If you travel frequently, you know there’s nothing worse than planning on eating leftovers and discovering that there’s no microwave in your room. You could eat your leftovers cold or get creative with some other hotel room
appliances to enjoy a nice, warm meal.
Here are some ways to warm up food in a hotel without access to a microwave:
- Use the hairdryer.
- Get creative with the iron.
- Use the coffee maker.
- Plan ahead and bring a portable food warmer.
I’ll explain each of these methods in detail in the rest of this article, so if you’re a frequent traveler and frustrated with the inability to warm up your food, read on!
- Use the Hairdryer
This may seem a bit strange, but it works! Heating up your food using a hairdryer may not be the quickest way to get a warm meal, but if you’re stuck in a hotel room without a microwave, it may be one of your only options.
Make sure that you stir the food often, so the heat is distributed to all of the food, not just to what’s on top. You should also plan on spending some time using the hairdryer to heat your meal, as it could take a while.
After five to ten minutes of using the hairdryer on high heat, your food should be warm enough to eat. This method works best with noodles because the liquid the noodles are in heats up easier than solid foods.
Additionally, if you have foil on hand, wrap the food in foil first and then use the blow dryer. The foil will help trap the heat around the food.
I recommend Reynolds Wrap Recycled Aluminum Foil (available on Amazon.com). I like that this foil is made with 100% recycled aluminum, and the new packaging has a tab that keeps the box fully closed after you take out the foil you need. This is especially great if you’re packing your foil in a suitcase.
- Get Creative With the Iron
Most hotel rooms come equipped with an iron, and if they don’t, you can often ask for an iron and an ironing board at reception.
To use an iron to heat food, you’ll first need to wrap it in foil. Then, you can place the food on a flat surface and press the iron down on the foil, with the iron on its highest setting, usually the “cotton” or “linen” setting. Make sure that the water reservoir is empty so you can reach higher temperatures. Press for approximately three minutes, then flip the foil packet over to the other side.
Be careful! The foil will be extremely hot, so you shouldn’t flip it with a bare hand. You should also have some sort of utensil accessible nearby to lift the foil and check the doneness of the food before you unwrap it completely.
You can easily warm up quesadillas, sandwiches, paninis, omelets, pancakes, and more using an iron. If you’re craving something sweet, you can even use it to make s’mores!
The following video shows the process of heating food with an iron in a hotel room:
- Use the Coffee Maker
The little coffee maker that most hotel rooms have may just be your secret weapon for having warm food in a hotel room.
Your first option is to remove the coffee pot and use the heating element beneath it as a hot plate. It will be a weak hot plate, but you can still use it to grill and warm up food. The downside is that it will take a while, and this hot plate likely won’t be hot enough to cook through thick pieces of meat or poultry. However, if you have some leftover noodles or a sandwich, these items will cook well on this plate.
If you have vegetables you’d like to steam; you can put them in the filter basket and run water through until the vegetables are tender.
You can also use the coffee maker to make warm meals from scratch. For example, you can make instant oatmeal with the coffee maker by adding the oatmeal to the carafe, adding any sweeteners you like, and pouring eight ounces (237 ml) of water into the coffee maker. Then, turn on the machine and wait. Eventually, you’ll have some yummy oatmeal to enjoy.
Using a similar method, you can also make ramen noodles or instant rice in the coffee maker.
- Plan Ahead and Bring a Portable Food Warmer
If you travel often and this is a regular issue for you, it may be worth the money and extra suitcase space to start carrying a portable oven or food warmer with you when you travel. The bulkiness of this may be inconvenient, but the ability to warm up leftovers and meals in your hotel room instead of needing to go out every night may be worth it to you.
I like this Aotto Portable Oven (available on Amazon.com) because it heats food quickly without drying it out, and it works in most wall sockets. It also reheats meals evenly without burning; all you have to do is place the meal inside and plug it in. It is compatible with aluminum, metal, plastic, and glass. Finally, I like the collapsing design, which makes it take up less space in a suitcase or carry-on.
Eating out every night gets expensive, so even though a portable oven will initially cost you a chunk of change, it will pay for itself over time.
Key Takeaways
The easiest way to warm up food is to use a microwave, but life isn’t always easy. If you find yourself in a hotel room without a microwave and want to heat up food, you have some options! You can use the hairdryer, iron, and coffee maker to your advantage.
Or, if this is a common issue for you and you want to start planning ahead, you can invest in a portable food warmer and bring it with you on your travels.