 x Forks Included” I thought it would be the one you can see on display and one extra but no, two extra forks so a very generous bonus there!
As usual with Smash products the box is BPA Free, of course microwave safe, food safe as we can only hope all bento boxes are and dishwasher safe on the top rack, though the dressing pot (and presumably the forks) are not dishwasher safe.
All in all this box is a bit of a strange one.
I can recommend it because of it’s handy size and shape, can’t go wrong with a rectangle, the fact it can be microwaved and has a handy vent to do just that.
It also closes really well and securely, the fork holder really does hold the fork and the box quality is great.
On the downside though even with the added forks, the prongs feel fragile and easily breakable on them and the dressing pot in the lid idea just doesn’t work.
If you take the whole dressing pot out of it’s section in the lid and put it into the corner of the box the only problem is the forks which without very gentle care will be broken in a short while.
To conclude, this is a box that would come in handy quite often, though I think I will take my own cutlery!
