# Mac & Cheese Cooker - Special?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 6, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212 "2015-09-06T22:43:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jaclofo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaclofo)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/1 "2015-09-06T22:43:51Z")
So I saw this at Walmart… What makes this special? It seems just like a plastic (BPA safe\_ bowl… Why would I want to pay money for this??? Any ideas?? What makes it “rapid” other than the microwave… Seems like a scam to me??? 😕
[http://www.walmart.com/ip/46008912?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227033585540&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=81877768689&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=138871679049&veh=sem](http://www.walmart.com/ip/46008912?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227033585540&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=81877768689&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=138871679049&veh=sem)
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### Author:  [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/2 "2015-09-06T23:09:51Z")
There’s nothing obviously clever or special about it. The only thing I can think of to make it ‘rapid’ would be the fact that it’s a Wal-Mart product and thus fueled by damned souls shrieking in eternal hellfire. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.
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### Author:  [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/3 "2015-09-06T23:10:04Z")
Do you normally get your BPA-free, microwave-safe bowls for free?
It is cheap–cheaper than other microwave rice/pasta cookers and not much more expensive than just a normal bowl. It is convenient, being exactly the right size to make a specific dish that is popular as a side dish or snack. Does being cheap and convenient make it a scam?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/4 "2015-09-07T00:04:22Z")
Since this is about cooking, let’s move it to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/5 "2015-09-07T00:08:01Z")
It takes 4-5 minutes to boil water on the stove, then 7 minutes to boil the noodles. Then
This bowl is the right size to hold enough water to boil a box of macaroni noodles (presumably? It doesn’t say on the site.) You know it’s microwave safe. So right there it’s better than just any bowl. And it will only take 5 minutes total to boil the noodles. It looks like it might be cool to the touch after it’s done.
So it does have benefits. And if you’re a college student or some other person without a stove, it has even more benefits. Because Easy Mac is awful.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/6 "2015-09-07T01:07:56Z")
It’s not a scam, it’s just kind of silly.
I use my [Pyrex bowl with a lid](http://www.amazon.com/Pyrex-2-Quart-Glass-Bakeware-Dish/dp/B0000CF3UW) to do a lot that one might do on the stove. I’ve cooked rice in mine; noodles, too. It also has a nifty basket that I use to steam veggies.
If someone has kids and really is worried that their kids will hurt themselves making mac and cheese, then maybe this is useful. But this makes me think that a) kids are eating a lot of crap, and I wouldn’t make it easier for them to eat that crap for a snack (and certainly not an entire BOX of the crap); and b) maybe a parent needs to teach the sprogs how to use the stove to boil water. Then again, I knew how to prep and roast a chicken when I was 10\*, so my views may be skewed on this subject.
\*Divorced parents; mom was working. If we were having a roast chicken, I prepped it and put it in the oven. It was mostly done by the time mom got home.
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### Author:  [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/7 "2015-09-07T01:26:09Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#):
>
> But this makes me think that a) kids are eating a lot of crap, and I wouldn’t make it easier for them to eat that crap for a snack (and certainly not an entire BOX of the crap)
You obviously have never had a teen aged boy… a box is an appetizer.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/8 "2015-09-07T07:17:39Z")
I saw it in Wal\*Mart last week when I went in to pick up a power strip. It was being sold alongside a similar product (same price and manufacturer) labeled for cooking ramen noodles. I’m still wondering how convenient this could be for taking to work or school. You still need a container for the butter and milk to complete the recipe.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/9 "2015-09-07T13:22:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> I saw it in Wal\*Mart last week when I went in to pick up a power strip. It was being sold alongside a similar product (same price and manufacturer) labeled for cooking ramen noodles. I’m still wondering how convenient this could be for taking to work or school. You still need a container for the butter and milk to complete the recipe.
Are you sure? I would assume you would just put them right in there after you take it out of the microwave and then eat it out of the same bowl.
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### Author:  [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/10 "2015-09-07T15:46:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> You still need a container for the butter and milk to complete the recipe.
A zip lock bag would be simple enough to hold the butter and milk.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/11 "2015-09-07T15:57:12Z")
Wouldn’t work, the way I make mac’n’cheese.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/12 "2015-09-07T18:14:40Z")
Wait, how are you guys making mac & cheese with a separate container for butter and milk?
We’re all talking about boxed mac here, right? I can’t imagine this product is marketed towards anything but that.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/13 "2015-09-07T18:23:23Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> Wait, how are you guys making mac & cheese with a separate container for butter and milk?
I’m pretty sure **kaylasdad99** was talking about a container to carry the butter and milk to work or school in.
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> I saw it in Wal\*Mart last week when I went in to pick up a power strip. It was being sold alongside a similar product (same price and manufacturer) labeled for cooking ramen noodles. I’m still wondering how convenient this could be for taking to work or school. You still need a container for the butter and milk to complete the recipe.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-cheese-cooker-special/730212/14 "2015-09-07T19:39:26Z")
If you are going to eat it at work, just buy the Velveeta kind with the cheese in the pouch. No milk or butter necessary.