You Can (Technically) Make Dinner In Your Coffee Maker

Is a coffee maker the best way to cook any food? No. Absolutely not. That would be an oven, or a stove, or any of the other devices that were actually invented for conventional cooking, which coffee makers most certainly were not. However, they are compact, inexpensive, and more energy efficient than an oven or stove – all of which comes in handy for a certain type of cook.

Not everyone has access to a full kitchen, particularly college students and those who travel extensively for business. These groups often find themselves in small quarters with a microwave and coffee maker as their only available kitchen appliances. Of course, a microwave can only get you so far ... at least, that's what some culinary adventurers have surmised. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people cooking in coffee makers.

Alternative cooking methods are always good for a bit of fun (salmon cooked in the dishwasher, anyone?), but a coffee maker offers more possibilities than most. A search through YouTube will uncover intrepid foodies using their standard drip coffee maker to steam, poach, boil, and grill every meal of the day, from breakfast to dessert. If you're a dorm-dweller, a person on the go, or just an inquisitive cook willing to explore, you might have fun experimenting with it. (And no, your food won't have any bitter bean flavors as long as you make sure everything's spotless first.)

Standard drip coffee makers are explicitly designed for one use only, yet they are actually fitted with multiple distinct cooking devices. The burner in the coffee maker's base can serve as an electric griddle, the filter basket in the top can be used for steaming foods, and the coffee pot itself can be used as, well, a pot, with all the versatility that entails. Between this trio of elements, you can sear, grill, boil, poach, simmer, and steam a shockingly wide array of foods.

For example, if you want to make some steamed broccoli, all you need to do is run a full pot of water through the coffee maker, just as if you were making a normal pot of joe. The only difference is that instead of putting coffee grounds in the filter basket, you put a handful of broccoli florets. You can even control the doneness of steamed vegetables. If you like them softer, just run multiple cycles on the coffee maker.

The coffee pot can be used for boiled foods like pasta, rice, or couscous. Run the water through like you would for a normal pot of coffee, then keep the carafe on the hot plate, stirring until the food is done. It also works well for heating up soups and sauces. But the pot has more uses beyond the world of boiling. One of the most popular coffee maker meals shared online is poached salmon.

Unsurprisingly, many of the most popular coffee maker meals are classic dorm foods. You can boil up a pot of ramen and make a jammy, soy-marinated egg to go on top of it with the power of your coffee maker. You can also boil hot dogs, soups, and oatmeal. The hot plate can be used for making toasted sandwiches, but it's best to place a piece of tinfoil over the hot plate first to keep cleanup as easy as possible.

Cooking in a coffee maker has its limits, and nobody's going to argue that it should be your first choice for making anything other than coffee. Figuring out the right timing and number of cycles to run can be tricky; cleanup can be a chore; the griddle element is fairly weak, which makes it slow to cook with; and it can only handle a small volume of food, which means it is only really effective for one-person meals.

Despite all this, it can be a lot of fun to experiment with pushing kitchen devices beyond their normal purposes. Plus, it might actually come in handy if you find yourself without access to a real kitchen. You might not make the best meal of your life in a coffee maker, but it will definitely exceed your expectations. If making food with a coffee maker isn't your thing, why not flip the tables and try making coffee without a coffee maker?