A mug-bowl. A Mowl. For Soup.

September 12, 2007 9:20 PM

I need help locating the perfect, giant soup mug for work.

I hate carrying a bowl back from the microwave in the break room, through the hallway filled with staring students, and into my tiny, joyless office.

So, I must find the perfect soup container.

1. It must be ceramic or pyrex. Nothing that will leach synthetic estrogens into my body.
2. It must be opaque. The students, they stare.
3. It must fit in a microwave.
4. It must hold an entire can of soup, with some exposed lip when full to prevent sloshing
5. It must have a lid so I don't spill when carrying it back to my tiny, windowless, joyless office. Ideally the lid would also be ceramic or glass.
6. It need not have graphics or clever sayings on it
7. It should cost around 10 bucks. Maybe 15. $20 if it is The One.
8. It should have a handle, so I could also drink beverages from it on occasion, such as a giant hot chocolate or even herbal tea.
9. It cannot give me lead poisoning.
10. If it looks clinical and disturbing, so much the better, but no pee jars.
11. It has to be the kind of thing Kevin Kelly would use and enthusiastically recommend. I'll take Stewart Brand in a pinch.
12. Everything but size and lid are negotiable.

posted by mecran01 to food & drink (17 comments total)

this can of soup - how big is it?
posted by zamboni at 9:27 PM on September 12, 2007

It is a standard can of Campbells, or a can of Campbell's Chunky with no liquid added.

So, a can of Campbell's (although I will probably use Progresso) is 21 ounces of liquid, total.
posted by mecran01 at 9:31 PM on September 12, 2007

To send the innocent youth of the green on this foolhardy quest is a cruel and selfish thing.
posted by mecran01 at 9:36 PM on September 12, 2007 [3 favorites]

My search is over. Zamboni's Zen Koan tore through my confusion like an Idaho Senator through an airport bathroom stall door, providing me with a brief moment of clarity and redefinition that opened the way for the truth to find me.

The Soup Mug Grail

22 oz. Not 20 ounces. Not an indulgent 24 or mawkish 32. That is 21 ounces of soup, with a perfect ounce remaining. Somewhere at Corning sits a mug designer who was unafraid to spit in the face of Campbell's. They may never find his body, but the mug lives on.

How can one sleep without the feverish yearnings of the mug-quest? Tonight this question, too, will be answered.
posted by mecran01 at 9:46 PM on September 12, 2007 [3 favorites]

If you're ever near Ikea, they also have giant microwaveable mugs - and saucers that fit them. They will hold a can of Progresso soup perfectly.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:11 PM on September 12, 2007

If only you didn't reject the notion of a clear container. You could use this and the young people would truly stare. Better still, they may very well even edge away in fear, leaving more hallway space free for you to occupy.
posted by winna at 11:02 PM on September 12, 2007

I'm glad I could assist with the soup-mug satori, mecran01.
twenty one ounces of flax soup!
posted by zamboni at 11:45 PM on September 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Winna: The Firefly is a thing of beauty. However, I fear that microwaving plastic would release compounds into my food that would awaken my dormant man-breasts, causing me to resemble Bea Arthur. As Were-Bea, I would terrorize our campus and eventually have to be put down or placed in an administrative position, where soup production is frowned upon and golfing is encouraged.

Also, repeat this phrase three times: "glowing chunky soup."
posted by mecran01 at 6:33 AM on September 13, 2007

What about a thermos?
posted by birdlady at 7:44 AM on September 13, 2007

Thermos: Volume: 16 oz

Please, do not taunt me! I did not realize that microwaveable thermii existed, however. This opens up new avenues of exploration--and wonder.
posted by mecran01 at 9:19 AM on September 13, 2007

My karmic burden is already far too great to risk interfering with another's achievement of Satori; even so, I am too weak to refrain from sharing my longing for the

Bodum Bistro double-walled thermal cafe latte cup, 0.53 l, 18 oz, set of 2 $22.56

Winners of the 2007 iF Product Design Award, Bistro's double-walled glasses are perfectly suited for a multitude of hot and cold beverages, as well as desserts. Made of heat-resistant borosilicate glass, contents will remain hot for a longer period of time while the glass itself remains cool to the touch. Bistro's double-walled glasses are dishwasher and microwave safe.

Yes, they are too small and they are clear, but they are very beautiful and more thermally efficient, as well as completely cool to the touch, and after all, what's a heaven for?
posted by jamjam at 9:49 AM on September 13, 2007

Avoid the Bodum products. I thought they looked great and bought some, I've never have glass products that were so fragile. They seem to shatter at the slightest impact, including just setting them in the sink.
posted by Marky at 10:10 AM on September 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks for that report, Marky; I've been wondering about durability, but none of my friends have gotten any of them.
posted by jamjam at 10:38 AM on September 13, 2007

I have one of the Holy Corning Mugs you speak of. I like it very much, and because I'm a lazy git who doesn't want to walk up to the next floor to a microwave, I've found a way to heat my soup/casserole/whatever without leaving my cubicle. I just put the mug, containing the food, with cover, on the cold heat plate of my mini coffee maker. Turn on the heat plate. Wait 1-1.5 hours. Stir once or twice, and wah-la: warm lunch. Convenient because just about the time I run out of my morning coffee, I start heating my lunch.
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 10:43 AM on September 13, 2007

Mr. McSnuggy: I thank you. I may explore using a candle warmer as well.

I bought the mug at lunch today, at Tar-get, a sophisticated French retailer. It appears deceptively small, but did in fact hold a 15.5 oz. can of Healthy Choice soup. I then filled a 20 oz. Sobe bottle with water and poured it into the blessed vessel, and, unless I overfilled the Sobe bottle, there is no way that thing is going to hold 22 oz. of liquid. Realistically, 20 oz. tops. That would probably still work with a standard can of Campbells if you cut back on the dilution slightly. A large can of Campbell's chunky, at 18.6 oz, should be fine as well. Progresso Sirloin, at 19 oz. should just barely fit.

I have not confirmed whether the plastic lid releases enough synthetic estrogens during microwaving to generate man-breasts. I will alert the readers of this thread immediately should that be the case, and will include photographic documentation.
posted by craniac at 1:27 PM on September 13, 2007

I have not confirmed whether the plastic lid releases enough synthetic estrogens during microwaving to generate man-breasts. I will alert the readers of this thread immediately should that be the case, and will include photographic documentation.

MOOBS OR GTFO.


(But really, I'm glad you asked about the Mowl. I have been using the great Mr. Bento for lunch, but the multiple bowls is too much work. Also, I am of the one-course persuasion!)
posted by ntartifex at 1:55 PM on September 13, 2007

Mr. Bento Porn (flickr pool)
posted by craniac at 2:17 PM on September 13, 2007