THERMOS ICON Stainless Steel Food Jar with Spoon, 16 Ounce, Matte Stainless (IS3002MS4)

Overview: who is the Thermos Icon 16 oz Food Jar for?

The Thermos Icon 16 oz Food Jar is a wide-mouth, double-wall vacuum-insulated stainless steel jar for carrying hot or cold food. Thermos says it keeps hot food hot for up to 10 hours and cold food cold for up to 24. It has a Dura-Guard pressure relief stopper, a full-size stainless spoon that stows in the stopper, and a non-slip base. It's the only food jar in our drinkware lineup, and it does a job no bottle or mug on this site does: it lets you cook once and eat hot food hours later without lighting a stove or running an induction plate off the battery.

What the Amazon link sells: "THERMOS ICON Stainless Steel Food Jar with Spoon, 16 Ounce, Matte Stainless", ASIN B0D41TG8LS, Thermos part and model number IS3002MS4. Thermos's own store lists IS3002MS4 as the Matte Stainless Steel colour of the 16 oz Icon Food Jar. Other colours are separate listings.

For van life, a food jar earns its space in three ways. You can cook a big pot of oatmeal, soup, chili or rice at breakfast and eat it hot at a trailhead at lunch. You can pack a hot meal for a long driving day so you don't have to stop and cook. And on a cold night, you can fill it with something hot before bed and have warm food ready at dawn. Each of those saves a stove session, fuel or battery, and time.

This review is research-based. VanLifeKitchens doesn't test products hands-on. Specs come from Thermos's product page, Thermos's recall page and the Amazon listing we link to. See how we research.

Choose this if:

• You want to cook once and eat hot later, at a trailhead, at work or on a driving day.
• You want a food jar with a pressure relief stopper and a spoon that travels with it.
• You want 16 ounces, a generous single portion of soup, stew, oatmeal or pasta.

Skip this if:

• You want a drinks bottle. The wide mouth is for eating, not sipping. See the Hydro Flask 32 oz Wide Mouth or Stanley Classic Legendary Bottle.
• You want to reheat in the jar. It's stainless steel and can't go in a microwave or on a burner.
• You need more than one portion. Sixteen ounces is a meal for one; look at a larger jar for two.

Specifications and sources

Thermos's product page lists double-wall vacuum insulation, a wide-mouth opening that "makes it easy to fill, eat directly from, and clean", 18/8 BPA-free stainless steel, the Dura-Guard pressure relief stopper and top-rack dishwasher safety. The Amazon listing adds a full-size stainless-steel Stow-Away spoon that "fits securely in stopper" and a Griptec soft-touch, non-slip base.

Weight isn't stated in the description. Thermos's store data gives 340 grams, about 0.75 pounds, which may include packaging, and the Amazon listing gives 1 pound, which looks like a shipping figure. Either way, it's light enough not to matter in a van.

Why the pressure relief stopper matters

This is the most important feature on the jar, and it has a history. Thermos's recall page lists a recall of the older 16 oz Stainless King Food Jar (SK3000), the 24 oz Stainless King Food Jar (SK3020) and the 40 oz Sportsman Food and Beverage Bottle (SK3010), sold from March 2008 to July 2024. Thermos says the stoppers on those models "can forcefully eject when opened, which can result in serious impact injury and laceration hazards", and that the recalled models lack pressure relief valves. It reports 27 cases of people struck by an ejecting stopper, including three with permanent vision loss. Thermos offers free replacement stoppers or products through its support site.

Hot food in a sealed container builds pressure as it sits, especially soup or anything still steaming when you close the lid. The Icon's Dura-Guard stopper is a pressure relief design: the feature Thermos says the recalled jars lacked. That's the main reason we picked the Icon rather than the better-known Stainless King.

Two habits still matter with any hot food jar:

• Open it pointed away from your face, slowly, and let any pressure vent.
• Don't overfill. Leave a little space below the stopper, and don't seal in food that's actively boiling or bubbling.

If you already own an older Stainless King SK3000 or SK3020, or a Sportsman SK3010, check it against Thermos's recall page and request the free remedy.

Getting the most heat out of it

Thermos's 10-hour figure is a best case. How hot your food is at lunch depends mostly on how you fill it. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension's lunch safety guidance gives the method: warm the container first by filling it with hot water, pour that out just before you pack, and add food that's "well above 140 degrees". It also says to keep hot and cold containers apart so the hot food holds its temperature.

In a van, that looks like this:

1. Boil extra water while you cook. Fill the jar, close it and leave it for about five minutes.
2. Bring the food to a full simmer, then dump the hot water (into your dish bin, so it isn't wasted) and fill the jar right away.
3. Close it and leave it closed. Every opening costs heat.
4. Pack it away from your cooler or 12V fridge.

The 140°F figure matters for safety as well as taste. Food that sits for hours between 40°F and 140°F is in the range where bacteria multiply. A properly preheated, well-filled jar opened at lunch should still be hot; one that was half full and packed with lukewarm food may not be. If you're unsure how hot it is, check it with a probe thermometer such as the Thermapen ONE the first few times you use it.

