With a
catch of hedgehogs, we somehow have figured out, but life raises more and more new questions before us. For example, hotel cooking. It is generally accepted that the whole topic of meals on business trips comes down to ordering pizza and visiting various establishments, be it a potent restaurant, a stand-alone catering establishment, or even a cafe named after a famous nationality. It would seem that there are all available options, and we are doomed again and again to go around this vicious circle ... However, there is one simple way to avoid trouble.
Theoretical justification
The choice of accommodation can be very specific, if not absent - for example, it is noted that the number (and sometimes the quality) of hotels falls in direct proportion to the number of people in the city, but at the same time strictly inverse relationship takes on the quality of these establishments.
For example, a hotel with good reviews may have excellent WiFi that you need for work. A hotel with good WiFi can provide a drunken mayhem in the room behind the wall on the left and in the night trachodra behind the wall on the right. At that time, you have a regular scrum-rally for work, the rest of the visitors of which are in the least affected by your time zone, and only in the penultimate one - how will you achieve sound insulation. But to hang on the wall carpet, which adds aesthetics and the very soundproofing, certainly not possible. Even in the absence of scars, these factors greatly help to focus on work, but in this case, concentration can cross the dangerous border beyond which autism begins. So it’s time to escape from this hotel.
')
And then you moved to a hotel where normal WiFi, somehow maintain order, and the walls are not made of heavy-duty iron-board, which negates all attempts of your neighbors to be heard. And here it turns out that after 11 the entrance to the hotel is forbidden, even if it is God himself disguised as a pizza peddler in order to satisfy your late hunger. But even if it is not prohibited, then where is the guarantee that the person at the reception will not be a militant atheist, or, on the contrary, will you be anathema for waking him up in the middle of the night just to indulge in the sin of gluttony?
Even if you discard the hotel problems, you can be the successful owner of gastritis, gastric or intestinal ulcers, have problems with the pancreas, liver, kidneys, allergies, gluten intolerance ... In general, all that after eating fast food presents you to God. But only pizza in his hands will be gone, and he will be dressed differently.
Requisites
And the double boiler will help us to solve all these problems. Take it with you or buy it on site - the choice is yours. And the choice is not easy - because other models cost less than 1000 rubles. Why a double boiler, you ask, why was it chosen of all possible ways of cooking? Well, let's go in order.
- it allows you to cook a wide range of products, including products that do not deteriorate for a long time, which is especially important, given that not all rooms have refrigerators.
- it is possible to brew tea, and not just tea, but even those teas and tinctures that require a water bath for their readiness
- not afraid of smoke detectors and does not create an increased load on the grid
- some models are so compact that you can carry in your carry-on baggage (just make sure you turn off the timer)
- if you have a gastrointestinal illness, then the double boiler in fact is the only thing that will allow you to eat normally on business trips
However, the double boiler does not suit us any, but compact and minimally powerful. Low-power models consume about 400 watts and they are desirable to purchase. The fact is that the power supply in many hotels is the purest buhurt. Yes, yes, the same tournament where noble knights defend their honor. The owner of the hotel believes that limiting the minimum connection capacity and the minimum cross-section wire is a matter of honor, while an electrician considers it an honor to save by taking money for the specified wire, but buying a smaller cross-section wire. Visitors consider it a matter of honor to tear out sockets and then adjust them so that they give poor contact, but outwardly they look quite professional. The last acting party of the tournament can rightly be considered the administration of the hotel, which watches so that the individual rooms do not consume much more electric power.
To the double boiler should take a pair of identical plastic containers with lids, which are intended for use in the microwave. Make sure that the height containers fit your double boiler. And take an extension cord of a meter by three, it often comes in handy even without a double boiler.
Here are the comparative sizes of a matchbook with a screen diagonal of 15 inches and steamers in the field:

and also fighting position:

Steamers are equipped with two or three bowls, but if you are driving alone, one is enough. When cooking in two bowls, immediately be prepared for the fact that cooking time will increase significantly. I also recommend taking round, not oval models of double boilers, and also that the double boiler itself could fit into its own bowl - it turns out to be very compact, which is very important because there is more ...
