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Coffee pot cooking? When you’re traveling, there are a lot of things to think about. You have to pack enough clothes and toiletries for the trip, make sure your phone is charged, and maybe even find a place to stay when you get there. There’s no need to add cooking breakfast or lunch into the mix when it can be done with ease in your hotel room!
Check with your planned hotel to see what kind of coffee pot they have – some have switched to Keurigs now and this really limits your options. You can always bring that coffee maker from home or pick one up at your nearest Walmart when you get to your destination. They usually run about $25 – I like this coffee pot on Amazon.
Coffee Pot Cooking: The Easy Way to Travel
Now – a coffee maker is not the only thing you need – you have to plan ahead here!
Be prepared with a few essentials for your home-away-from-home “kitchen”. Depending on what you need and how much room there is in the suitcase, some of these items might be useful:
- Disposable or re-usuable plates, bowls, and utensils – after all, who wants to wash dishes?
- You will need food prep items like a flexible cutting board, scissors, knife, and possibly a collapsible colander
- Does your hotel room have a fridge? If not, you will need a cooler and the location of their ice machine.
- Let’s keep things clean with paper towels, dish soap, and a sponge so your prep tools can be reused.
- Tinfoil is imperative if you want to “grill” anything.
- If your hotel has a microwave then you may want a microwave safe or heat proof storage container that you can reheat your leftovers in.
- A waffle iron is very versatile too- check out our ideas on what you can do with it!
- A small container of distilled white vinegar.
With those items in tow, all you’ll have left to do is whip up some eggs, bacon, or some instant oatmeal – perfect options for those short on time but full of energy during their travels!
How to cook with a coffee pot
First of all – if you are using your coffee pot, you can get basically three different cooking functions that a coffee pot can also do besides make coffee: It can be used as a grill, to boil – or more like poach items, and to steam them.
How can you use it as a grill? ALWAYS line the burner with a piece of foil. Your miniature grill is now ready for service. Keep in mind that it isn’t as fast as your normal griddle, but it will work.
How can you poach things? If you want to make your own breakfast, the glass carafe is an essential part. You can use it for poaching fish and chicken at dinner time or even for hard-boiling eggs! Plus cooking some oatmeal will be much easier with this handy tool around too – just put water in there while oats cook themselves down into soup without any need of pots and pans whatsoever (plus less clean up)!
Steaming is one of my favorites as I am a sucker for my craving of vegetables each day! If you’re looking for a way to sneak in some vegetables this is the bomb on the road. By steaming them first and then throwing them in with that poached chicken or fish not only do we get great food but also all of those healthy vitamins are preserved just like they would be if prepared traditionally!
All you have to do is pop in a coffee filter, add your veggies, and run that coffee cycle of hot water over them. How easy is that?
Now – Food safety tips when cooking with a coffee pot
We have all seen those “insider” videos of hotel room cleanings that are less than desired. Some places literally wipe out the coffee pots with the same rags they clean the bathrooms with! The very first thing you want to do is wash your coffee carafe thoroughly. THEN run a cycle with a 50/50 mix of water and that white vinegar you brought. Run 2 more cycles of just water.
You should now be ready to go and start cooking with confidence!
Here are some other general Cooking Safety Tips
We share a list of fairly easy-to-prepare meals – we want to keep things simple and at the same time, budget-friendly.
When using small appliances to cook, be sure that the appliance can’t tip over and is out of reach. Keep dangling cords away from children so they don’t get caught on something during their playtime or when you’re not paying attention. There is nothing worse than the scream of a child who just got burned.
Use general food safety precautions when handling raw meat and wipe down surfaces before and after preparing foods. We like Chlorox Wipes for this.
Now – let’s see what we can actually make in our hotel rooms!
Using your Coffee Maker for drinks other than coffee
Iced Tea
Now, you can use your coffee maker for more than just making coffee – it makes delicious iced tea!
