Cooking- When the Power Goes Out

Any type of crisis creates a significant amount of stress. If you have spent time developing a variety of alternative energy cooking skills, you will have one less thing to worry about. So the power is out ... sounds like a great excuse to Dutch oven or barbeque. 

Develop a series of cooking options that will ensure you will be able to cook in several emergency situations. Consider evacuation, indoor, outdoor, sheltered, flameless, cold weather, and hot weather as you plan. Carefully plan how you will safely store the fuels that you need. Fuel conservation is a high priority. Storing enough fuel safely to last for a year is absolutely possible, if you practice conservation.  

Be wise (translated that means, "don't do stupid things!"). Please be safe! What an incredible tragedy it would be to survive an initial disaster only to harm your loved ones through a tragic mistake in judgment. Store fuel legally and very carefully. Never burn anything indoors that is intended for outdoor use. Be very careful with any open flame. Err on the side of caution.

Here are a few ways to cook for meals when the power goes out: 

   1. Dutch Oven- One of my favorite ways to cook.Here are a few tips-

*Protect your dutch oven from wind and rain, or add extra coals to compensate.
*Remember, it’s not an exact science, be ready to add or take away coals as needed (usually add).
*Cooking meat? Move coals to the bottom.
*Baking bread or desserts? Move coals to the top
*Meals that require more than 30-45 minutes to cook may need new coals added during cooking. If so, light new coals soon enough to allow them to get going before you need the.
*Keep the lid closed! Avoid peaking more than needed.

2. Camp Stove-  Most people who enjoy camping have some sort of propane or butane camping stove that they use. Don’t be afraid to pull out the stove at home even if you aren't camping. Experiment with cooking some regular family meals on it as opposed to just usual camping food. Pay attention to fuel usage and make a plan for how much to store. You can learn a lot by simply practicing.

3. Rocket Stove-  These types of stoves use minimal fuel and can burn twigs, leaves, pinecones, etc.  HERE is one of the rocket stoves I have. You can also make your own in a pinch from a #10 can.  Instructions for a DIY rocket stove can be found HERE. 

4. Wonder Oven- Basically, you bring food up to temperature, pop it in a wonder oven, and it continues to cook without any fuel. You still have to have a way to bring food up to temp before putting it in, but these are easy to make at home. Think the off-grid slow cooker. Food cooks all day while you go play!  I love this one and love that they donate one to a family in need in Africa every time you buy one. DIY instructions HERE.

5. Sun Oven- If you can cook with the sun, it is going to be best bet for conserving your fuel. Solar power is renewable and unlimited, as long as it’s a sunny day! Cook any of your regular foods outdoors using the power of the sun. I really like this one, but if you don’t have one there are a couple of plans online to be able to make your own. This one is a little more like a real sun oven, and this one is a simple pizza box oven that will not get too hot but can be used sort of like a slow cooker.

6. Open Fire-  This is the way many a pioneer cooked on their trips west or on the frontier. And if all you have is a cast iron skillet, it will get the job done. 

When it comes to cooking without power, you have to have a fuel source. That fuel source may be in the form of the sun, propane, butane, Insta-fire, charcoal or a variety of other fuels.

I recommend working on building, and using food storage in cases where you have power, then gradually start learning about, and implementing powerless cooking tools.
There are a variety of make-you-own cooking tools out there. They are good for short term emergencies, or to practice and get your feet wet if you have a smaller budget. As you're able to allocate more of your budget to powerless cooking tools, I recommend getting more durable tools.
One thing to consider is that while there are many options for cooking outdoors, it may not always be feasible to do so (i.e. a huge snow storm). So make sure you have some back-up plans in place to cook indoors or have some meals that do not require cooking at all.