Delivery to destination
Like any strange thing with a timer, a double boiler can raise some doubts among people working in the airport security service. But usually carrying such things in luggage does not cause problems. If you come across a small steamer in a small box, it makes sense to put the second bowl and put a spoon, fork, knife and at least a small plastic cutting board in the box. When all these items are in the same place, then when viewed on X-rays, they create a composition that is less painful than the steam cooker in itself, softening the picture from techno-abstract art to such a pretty still-life.
If you are limited in baggage, or carrying a steamer with you are afraid to be called a beggar woman, or even a village idiot, you can almost always buy it on the spot, and it costs about how to order pizza a couple of times. If, on the contrary, you are ready to follow the credits of the village idiot to the end, then it makes sense to take along a jug with a filter, a few kilograms of pasta and cereals, as well as cans of canned food. Having carried all this set to the hotel unnoticed and without leaving the room during the week you can make the staff think that you managed to feed on the holy spirit. But beware of the pilgrims.
In any case, claiming that you have this device to the hotel staff is the last thing. They and boilers do not always favor.
Process
Steamer is surprisingly well suited for emulating a typical post-Soviet diet. In it, you can cook all the cereals, pasta, potatoes, neutralize sausages bought at the nearest grocery store, cook meat, eggs, make an omelette, you can even make a microportion of soup. And also heat up all of the above.
Whichever model of the double boiler you choose, you should roughly imagine how long it goes into operation - i.e. after how much inside the bowl the working temperature will be established. Usually it is about 15 minutes, but if you want accuracy (which will allow you not to bring the meat to the state of a rubber sole), then use a kitchen thermometer, the end of which fits perfectly into the holes to drain the steam that is on all steamer lids.
It is advisable to cover the containers with a lid during the cooking process - this is how you can observe the conspiracy, without letting your neighbor or the maid understand that there is a person who suffers to answer uncomfortable questions behind the wall. However, a working hood or open window is desirable, although not necessary.
Pasta and cereals
On average, something edible turns out about half an hour after the steamer starts working, often longer. It depends on the power of the device and how dry your cereals were and how thin those wheat varieties were, of which the pasta you got are made. The best water / grits ratio is 2 to 1, even if you use other proportions for the rest of your life: because of the relatively low temperature and the small loss of water for evaporation, well-known products behave differently.
Macaroni is better to take not very thin - you can then use the steamer bowl as a colander.
The method of cooking all this - in a plastic container with the lid closed.
Dumplings and dumplings
It makes sense to cook immediately in the steamer bowl bypassing the container. The main thing to immediately wash the bowl and the double boiler after that. The state of readiness is determined by the desired degree of swelling. If you have time and there is no exhaust in the room, you can cook in a container under the lid with the addition of water. But remember that they swell every two.
Meat
Of the relatively simple things you can make beef stroganoff, steak and steam cutlets, if you are of course so brave that you are ready to buy stuffing ... Steak and chops are made right in the bowl of a double boiler, but beef stroganoff is best done in a closed container. Adding spices should be done with extreme caution - otherwise it will smell on the whole floor.
Eggs
Cooking eggs in a double boiler so that the desired consistency of yolk is obtained is the topic of a separate article, and my culinary skills will not be enough to write it. But just hard-boiled eggs you get anyway. But the omelets are very good, the main thing is to make them in a container and not more than 10-15 minutes from the beginning of the operating mode.
Vegetables
Potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets - all this is perfectly pressed in a double boiler without any containers. Preparation time in operating mode - from 20 minutes to infinity. You always wanted to try a steamed turnip in a luxury room?
Tea and coffee
The method of preparation of all these drinks depends not only on the nature of the drink, but also on how clean your steamer is. So, for example, if a double boiler is pure in thought and thinks, then you are most likely hallucinating from overwork, which means that you’ll have this tea with coffee, go to sleep better. But if the thoughts of your steamer are a secret to you, and after cooking all the above dishes it is clean, and the limit of your dreams is tea or coffee from a bag, then this simplifies the task. You can remove the steamer bowl and boil water directly for the heating elements in about 10 minutes, and then burn it with steam and boiling water in a cup.
In the case of herbal teas such as chamomile, plantain, dog rose, etc. it is better to use a bowl and a container in which you pour tea, fill it with water, and stew for a couple of hours.
Conclusion
Jokes, jokes, but at the moment I do not see other ways of organizing hotel-agnostic catering on long trips, especially when working remotely and shifted time zone. If you know these, then tell everyone about it in the comments.