It’s easy to make and is perfect when the sun starts shining on those long summer days. All you need is some black or green tea bags (because they are stronger), hot water, cold water, ice cubes, and a glass pitcher.
Find your coffee maker, fill it up with ice cubes, and then add the teabags to make some iced tea! Once you have done that pour in the hot water – usually about two cups of water should be enough for a double-strength brew depending on how strong you like your tea. Now, wait until it’s done and you’re ready to go!
This will make a lot of ice tea, so just store it in the fridge until you are ready for your first glass. It’s that easy – I am sure that you won’t be disappointed with this simple method.
Hot Chocolate
Forget cocoa mixes! Fill your coffee carafe halfway with heavy whipping cream and a bag of mini chocolate chips. Brew 2 cups of water, stir occasionally to make sure it melts evenly. Just pour into your mugs and top with whipped cream~ or float a seasonal Peeps marshmallow in it! I LOVE using snowmen peeps on cold January days.
Hot Toddy
Feeling a little under the weather or have a chill? A hot toddy may be just what you need! Simply brew two tea bags of your choice and add one shot of whisky. Add honey to taste.. and let it do its magic as you sip.
How to make Breakfast in your coffee maker
No need to skip the most important meal of the day! From oatmeal to eggs, we have you covered.
Oatmeal
We are talking instant oatmeal here just brew some water over it – a Keurig is perfect for that perfect amount of water!
With a glass carafe, all you have to do is pour the measured amount of water into its reservoir and then add oatmeal. Turn on your coffeemaker for an easy breakfast!
Cooking for the family?
The best thing about making coffee is that you can put anything in it. To get started, combine two packets of instant oatmeal with an individual packet each for honey and jam; then mix up some salt too if desired! Add these ingredients to eight to ten ounces (depending on how big your cup size) water- they’ll be ready when they’re done boiling five minutes later…or sooner if all goes well!
Fried Eggs
You’ll need a mini frying pan for this – and just use that foiled covered burner.
Scrambled Eggs
The same as for Fried Eggs basically with a small skillet.
OR-
While cooking your eggs in a coffee pot, make sure to stir often. You simply add your whisked eggs to the pot and pop it on the burner. The heat will be more diffuse and this can work for a pinch if you don’t have any other option but the pot needs constant movement or else there could develop some stickiness which leads us back into having an issue that we don’t want!
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Drop a few eggs into the carafe and run a full pot of water to make hard-boiled eggs. Since the cooking time will depend on your wattage, start by cooking one at 15 minutes for testing purposes only – then just add a few minutes to that number when making more than one batch with this idea.
Pancakes
Cover that burner with tinfoil, use your family’s favorite recipe, and make them one at a time. I know it is slow, but it works.
Bacon or Sausage
It takes a bit longer to cook — but just cut the meat to fit the coffee pot burner and fry until the meat is cooked thoroughly.
Baked Cinnamon Roll
Use the coffee pot burner to bake your cinnamon roll by preparing the dough as you would normally, arrange the roll in a baking tin, and set it on the burner. The cinnamon roll will grill nice and slow on that burner.
Light Lunches
These are simple things you can do if you want a bite to tide yourself over until dinner.
Ramen Noodles
What college student made it through without ever having these. All you have to do it put the dried noodles into the glass pot and set it to brew. Add your seasoning packet and grab a fork!
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Line that burner with foil and start making those grilled sandwiches! It is faster than using the iron in your hotel room…
Soup
What goes with grilled cheese better than soup?
Making soup is easy and fun with the help of your handy coffee kitchen appliance. You can choose any ingredients that will be perfect for you, but I suggest starting with frozen veggies. They are cleaned, cut, and blanched so cooking time is expedited.
Adding spices like onion, garlic, or even thyme also adds extra flavor…even a cube or two of flavored bouillon. I also like to add a can of white meat chicken for a boost of protein.
