This Crock-Pot lunch warmer is affordable, easy to pack in the morning, and has hot lunch waiting for you — here's why I've used mine for years

• If your time to make or buy lunch is limited, it can be difficult to prepare a hot meal during a busy workday.
• When I was a teacher, I was always swamped and worked through my lunch break, but the Crock-Pot Lunch Warmer allowed me to easily enjoy delicious hot lunches every day.
• Whether you plan to eat lunch at home or work, simply plug in the Lunch Warmer in the morning and you'll have a hot lunch ready by midday.
• The Lunch Warmer holds 20 ounces of food, has a convenient carrying handle, and the bowl is easy to clean.
• Read More: The best lunch boxes and lunch bags

In my former life as a high school English teacher, I rarely made it to the faculty room for lunch. With constant lessons to plan and essays to grade, I often worked through my lunch break to try to cut down on the amount of work I would have to do in the evenings.

Unfortunately, staying at my desk for lunch meant cold lunches every day, which became boring pretty quickly. I love taking leftovers for lunch, but that wasn't an option without a microwave. To solve my problem, my sweet mom, who is always there to save the day, bought me the Crock-Pot Lunch Warmer. I've now raved about it so much, I even convinced a few of my coworkers to buy it as well.

Crock-Pot Lunch Warmer Design and Use

The Lunch Warmer makes heating up lunch so simple that I honestly would have used it even if I did eat lunch in the faculty room. It holds 20 ounces of food, which I always found was plenty for me.

The Lunch Warmer has a stainless steel bowl with a lid, which is where you put your food. When you're ready to start warming it up, simply put the bowl in the Crock-Pot, screw on the lid, and plug it in.

Every day when I got to work, I plugged the warmer in and my food was hot and ready to eat at lunch — that's all there was to it. There are no high or low-temperature settings, just on and off. I never needed to stir my food, though that can help it warm up faster. Regardless, you should expect it to take at least a couple of hours to warm your food.

Because the bowl insert is removable, you can even leave the actual Crock-Pot at work. If you want to take it home, the cord wraps neatly around the bottom and there is a convenient carrying handle.

I've heated up a wide variety of food in the Lunch Warmer from chili to Stromboli to vegetables. It has never failed to heat my food up to the perfect temperature and has also never burned my food.

The inner food bowl gets very hot when your food is warm, but the exterior plastic of the Crock-Pot doesn't, so you can carry it around while you eat if you need to.

When you're ready to clean it out and pack it for the next day, you can quickly hand wash the inner bowl or throw it in the dishwasher. All of the food is contained in that bowl, so there are no extra parts that need to be cleaned. If you do want to clean off the outer Crock-Pot, wipe it down with soap and water but don't submerge it.

Be mindful of leaks when transporting food

My only complaint with the Lunch Warmer is that the lid of the food container doesn't stay on very well. If I'm not careful, and the container tips when it's full of liquid food like soup, it does leak. According to Crock-Pot, the lid of the container is supposed to stay tight while the food is cold, only coming loose once the food is hot. However, in my experience, it became loose even when the food is still cold.

The bottom line

The Crock-Pot Lunch Warmer is a great option for anyone without access to a microwave or who might be short on time. It saved me from eating cold pizza and sandwiches every day for lunch. It's an incredibly convenient way to pack your lunch and have it warm and ready without needing to get up out of your chair. Of course, if you want to socialize during your lunch, you can still easily carry the Lunch Warmer with you to wherever you want to eat. It can also save you a lot of time if half of your lunch is usually spent waiting for the microwave to become available.

Additionally, the price is very affordable with strong value if you plan to use it most days. It will quickly pay for itself.

Regardless of your situation, if you like hot lunches and convenience, the Crock-Pot Lunch Warmer is a good option for you.