If you’re anything like me, you love food. But, if you’re still with me here, you kinda hate making food. And cleaning up after making food. Yuck. So, like any health-conscious and mostly broke student, I hit up the closest greasy burger joint. Yeah, I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but sometimes the temptation is just too much to handle! Especially when the alternative is boxed mac and cheese in three shades of nauseating neon yellow or very poorly cooked…pretty much anything I cook, to be honest. But suffer no more in the agony of stirring in this and that, eating mediocre food, and then scrubbing greasy pots! Crockpots are here to save the day! But what is a crockpot you may ask? Well, firstly, a godsend. Secondly, it is, according to Google, “a large electric cooking pot used to cook stews and other dishes slowly.” They can be found for fairly inexpensive prices at your average chain superstores.
So, without further ado, here are three reasons a crockpot is the essential kitchen tool for any college student:
1. No Fuss, No Muss.
Crockpot recipes are the easiest things on earth. No, seriously. You’d almost have to try to mess them up, and this is coming from a person who has failed at boiling milk to make hot chocolate. Twice. So yeah, these recipes are easy-peasy, mostly because they’re almost completely hands-off. There are hundreds of them online, and most consist of little more than: dump x, y, and z in crockpot and turn on to a certain heat. Then wait, then eat. Voila!
2. Ready When You Need Me
Crockpots are kinda synonymous with slow-cookers. Those bad boys do basically what’s on the tin. They cook…slowly. This means that for the busy college student on the go, or just the average lazy bones, aka yours truly, crockpots are the ideal partner-in-crime. You can dump in a couple of ingredients before you morning classes, shift at work, or k-drama marathon, and have lunch steaming and ready when you most need it. All you need is a plate and your utensil of choice and it’s chow time. This is especially great because I know when it comes to me, there is no greater time of temptation than when I’m hungry and there is no food ready at hand. That’s when the tongue twitches with the phantom taste of fast food burgers and Chinese takeout. Combat it with a mouthful of homemade goodness and your wallet (and arteries) will thank you!
3. Clean in Less than Fifteen
Now comes the best part: clean-up takes less than fifteen minutes pretty much every time. For your average crockpot recipe, all you’ll need is a cooking spoon to stir everything with, maybe some measuring spoons, and the crockpot itself. Sure, most crockpots are not dishwasher safe, but that’s pretty much the only thing that you’ll personally need to clean. And even that doesn’t have to be right away. Crockpots usually make putting away food sinfully easy. Simply pick up the pot and place it in the fridge. Wow, barely even broke a sweat with that one, guys.
So there you have it. The secrets to mastery of the kitchen arts, or at least faking it really, really hard, have now been revealed to you. The pathways to everything from Brunswick stew to chicken and dumplings to the good mac and cheese now lay open before you. Now that you know, go forth! Go forth and crockpot!