Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
So you’ve stocked up on all the food you’ll need after the end of the world as we know it. You’ve got wheat, flour, dried foods, canned foods, all kinds of food. But if the worst case scenario happens, will you still have electricity?
There might be power in some areas, but always assume there won’t be where you are. And if there isn’t, how are you going to cook all that food?
In this modern age of TV dinners, frozen pizzas, and Hamburger Helper, most people don’t know a thing about cooking without power. The majority of city-dwellers are dependent on microwaves, electric stoves, and toasters to make their meals. But what will they do if the power goes out for an extended period?
There are several options:
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1. Grill. This is the first and most obvious option. Hopefully you’ve stocked up on plenty of coal and/or propane. But if you don’t have a grill or are out of coal and propane…
2. Camping stove. Acquiring one of these should be a top priority. Coleman makes a great 2 burner stove
3. Fireplace. Try roasting hot dogs and other solid foods on sticks in your fireplace. You can also wrap potatoes and other vegetables in foil and leave them in the fireplace to cook. I’ve made some really delicious meals this way!
4. Campfire. Who doesn’t love cooking over a campfire? But don’t just roast hot dogs and marshmallows. With a good camp grill
5. Dutch oven. This is a cast iron pot that you hang over a fire. It’s ideal for making soups, stews, and hot drinks. A 4-quart Dutch oven
6. Sterno stove. These are good for heating up drinks, canned foods such as chili, Spaghettios and soup. The best thing about them is they’re portable, weighing less than a pound. I would get a good Sterno stove kit
7. Kerosene heater. These are usually used for heating rooms, but they are also a great way to boil beans, pasta and other foods, or make hot drinks. If the top is flat, just set a pot of water on top of it. A good kerosene heater
A few warnings:
- Grills should always be used outdoors and a safe distance from your home or shelter. The carbon monoxide can be deadly and a few stray sparks is all it takes to start a fire. The same goes for camp stoves. Please be careful.
- If you use a fireplace, make sure the flue is open and completely unobstructed. Also, don’t use treated wood for a cooking fire, as the chemicals can get into your food.
- Never ever use gasoline to get a fire going.
- Make sure camp fires are controlled with metal or rocks surrounding them.
- Never leave a fire (not even a candle) without an adult around to keep an eye on it. No accidental fire ever started because too many people were around.
Never EVER use any type or PRESSURIZED cooking stove indoors, not even close to a window! Coleman cook stoves or propane stoves do have gas regulators that can fail without notice! This is bad enough when it happens outdoors, but if the regulator would happen to fail when cooking indoors during an emergency, you could lose your entire home to a very bad fire! The only fuel safe to use indoors is denatured alcohol used in a stove meant for denatured alcohol use, like on boats. Denatured alcohol isn’t under pressure and can be extinguished using water if a spill should occur. If any un-pressurized stove is used to cook indoors during an emergency, always have a fire extinguisher nearby!
With a fire place or wood burning stove you can use either extra brick or stones ( not from a river) to build up a surface…using your stove inserts you now have a surface for pans. Have cooked biscuits, stews, veggies just about everything this way.
Have also used the soda can stove.
What about solar stoves? Wouldn’t they be the most effective for urbanites who live in multi-residential buildings and don’t have huge amounts of storage space for propane, etc?
So, having survived the eruption of Mt Pinatubo and being forced to “shelter in place” for a relative short 1 week. my question is,,, do you have any recommendations for SAFE and EFFECTIVE indoor cooking? If required to shelter in place for an extend time totally “off the grid” I would want to limit my exposer to others for say at least 60 days,, long enough for the unprepared to died off. while approx. 60% 0f my supplies can be eaten uncooked, the ability to heat food and water would be very desirable. Any suggestions??
TIA
You can cook indoors with Sterno. I’d get something like this: http://www.sterno.com/retail/pages/new.html
Improvised stoves such as the Soda Can Stove make great ways of cooking and can be used at any time, not just TEOTWAWKI. Using cheap Methanol for fuel you can cook, heat and boil water, and the stoves can be built out of virtually anything. I recently built a single can stove that is my favorite design to date!