Appliances 101

I promised you cooking without a kitchen, yes. But this is not a wilderness cooking blog, so unless you're going to whip up a Sun-in-the-Box cooker on the spot, you're going to need electricity, and a safe way to convert that electricity into heat. The most common way to do this is with an appliance, such as a microwave. For most people, it's obviously rather unpractical to install an oven or a stove in the bedroom, but there are plenty of good and useful appliances that are freestanding, more or less portable, and require nothing more than an outlet. Any of these appliances can be used for kitchenless cooking. I am going to go through a basic list of such appliances, describing factors such as price, convenience, range, and possibility (some of these are more likely than others to be permitted in a dorm room, for example).


Vital Appliances: These are appliances which I will more or less take for granted that readers have. If I had to keep just three of my appliances, these would be the ones, hands down. Most dorm rooms allow all three, as well. Strangely enough, I use two/three of these less for cooking and more for dealing with ingredients and leftovers.

- The Refrigerator/Freezer: This isn't really for cooking. It can be useful for preparing certain dishes that need to be cooled or frozen, but I don't usually use it that way. I use it to keep ingredients fresh and leftovers from going bad. Leftovers are usually something I plan on when I cook, and depend on the rest of the time. My fridge is quite small, definitely a mini-fridge, but has enough room in the door for butter and milk, and a generous freezer space that will hold a gallon of ice cream or a few frozen pizzas. This is easily the most expensive of all the appliances I'm going to list. You can't expect to pay much less than 100$ for a decent fridge, even a mini-fridge.

- Microwave (M): I use this mostly for reheating leftovers, and preparing microwave soups, etc. I don't recommend using a microwave for actually cooking, but let's face it - neither you nor I are going to cook all of our meals 'properly'. A microwave is great for making a lot of frozen foods and other convenience products. And leftovers, can't forget those. Most microwaves are in the same price range as mini-fridges, but it's possible to score a really good deal. I think my microwave cost about 35$. Occasionally I see them for sale around 20$. There's really no excuse...

- Rice Cooker (RC): Unlike the fridge and microwave, rice cookers aren't exactly standard issue for college students or other people looking for the absolute culinary basics. So why is it included under my vital appliances? I'm not even Asian, do I eat rice that much? The truth is that above and beyond making truly delicious rice, (a yummy carb, which, unlike bread, does not go stale a week after you buy it), rice cookers can cook just about anything. I honestly don't think that the University would allow us to have rice cookers if they knew what these little babies were capable of. I continue to stretch the limits of my rice cooker, and it continues to meet my demands. I can confidentally say that it is possible to use a rice cooker for anything you could use a pot over a stove for, and many things you could use a skillet for. I have browned and boiled chicken, fried mushrooms, steamed vegetables, scrambled eggs, fixed macaroni and cheese, and prepared seven (and counting) kinds of soup in my rice cooker. My rice cooker cost 20$, and it's perfect.


Nifty Appliances: If you have the money and the space, or if you simply enjoy a particular product that one of these appliances can help you make, then it's probably worthwhile to purchase it. But while all of these appliances have their purpose, for one reason or another I don't find them quite as essential as the Vital Appliances. In this category there is also a good deal of redundancy - it would probably be overkill to own all of the following appliances in anything less than a suberbly stocked kitchen.

- Crock Pot (Slow Cooker): These really knocked everyone's stockings off when they first came out. The idea was that you could put food in it, go off to work, and come back to find a wonderful meal waiting. Advantages to the Crock Pot include versitility and some of the most authentic and delicious food you can make without a kitchen, since Crock Pots are in common use even by people with fully outfitted kitchens. Since they cook things slowly, flavours blend together very well, making it a great choice for most one pot dishes such as stews. And Crock Pots are allowed almost anywhere - since they were designed to 'cook all day, while the cook's away' they're not likely to cause any trouble. My main problem with the Slow Cooker is how, well, slow it is. I'm just not usually that patient. I envisioned myself putting ingredients into the Slow Cooker before class and coming back hours later to a meal. In reality, I tend to roll out of bed about 20 minutes before my class starts, and even if I were to get up early I wouldn't want to wake up my roommate (who sleeps even later), by rushing about with measuring cups and choppers. I have also discovered that I can make every crock pot recipe I've ever found in my Rice Cooker... in about 1/8th the time. The wait shows up in the excellent flavour, so if the... erm... lifestyle appeals to you, you can get a very nice, large Crock Pot for around 50$.

