How to Cook in an Emergency

If the power goes off for one or two weeks – How will you Cook? Read through this information and make a list of items your family is missing that would make it possible to feed your family during a longer power outage. Work the cost of these items into your budget and stock up on them a little at a time until you know you are ready.

Five Principles of Emergency Cooking:

1.       Cook Safely

2.       Do what is easy; use what you have

3.       Be efficient – use inexpensive methods and conserve fuel

4.       Make it interesting – add variety and “comfort foods”

5.       Practice your skills

Cook Safely

Choose cooking methods and fuels that are safe.  Never use charcoal indoors.  It depletes oxygen and gives off carbon monoxide, a deadly poison.  Be careful with volatile fuels such as white gas (Coleman fuel) that can spill, or evaporate and create an explosion hazard.  Always fuel white gas appliances in the out-of-doors, and away from buildings.  As always, be careful to avoid burns when dealing with hot appliances and utensils.

Do What is Easy

With no power, you can still do a lot of things to provide food.  Eat cold cereal and use up the milk in the fridge.  Eat everything else in your fridge before it goes bad.  Eat other items that don’t need cooking such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Leave your freezer closed as much as possible, and power it with a generator if you can. Eat things that might go bad before they do so. Be sure you have a hand-crank can opener for when the power is off.  Use disposable aluminum baking trays, paper plates, plastic utensils, and paper towels to reduce water usage.  MREs are easy to prepare and provide lots of calories.  You can use your propane BBQ, especially if it has a side burner, to cook in the same manner as you normally do. You will need to make sure you have enough fuel on hand. If you have an indoor fireplace or an outdoor fire pit, try some Dutch oven cooking.

Be Efficient

Efficiency can make limited resources do a lot and last a long time.  This may not matter if you use a wood stove to heat your home and you have several cords of dry firewood available, you can cook food on top of your stove.  However, if you only have your propane BBQ and it has just a few inches of fuel in the bottom of the tank, making it last a week will take some creativity.  Search the internet for information on building a haybox cooker, icebox cooker, or apple box oven. These are all very simple and inexpensive to make and allow you to conserve fuel during an emergency.  Think about the most efficient way to cook. Create a plan and a list of a few simple recipes that you can cook with items that you always have on hand. By thinking through the steps and having a plan, you will significantly reduce the stress during an emergency.

Make it Interesting

Adding variety can make your meals much more interesting and homey, as well as more nutritious.  Having some comfort foods can help your family feel better and can relieve some of the stress of the emergency. Stock up on favorite snack foods, chocolate, granola bars, etc. Think about what your family enjoys that can be stored for at least 3 months and make sure you always keep some on hand.

Practice Your Skills

Set a goal to cook a few meals as you would if there was no power. It's like having monthly fire drills - the more you practice, the less you are afraid if it really does happen. Create a menu that would get your family through 2 weeks of meals you can cook without power using your choice of cooking sources. Determine which day you are going to try out cooking these meals and go for it. I'm sure you'll learn some tricks that will make it easier when the true emergency hits.

To Cook, You Need: Heat, Food and Water

Heat – What to Cook With

Eight Methods - It is best to choose and acquire at least two methods so then when the emergency happens you have a couple of options since everything has its disadvantages.

1.       Don’t cook at all (see “Do What is Easy” above).

2.       Flameless Heating / MRE Heater

        a. Advantages: Great for a few people for a few days due to ease of storage and use.

        b. Disadvantages: For larger groups and longer periods of time is expensive, bulky and boring.

3.       Primitive Stoves, Fuel Tablets, Stove in a Can, #10 Can, Sterno, “penny” alcohol stove

        a. Advantages: Inexpensive, easy to use, can cook things other than just an MRE.  Sterno and alcohol stoves can be used indoors.

        b. Disadvantages: Difficult to control flame size, limited cooking capacity.  Alcohol presents spill hazards and the flame is invisible.

