Bike lock. iPod. Beer bong. Cell phone. Pants. Slow cooker.

That’s right: there’s a new essential item for college living. The slow cooker may not be the sexiest appliance on the market, but it can enrich your college experience more than anything else on that list. Except for maybe pants. And even then, the higher your slow cooker to pants usage ratio, the more fun you’re going to have.

The slow cooker is nothing more than a pot that plugs into the wall. It’s often referred to as a crock pot, which is actually a trademark of Rival, the dominant slow cooker producer. Whatever you call it, it’s designed for gradual cooking at a low temperature. The advantages over stovetop cooking are numerous: whereas a slow cooker runs $15-$30, a stove will set you back at least $500, and if they find one in your dorm room, you’re screwed. Additionally, the slow cooker requires no supervision once plugged in, so you can fire it up in the morning, go to IHUM lecture, hit up Olives for lunch, attend PWR class, go to Taiko practice, grab a smoothie at Jamba Juice, swing by Humbio study session, check if any of your friends have changed their Facebook profiles and still make it back to your room for a home-cooked meal.

Some foods are better suited to slow cooking than others. Do use: meats with a decent amount of fat (more on this later), sturdy vegetables like onions and carrots, dried spices. Don’t use: milk or cream, which will likely curdle; seafood, which will dry out far too quickly; or fresh herbs, which will lose their flavor. Foods from the latter group can still be prepared in a crock pot if you wait until the end of the cooking process to add them.

Cuts of meat generally come in a spectrum from tough and fatty, but flavorful cuts to tender and lean, but blander cuts. For slow cooking, the first group works best. The long cooking time helps to tenderize the meat, the fat keeps it from drying out, and its flavor will seep into everything in the pot. In contrast, meat from the other group will end up dry and flavorless. Fortunately, the first kind of cut tends to be much cheaper. Examples include pork shoulder, beef pot roast or generally anything labeled stew or roast. A lean, tender and very expensive tenderloin would be totally wasted here. If you’re not sure what to get, ask your butcher for help.

The slow cooker can work for just about any recipe that involves cooking in liquid. Just double the cooking time you would use on the stovetop. This week’s recipe, a stripped down beef stew, is less about pushing the limits of the slow cooker than about showing how easy it is to prepare something pretty tasty in a crock pot.

Bare bones beef stew

2 lbs. stewing beef, cut into roughly 1-inch cubes

6 red or Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered

1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped

1 cup baby carrots

1 cup beef stock or water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Serves 4-6

Throw everything in the slow cooker and cook for four hours on high or eight hours on low. Taste and add more salt or pepper if it needs it. Ladle into bowls or plates and serve.

If you’re inclined to kick it up, browning the beef on the stovetop before putting it in the slow cooker would add depth of flavor. Take a skillet or Dutch oven coated with a little oil, heat it over medium and add the beef, in batches if necessary, turning until all sides are richly browned. Another nice touch would be to stir in chopped parsley, basil or any other fresh herb right before serving.

Nate thinks some Marvin Gaye, some Luther Vandross or a little Anita would definitely set this party off right. Email him at nsolon@stanford.edu.