Don’t Burn It: Some Foods and Helpful Tricks to Safe Dorm Cooking After the Pandemic

No one likes a fire drill in the middle of the night, (or any time for that matter). And, as I recently discovered, not every college lets those not responsible for setting off the alarm leave while they sort things out with the culprit (my last college did). No one likes being held up when you could be getting dinner or going to another place to study. So how can we reduce the risk of setting off the fire alarms when using cooking facilities? Turns out, it’s pretty easy. 

THINGS NOT TO COOK OR OTHERWISE HEAT UP

You’d think that it’s relatively easy not to cook something that shouldn’t be heated up, but here are some things that you shouldn’t do with cooking facilities:

• Don’t dry wet clothes in the oven (especially boots)

• Don’t use the stove for science class stuff that requires a heat source

• Don’t assume that if you can put one bag of popcorn in the microwave for 2 minutes, you can put 20 in for 40 minutes

• Don’t leave anything unattended, no matter how safe it seems  

• Don’t multitask at cooking to the point where you can’t keep up     

GREAT FOODS TO COOK THAT ARE LOW-RISK OF FIRE HAZARDS

Some foods are simpler and safer to cook than others. Here are some that you can do that are also both cheaper and healthier (if done right)

• Ramen with vegetables and meat (if you want to use the microwave, look up in-bowl microwave recipes, those ramen cookers are a scam, because you can cook ramen that way in a regular bowl)

• Oatmeal with nuts, fruits, and dried fruits

• Soups/stews

• Canned soups (don’t microwave the can)

• Shrimp

• Boiled chicken breasts

• Ramen tacos (look up how to make taco seasoning from scratch; stop paying for overpriced taco seasoning)

• Microwaved poached egg (be careful with this recipe; there’s a low fire risk, but you don’t want to blow up the egg)

• Rice noodles and fish cake

• Curry and tofu

• Pasta (make sure the pasta is submerged in water so it doesn’t burn)

• Gnocchi with vegetables and deli-meats

• Burgers

• Turkey burgers

• Microwave bacon (be very careful and follow the recipe, don’t overcook it!)
  
  

RECIPES TOO RISKY TO DO

While there are plenty of fun things to cook at college, there are certainly some dishes you don’t want to try, especially if they involve continuous high heat or cooking alcohol to set the dish on fire. Here are some examples:

• Recipes that involve high-heat oils

• Recipes that sound too good to be true (like microwave pumpkin seeds [trust me on this one])

• Recipes that will stink up the kitchen 

• Recipes that involve frying or a lot of smoke

• Recipes that require you to intentionally set something on fire, like open-flame hibachi or coq-au-vin

• Creme brulees (unless you want to do it in the forest and risk getting caught with a butane torch)

• Fad diets/trend recipes (more dangerous to your health than the kitchen)

• Anything whoever you’re cooking for is allergic to

• Anything that is expired

• Anything Walter White would have to bribe the D.E.A. to look the other way for (seriously, wait until it’s legalized!)

• Anything that’s poisonous if prepared wrong (Like fugu or ackee)     

COOKING CAN BE FUN, AND PRACTICED 

If you still aren’t sure about your cooking skills, don’t worry! Cooking, like anything else, takes practice. Any opportunity to practice cooking is a good one, and everyone improves with practice. Cooking your own meals is essential to saving money and living healthier, and can be an enjoyable task when you make what you want to eat. Just remember to stock up on spices and sauces; that flavor isn’t going to appear out of nowhere!