- Coffee Maker (or Water Boiler): If you want coffee, get one. It's as simple as that. If you don't, but like the ability to heat water quickly for hot chocolate, tea, miso soup, etc, you may be just as well off with a Water Boiler. That said, I've heard that you can use a coffee maker to make oatmeal, soft boil eggs, and more in a real pinch. And I don't think I've ever heard of a building that didn't allow a Coffee Maker, so if you have nothing else, it's something.

- Hot Plate (HP): These are quite expensive, and they have a fairly high fire risk, so they are rarely allowed in dorm rooms and the like nowadays. They are basically a portable stove top, which is an attractive idea... if you are allowed one and can fork over about 80$. Just remember that a rice cooker can do just about anything a hot plate can do.

- Electric Griddle: I have seen some people do great things with these. The price seems to vary drastically, with some models as low as 30$, although I have no idea which brands are good or anything like that. The same caveats apply here as apply to the Hot Plate.

- Toaster Oven: Another appliance that is often banned. I didn't have one going up and consequently can't say a lot in their favour, but they seem the next best thing to a full size oven, preparing many frozen foods and giving a crispy result. Most kitchenless cooking appliances are better at producing moist foods, so a Toaster Oven is probably worth it if you crave biting into crunchy breading or crust. The price range seems to start at around 50$.

- Toaster: Toasters toast bread, bagels, english muffins, and certain specialty products designed for toasters such as toaster strudels, scramblers, and toaster waffles. The product line is not the most varied, but as toasters is cheap and often the only permitted appliance that produces a crisp and crunchy product, one may very well be worth owning. Most simple toasters cost around 20$, although when I did a Google Search I found an 800 dollar 2 slice toaster... I can only hope that it checks the toast for poison and fortifies it with extra nutrients.

- George Forman Grill: This is probably your best option for cooking meat (or fish) without a kitchen. It's also good for quesadillas, or so I'm told. These are very frequently not allowed, as they tend to produce smoke, grease, etc and if you don't watch them they have a pretty high fire risk. They're a pain to clean, but if I was really into meat, and my dorm allowed one, I would get one.

- Food Processor: These are kind of a pain to clean, but you can use them as a mini blender. They're great for making dips like hummus or flavoured butters, or for chopping ingredients like onion (even liquifying them). A Food Processor becomes a necessity if you like to use fresh spices like ginger and need to chop them, or if you make dips like hummus on a regular basis. I have a tiny three cup food processor that cost 20$. I've filled it once or twice, but then I just make two batches of whatever I'm making. Pay more and get a bigger one if you like.

- Blender: Significantly bigger than a food processor, just as much of a pain to clean. If you like making smoothies or other mixed drinks, this is for you. It kind of seems like a waste to dirty the whole blender to cut up a spice or something, though. You'll probably pay 30$ or more for a decent blender.

- Quesadilla Maker: This isn't as much of a novelty item as you may expect. Yes, it makes mostly quesadillas and more quesadillas... but it's actually possible to be quite creative with quesadillas. I've made pizza and dessert quesadillas... you can make all sorts of miniature sandwiches with them. :) They're not a must have item for most people, but they're very fun and add a lot of variety. They cost about 25$.



In case you were wondering, I own a fairly nice mini-Fridge/Freezer, a very basic Microwave, Rice cooker, Toaster, and Food Processor, and a nice Crock Pot. My roommate owns a Coffee Maker. This isn't to say that I'll never reference the other appliances or use them in my recipes, but I am less likely to. :)