Cold food. The same jar holds cold food for up to 24 hours by Thermos's figure. Pre-chill it with ice water, then pack salad, yogurt, overnight oats or cut fruit. It's a useful way to keep a lunch cold away from the van without carrying a cooler.

How it fits a van kitchen

Saving energy. Every hot meal you carry in a jar is a stove or induction session you don't run later. If you cook on induction from a power station, see our power budget guide. Cooking a double batch at breakfast and carrying half in a jar is a simple way to stretch a battery. On a butane or propane stove, it saves fuel and an outdoor cooking session.

Meals that work well. Oatmeal, congee, soups, stews, chili, curries, rice and beans, and pasta with sauce all hold well. Our one-pot meals guide and vegetarian van meals have recipes that pack into a jar. Avoid packing fried or crisp food, which steams soft.

Cold-weather use. In winter, a jar of hot food is a morning without cooking in the cold, or a hot lunch on a ski day. See our cold-weather van cooking guide.

Storage. At about 3.9 inches wide and 6 inches tall, it fits a door pocket, a cupholder-sized gap or a small drawer. The non-slip base helps it stay put on a fold-down table.

Cleaning

Thermos lists it as top-rack dishwasher safe. In a van without a dishwasher, rinse it right after eating, before food dries on the walls, and scrub with a bottle brush. Pull the stopper out and clean it and the threads separately, and let everything dry open so the seal doesn't hold odours. Our dishwashing system guide has a low-water routine.

Limitations

• One portion. 16 ounces is a solid meal for one person, not two.
• Can't reheat in it. Stainless steel isn't microwave or stove safe.
• The 10-hour figure is a best case. Thermos doesn't state test conditions.
• No published warranty term on the product page we opened.
• Weight figures disagree between Thermos's store data and the Amazon listing.

How it compares

There's no other food jar on this site, so the useful comparisons are by job:

• Zojirushi SM-SHE48: for hot drinks rather than food, with a sealed, locking lid for driving.
• Stanley Classic Legendary Bottle 1.5 QT: holds coffee or soup for several people, poured into its cup. It isn't a bowl to eat from.
• YETI Rambler 14 oz Stackable Mug: YETI suggests it doubles as a camp bowl for soup or oatmeal at camp, but its lid isn't sealed, so it can't carry food in a bag.

Value

The Thermos Icon 16 oz is a budget-to-mid-range purchase that saves a stove session every time you use it. Among food jars, it's in the normal range for a name-brand vacuum jar with a spoon. Check current pricing on Amazon, since it changes often.

Final verdict

The Thermos Icon 16 oz Food Jar is a small, practical addition to a van kitchen. It lets you cook once and eat hot hours later, saves fuel or battery, and it has the pressure relief stopper that Thermos says its recalled older food jars lacked. Preheat it, fill it with food well above 140°F, keep it closed and open it pointed away from your face.

FAQ

How long does the Thermos Icon food jar keep food hot?

Thermos says up to 10 hours hot and up to 24 hours cold. Preheating the jar with hot water and filling it with very hot food make the biggest difference to how warm it is when you open it.

Is the Thermos Icon part of the Thermos food jar recall?

Thermos's recall page lists the 16 oz Stainless King Food Jar (SK3000), the 24 oz Stainless King Food Jar (SK3020) and the 40 oz Sportsman bottle (SK3010), sold March 2008 to July 2024. The Icon (IS3002) isn't on that list, and Thermos describes its Dura-Guard stopper as a pressure relief design.

Can you put the Thermos Icon in the microwave?

No. It's double-wall stainless steel. Heat food in a pot and transfer it to the preheated jar.

Is the Thermos Icon dishwasher safe?

Thermos lists it as top-rack dishwasher safe.

Does the Thermos Icon come with a spoon?

Yes. The Amazon listing includes a full-size stainless-steel Stow-Away spoon that fits in the stopper.

What temperature should food be when you put it in a food jar?

The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension says hot food should be "well above 140 degrees" when you pack it, in a container you've warmed first with hot water.

Sources and verification

• Thermos product page, 16oz Icon Food Jar, https://thermos.com/products/icon-food-jar-16oz: colour SKUs including IS3002MS4, 16 oz capacity, 10 h hot and 24 h cold, 18/8 BPA-free stainless steel, Dura-Guard pressure relief stopper, wide mouth, top-rack dishwasher safe, 340 g store weight (checked 2026-10-13).
• Thermos product recalls page, https://thermos.com/pages/product-recalls: SK3000, SK3020 and SK3010 models, March 2008 to July 2024 sale dates, stopper ejection hazard, injury reports, missing pressure relief valves, remedy (checked 2026-10-13).
• University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, lunch box food safety, https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/news/dont-let-danger-sneak-into-your-childs-lunch-box/: preheating with hot water, packing food well above 140°F, keeping hot and cold containers apart (checked 2026-10-13).
• Amazon listing, ASIN B0D41TG8LS: title, part and model number IS3002MS4, Matte Stainless colour, Dura-Guard stopper, Stow-Away spoon, Griptec base, 3.9 x 3.9 x 6 in and 1 lb listed, availability (checked 2026-10-13).