US prisoner starts his own TikTok cooking show from his cell

Jeron Combs says he learned to cook while serving a 70 years plus life sentence

A US inmate has started his own TikTok cooking show from his prison cell, using a makeshift grill, created by using his metal bed and a hot plate from a broken oven.

Jeron Combs is currently serving 70 years plus life in prison, after being convicted of first-degree murder when he was 18 years old.

The now 31-year-old, from Paramount, California, has been uploading cooking tutorials to his TikTok channel, @blockboyjmomey, and has so far accrued more than 1.3 million likes to his account.

He told the Daily Mail that he had to be creative to be able to cook from his cell: “I broke a hot pot down and took the plate out of it and sanded my bunk down to the metal to cook from it,” he said.

He plugs the hot plate in to a socket and then places it under his metal bed, which allows him to use the surface like a grill.

Combs is only able to use pre-packaged foods to help make his meals, and has so far created dishes including burritos, burgers and tacos.

He told the outlet that he was inspired to start making his own meals, after growing dissatisfied with the food on offer at the prison canteen.

“I decided to cook because it’s better than what they feed us. We get food packages from the canteen, so we can order packaged food in,’” he told the outlet.

He said he learned how to cook while in prison, and added that he makes meals for his cellmate and friends in the facility.

“I cook burritos, tacos, quesadillas, rice bowls, stir fry, burgers, tostadas and bacon, but burritos are my favourite because I been cooking them for so long.

“I make food for my cellmate and some friends at times for special occasions. I have a passion for cooking. I have been in jail since 18 and this is where I learned all my cooking from.”

It can be hard for him to get all the ingredients he needs, and Combs said that he sometimes works with other inmates to make sure he has enough ingredients to make the meals.

“I make the best of all the ingredients that I have, and if I don’t have what I need I just get it from a friend, and we compile all our food together and make it work,” he said.

The 31-year-old revealed that he never expected more than a million people to watch his cooking TikToks, but is happy that he can educate the public on life in prison.

“I don’t want people to look down on us because of the mistakes we made and see that jail is a different place for some people.

“Some people think that it’s all about violence and what they hear or see on TV, but it’s so much more to what people don’t see. I want to be able to enlighten them on what’s going on behind these walls.”