While cell phones generally aren’t allowed in prison, that hasn’t stopped inmates from getting their hands on them.
According to a report from The Marshall Project earlier this year, inmates have used contraband cell phones to do everything from draw attention to poor prison conditions to take online university classes. Report author Keri Blakinger even claims that one inmate self-published a book while behind bars, typing out every sentence on a cell phone hidden away from prison guards.
However, one of the most interesting public-facing ways that prisoners use cell phones is through posting videos online.
Imprisoned TikTokers share everything from life hacks to dance videos, but one of the topics that’s sparked the most discussion is prison meals. The videos show everything from what food they receive from the prisons themselves to how they prepare meals of their own.
In one video, a prisoner shows how he makes egg sandwiches in prison — using a “hibachi grill” that he’s fashioned from a stack of cans and a metal table.
These makeshift grills are common, as metal tables can be heated and used as a sort of skillet. Along those lines, here’s another prison TikToker using a fire underneath a metal table to grill some burritos that, honestly, look pretty darn good.
The comments sections of the videos offer a little more insight into life behind bars. If anything, some commenters are oddly nostalgic for their in-the-pen creations. “I used to make some bangin white enchiladas in the pen. Best food I’ve ever had with some of those dishes,” shared a commenter. “Still make ‘em.”
Others simply wish the prisoners well, hoping that they continue their cooking adventures once they finally get on the outside. “You are doing your best out of a horrible situation,” encouraged a user in the comments of one prisoner’s video. “You are a true inspiration to not take life for granted and understand things have consequences.”
Another prison TikToker explained how he sources the ingredients for various creations. “Some of it is things that we can get from commissary and the other things that we have to order out of a package company where there is a wide variety,” he wrote in the comments.
Overall, it’s the kind of culinary ingenuity you’d expect from Martha Stewart — the non-inmate version.
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