Pop it all in the glass carafe and then brew a pot of water into it. Here is the thing – you are going to want to let it set on that burner for a bit to “cook” and let the flavors marry each other for that soup to be really yummy.
For a lazier (and far faster) option, use a store-bought condensed canned soup and run one cup of water through the machine to heat your soup in just minutes.
Boiled Hot Dogs
Brew a pot of just hot water. Once it’s full, add hot dogs and let them sit in the hot water for 5 minutes or so – pour off the water and dig out the buns!
Coffee Pot Dinners
We are stepping up our game here – and trying to avoid that $25+ per dinner price tag that might be at the local restaurants – IF they are even open with the current labor shortage.
Spaghetti/pasta
Start by wrapping that carafe with foil to hold in the heat – that will cut your cooking time almost in half. Add spaghetti noodles to the carafe and then just brew a full pot of water.
This isn’t 7-10 minutes like the box says as you aren’t reaching the boiling point but will be done in 20 minutes or so. When they’re soft enough for you, remove them and add the sauce to the carafe and warm it to your desired temperature…just stirring the noodles back in.
This method can also work for just about any kind of dry pasta…but things like penne take too long for my patience level.
Meatballs and sauce
To finish off your evening with some red sauce and meatballs, add it to the coffee pot—ideally still wrapped in that foil from when you cooked the noodles – and heat over the burner. Once warm serve as desired!
Mashed potatoes
This couldn’t be easier: add 1 cup instant mashed potatoes to the carafe and 1 cup water to the reservoir — then hit “brew!” That. Is. It. This is also a great one if your hotel only has a Keurig.
Couscous
This fluffy wheat and barley base can easily be cooked with the help of your coffee maker. Put 2 cups of couscous in the glass pot, fill the water reservoir with 2-1/2 cups of water per. Run the machine and let it sit on the burner doing its magic, stirring it occasionally. Zip it up a bit with butter or even a touch of garlic!
Rice
10 minutes is all it takes to make this gem. No need for a thermometer or even an hour; just add water and your instant rice into one of your glass carafe models – follow the amounts suggested on your box and 10 minutes after you brew it – you are ready to eat!
Steamed Veggies
You can do raw or frozen veggies here… Steam raw broccoli, cauliflower, even sliced carrots by putting the veggies into the coffee filter lined basket and brewing 10-12 cups of water over them.
If you don’t feel like steaming your veggies, put them in your coffee pot with water and cook until tender…this works best for the frozen veggies – which are already prepped for you!
Poached Salmon
You might be wondering, how can I make salmon in my coffee pot? Honestly – I am not insane! Just place your fish fillets in the carafe and add seasonings. Salt, pepper, or garlic powder will work wonders! You’ll also want some lemon juice for an extra layer of flavor too – just a teaspoon or so should do the trick.
Then, run your coffee maker as usual until the pot has filled with hot water. Allow the salmon to poach in the water for about 8-10 minutes until it has turned opaque and flaky. Bonus? Place veggies in the basket before you brew to make a complete meal!
Poached Chicken
This is done pretty much the same way as your salmon – just skip the lemon juice and think about using marjoram or even Italian seasoning instead of garlic.
Let’s talk dessert in your coffee pot
Chocolate Fondue
Fill carafe halfway with whipping cream and warm it for 10-15 minutes. Add a few broken chocolate bars and stir until the mixture is thick.
This is great for dipping fresh fruit, marshmallows, pretzel sticks, or even vanilla wafers!
Do you realize we talked about 25 different things already? You get the idea now – there are a lot of different things you can do that are easy and will save you a lot of money!
My only question for you is – what do you want to try first?
Other articles you may find helpful:
- The Best Hotels Near Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
- Honolulu Hotels for Foodies
- Cool Seattle Hotels for Food Lovers
- What to Look For in a Hotel to Eat Healthier
- Healthy Meals You Can Prepare in Your Hotel Room
