Cooking Without Electricity

Cooking Without Electricity - Helen Pirtle
Three basic principles to remember:
1. You want to conserve the energy you have.
2. You should be able to cook indoors or out, at home
or evacuate, in cold or hot weather
3. The cooking area needs to be ventilated.
In an emergency situation there are two basic
cooking choices.. You will either be heating or
warming precooked food or cooking raw foods.
What you are doing and the fuels available to you
will help direct the cooking method you will uuse.
Some methods are adequate for just heating foods,
others work better for longer cooking times.
Have some cooking methods and fuels that are
portable in case you have to leave your home.
Some Various kinds of fuel:
1. Canned heat (Sterno) – lights easily,
sily, burn hot and
removing the can lowers the cooking temperature.
Can be used indoors. One 7 oz can burn about 1 ½ 2 hours. It will evaporate over time, check every 6
months.
2. Coleman fuel or white gas – effective but
dangerous; must be stored outt of the house
3. Kerosene – use with caution, requires very little
oxygen
4. Propane – has an indefinite shelf life; homeowners
can only store up to five 20-lb
lb containers. If the
propane leaks, it will explode at a spark or flame.
5. Butane stoves – lightweight, don’t work well in
cold weather
6. Charcoal – easy to use and inexpensive. Has long
shelf life. Never burn indoors. 1 briquette = 35
degrees. 10 coals will be 350 degrees in the applebox
oven. Easy to regulate heat. Store newspapers to use
for lighting the briquettes. Use in BBQ grill, Dutch
Oven, Volcano Stove, Applebox
7. Solid fuel cubes – burn very hot for a short time
(to boil water) 1 Esbit tablet will burn for 12
minutes.
8. Portable grills – inexpensive, can burn any
available debris as fuel
9. The sun – solar cooking is free but you need a sun
shiny day
10. Alcohol stoves such as the Paint Can Stove – use
rubbing alcohol and toilet paper as the fuel.
11. Buddy burner – tuna can with cardboard and
wax. Burns for 2 hours
12. Sawdust candle can be used for warmth, light
and cooking. #10 can will burn up to 36 hours.
Quart size can burns 26-30
30 hours. A gallon size paint
can will burn up to 100 hours.
13. Wood burning stoves – need dry, clean wood
14. Thermal cooking – thermos bottles, wonder box
or hay box, ice-box,
box, etc. Use a pressure cooker to
first bring the food to a boil and then put in the box.
Ways to conserve fuel while cooking
•
•
•
•
•
•
Use most efficient method
Don’t boil more water than you need
Extinguish the fire as soon as you are done
Plan meals to consolidate cooking
If possible, cook on top of your heating unit
Use a pressure cooker - Use no-fuel
no
methods
such as the Wonder Box or thermos bottle or
solar
Some Alternative Methods of Cooking
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Camp stoves, propane, Coleman fuel, etc.
Butane stoves
Dutch oven - use charcoal or campfire or
can use propane in a volcano stove
Kerosene stoves
BBQ or Portable grill - (some use
briquettes, propane, wood, etc)
Apple box oven - uses charcoal briquettes
Wonder Box - Hay box
Pressure cooker – 2 minutes of heating, then
put inside hay box or wonder box
Solar funnel cooker or solar oven – need
sunshine
paint can stove – alcohol-toilet
alcohol
paper for
fuel
Canned heat (like Sterno)
Buddy burner – tuna can with cardboard and
wax for fuel, use with #10 size can
MRE heaters
Solid fuel tablets (Esbit stoves)
Thermos cooking – heat food then let sit
several hours
Volcano stove – use wood, charcoal, or
propane
Wood stove
Generator to provide electricity
Volcano Stove
Small stand with a
canned fuel