Reddit reviews Rival 4071-WN 32-Ounce Hot Pot Express, White

There are ways around not having access to a kitchen.

a small rice cooker
can be used for steaming as well as cooking rice.

a slow cooker

a small George Formangreat for sandwiches as well as grilling meat.

an electric skillet

for soups

These 5 would meet most of your cooking needs.

Commercial towel steamers are impractical for home use. The microwave works fine, but an electric hot pot is small enough to keep under the bathroom sink.

I'm convinced this is some kind of sick experiment on part of the owners.

The first thing I would do is break the rules. He needs a small plastic electric kettle. A Hot pot from Rival would be perfect for him. 15 dollars and if he buys it on Amazon it comes in a cardboard box, no one has to even know he has it.

If he is forced to play by the rules, I wish him all the luck in the world and I hope he can get out of there soon.

I would google this. I rarely touch my microwave, unless I want popcorn. My advice would give you bad chicken. I do, however, imagine any precooked meat would work pretty well for you. I was just adapting my time crunch cooking plans to your limited resources.

Also, if you can manage this, too, I used it in dorm cooking. You can wilt spinach, hardboil eggs, ghetto steam veggies, and do other stuff I know I have forgotten about. I know at one point I could produce scrambled eggs with stuff in it, but that was years ago. I also once produced tolerable, tiny pancakes. I really should have written it all down. Of course, it may count as a hot plate, but I had a brief stint as a rulebreaker as a freshman in college, so I never asked for permission.

Also, if you scrambled an egg super well in a mug, and microwave it, you can get a good size egg for a breakfast sandwich. Might be gross without toasted bread, though. You'll have to fuss with the timing, but it turns out decent if you season it. A very powerful microwave will be about one minute.

You should also consider things like canned beans tossed with tuna, fresh veggies, lettuce, or whatever. This is totally a time to learn to like canned beans. I make lots of cold, summer salads with them, and can give you ideas for my fridge/pantry staples I mix with beans if you are interested.

I have a food processor, and one of my favorite things is well drained chickpeas blended with canned tuna, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and pepper. I imagine you could make it with a very good blender, though. It is a great spread for crackers, good in salads, and a pretty filling, if a little bland, alone. You could toss the mixture with cooked, chilled veggies and eat it wrapped in lettuce or a tortilla, too.

Does a tiny crockpot count as a hotplate? This was another item I never asked about, and I produced some pretty good food with it.

This allowed me to make hard boiled eggs, wilt spinach, heat soup, make soup from semi-scratch, pasta, ramen, things I am sure I am forgetting, and a friend had luck making mini pancakes in it.

I successfully poached/boiled chicken in it as well. I had brined it first, so it didn't suffer to terribly in terms of texture. You could also do baby potatoes pretty easily, and I sometimes heated frozen vegetables in it or portions of those frozen "meal in a bag" things. I bet rice would even be doable, but I suck at making rice.

It is a little workhorse of a water boiler if you are creative and want/need to cook in your dorm room.

When I lived in a dorm I had a thing like this that I used to make noodles or couscous or those indian food things in packets that you just have to boil. And then you can just chop up vegetables from the store into little bits and mix them in. http://www.amazon.com/Rival-4071-WN-32-Ounce-Express-White/dp/B00006IUXU

Get a hot pot and lots of Ramen. Best way to survive college.

I have a dirt cheap electric hot pot that I've had FOREVER from target:
http://www.amazon.com/Rival-4071-WN-32-Ounce-Express-White/dp/B00006IUXU/ref=sr_1_32?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1369171972&sr=1-32

That, plus a quality french press is all you really need:
http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Brazil-1-Liter-34-Ounce-Coffeemaker/dp/B004NBYADU/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1369172037&sr=1-2&keywords=bodum+french+press

I used an electric kettle similar to this to get through college since I didn't have a stove top.

http://www.amazon.com/Rival-4071-WN-32-Ounce-Express-White/dp/B00006IUXU/ref=sr_1_29?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1415716949&sr=1-29

Not to burst your bubble, but couldn't you just get a hot plate for about $15, use a pot you have in your kitchen, and a towel over your head?

I guess this would use less power, but I think you would have more uses for a hot plate.

Or you could get an electric kettle for about $12.

Now you have me wanting one!

Inform him that there are products on the market to avoid this.

For example: Less expensive version!
This will turn off automatically. There are obviously more expensive things that will do the same but I have one of these and they are handy. Then you can get some sleep without the paranoia.

Buy a hot pot. We used it to make whole wheat pasta and I'm sure you could figure out how to make rice with it.

Sweet potatoes are easily microwavable.

Do you have access to a kitchen at all that you could make meals ahead of time and then just store them in your freezer or refridgerator?

You could always buy a hot pot like this. You could use it to boil eggs to add to salad or to eat on their own. Plus it works well for making soup and pasta. It's probably less frowned upon by management than a toaster over or hot plate would be, because it has no open heat source... back when I was in college they were allowed in the dorms.

Best link I could find: http://www.amazon.com/Rival-4071-WN-32-Ounce-Express-White/dp/B00006IUXU ... I think it all depends on what you get. My college had very strict rules but encouraged us to bring a corded hot-pot. Most of the dorm buildings didn't allow personal microwaves or anything.

A hot pot might help you out. That and a couple boxes of ramen and mac and cheese will help you survive.

You can also get a waffle maker. Alton brown in one episode of good eats put bacon in a waffle iron.

First, your college sounds way nicer than my college so yeah for you. :-)


A hot pot is basically an electric pot that looks like something you'd put on a stove but instead plug into a while. They are pretty safe so generally allowed by most dorms. They are super cheap too and available at target or walmart... here's a link to one.


Also, white boards are an essential part of the college experience. You have to have one. You just have to. Tell your mom I said so. :-)