4.       Camping or Backpacking Stoves – Coleman White Gas, Kerosene, Propane, Butane, Jetboil, etc.

        a.  Advantages: Portable, powerful, can adjust flame size on most, butane is safe to use indoors

        b.  Disadvantages: Must have the right fuel for them.

5.       Wood Fire, Fireplace, Wood Stove, Kelly Kettle, Rocket Stove, Charcoal Briquettes and Dutch Oven

        a. Advantages: You can find fuel anywhere, heat output is easily controlled, can heat water and food separately.  Wood stove can heat your home.  Briquettes can be stored for years, Dutch oven cooking is delicious!

        b. Disadvantages: Need wood or other combustibles, wood fire can be smoky.  Charcoal must be used outdoors, can be difficult if raining.

6.       Volcano Multi-fuel Stove – Wood / Charcoal / Propane

        a. Advantages: Can use almost any fuel, heat output ranges from tiny to huge, can use propane to light wood fire.

        b. Disadvantages: Wood fire can be smoky; must have propane fuel if using propane fire ring.

7.       Propane Oven / Stove Combo or Propane BBQ

        a. Advantages:  Can bake or pan-fry or both.  Very easy to use, very easy to store fuel for, many BBQs have a side burner that you can use for cooking in a pan.

        b. Disadvantages: Must have propane to use; remember to fill the tank!

8.         Solar Oven

        a. Advantages: Can cook about anything that you would make in a regular oven

        b. Disadvantages: You need a cloudless day

Food – What to Cook

1.       MRE – the work is already done for you

2.       Prepared Fresh – more work, but more nutritious and delicious

3.       Dehydrated – you can purchase or dehydrate your own food and store it for everyday use or for emergencies

4.       Freeze Dried – somewhat expensive; good nutrition and flavor with ease-of-use – just add boiling water

5.       Canned – easy to store and can usually last several years

Water –you will need a minimum of 1-2 gallons of water per person per day.

For instructions on building and using different inexpensive stove options check out the following web address. 

http://www.byui.edu/Documents/community-connections/Handouts%202011/No%20Power%20Cookers%20Directions%202011%20-%20ALL.pdf

Source: http://emergencypreparednessexpo2012.blogspot.com/2011/12/cooking-in-emergency.html

Easy Recipes that can be Heated in Many Different Ways

Taco Soup
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese, if available, for a tasty meal.
2 (15 oz) cans kidney beans, rinsed		1–2 tsp taco seasoning
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes		1 Ranch seasoning packet, optional
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained		¼ cup dry onions
1 lb hamburger
Combine all ingredients in a pan or crockpot. Add water depending on how much liquid you like. Heat through. You can use 3 cups precooked dry beans—kidney, pinto, or red beans work equally as well. The leftovers freeze very well.
Hobo Stew
Canned beef chunks are great in this stew.
1 can carrots		1 can green beans
1 can potatoes		1 can diced tomatoes
1 can green peas		½ lb hamburger, browned
1 can corn		1–2 tsp beef bouillon
Dump 1 can each of carrots, potatoes, peas, corn, green beans, and tomatoes in a pan. Do not drain. Add hamburger and bouillon and season as desired. We like this with a little oregano, basil, onion, and garlic added or you can use Italian style diced tomatoes. You really can use whatever combination of vegetables you like.
	Slick Rock Chicken
Over the years, I have come to realize that some of the pickiest kids will try something new if you can come up with a fun name for it. This helps to lighten the mood during an emergency as well.
3–4 chicken breasts		1 cup sour cream (plain yogurt)
1 can cream of mushroom soup		1 box chicken flavored stuffing mix
Mix stuffing according to package instructions. Combine soup and sour cream or plain yogurt. Place chicken in 9x13-inch pan or crockpot. Top with soup mixture and then with prepared stuffing. Cover with foil and bake at 350° F for 45 minutes or cook in crockpot on high for 3–4 hours. Sometimes I use cubed, precooked chicken or canned chicken in this recipe to speed things up. Then you only have to heat it through.

Recipe Source: All Things Provident by Tamara Price