COURSE 104: COOKING OFF-GRID

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2 COURSE 104: COOKING OFF-GRID Never eat a cold meal during a power outage again Knowing how to cook during an extended power outage is crucial for comfort and morale, as well as avoiding food-borne illnesses. After completing this course you will have put in place options for off-grid cooking for both sheltering-in-place and buggingout. I this ourse ou ill Know the best off-grid cooking options available that work with big or small budgets Discover which off-grid cooking methods are best fit for sheltering-in-place or bugging out Know how to make your own off-grid cooking stoves with common every-day items Learn how to use an often overlooked but highly effective primitive fire method that is easily built by a 4-year old and easily ignites with only one match OVERVIEW Having the ability to cook your food during an extended grid-down situation or if ou re for ed to travel off-grid while bugging out should be an essential part of your preparations. In this ourse ou ll lear a out both portable and fixed off-grid survival cooking, the different options available, and their pros and cons. COOKING WHILE ON THE MOVE A i tegral part of every prepper s Bug-Out Bag (see course 102) is the ability to cook while on the go. This could be due to a forced retreat of your home because of a natural disaster or civil unrest, or it may also be as simple as being stranded in your car for a few days until help arrives. There 1

3 are many different scenarios that come to mind, but they all involve one asi o ditio ou re a a fro our ho e ase a d do not have access to your standard-cooking options. Of course, building a campfire is a definite option (since you should have fire making implements with you in your kit anyways), but not everyone is experienced with building one -- and in some cases it may be not be possible or wise given the location you are in at the time. This is where a small portable cooking stove comes in handy: PORTABLE COOKING OPTIONS The three main types of portable stoves are gas/liquid fuel stoves, solid fuel stoves, and wood burning stoves (even though wood is a solid fuel, for ease of discussion I ll put it i its own category). GAS/ LIQUID FUEL STOVES Although there are many different types of gas/liquid fuel stoves available on the market, the ones I would recommend are the variety that are compact and can burn multiple types of fuel. The stove that I highly recommend is the Primus Omni- Fuel (the MSR Dragonfly is also a good option). Not only does it run on the standard disposable LP gas artridges that ou ll fi d at ost camping/outdoor stores, if you use the optional fuel bottle it can run on almost any other type of fuel: aviation fuel, white gas, normal unleaded gasoline, diesel, alcohol, paraffin, and kerosene. This is a defi ite o us si e disposa le LP artridges are t as eas to o e he o the go like the other options. The benefits to this type of stove are its ease of use, adjustable heat, lightweight design, ability to function in extreme environments, and multitude of available fuels. Keep in mind, while the stove itself is light, the additional fuel canisters weight can add up and take up space. Since there are moving parts, they can also get damaged out in the field. And worst of all, when your fuel supply does run out, that $150 stove of yours is about as useful as a poke in the eye. For these reasons it s ot the est for a long-term solution, but for bugging out for short time it s a great option. 2

4 SOLID FUEL STOVES Similar to gas/liquid fuel stoves, solid fuel stoves come in many different varieties. The two most common are the alcohol gel (Sterno style stove) and the hexamine tablet types (ESBIT stove). The great benefit to these types of stoves is that the fuel and stove are both very lightweight and extremely inexpensive. The re also fantastic for packing since they hardly take up any space. And with no moving parts, they can take a beating and still function. The downsides are that the heat output is difficult to regulate a d the do t ur as hot as gas/liquid type stoves. Also similar to the gas/liquid stoves when the fuel is out, that s it (hexamine tablets are pretty hard to come by in nature). WOOD BURNING HIKING STOVES If you live in an area with plentiful wood for fuel you will never have an issue cooking off-grid. Portable wood-burning hiking stoves may be the oldest form of portable cooking stove around and just like gas, liquid and solid-fuel stoves, wood-burning hiking stoves come in many differe t arieties from the simplest hobo stoves to the more cutting-edge Kelly Kettle. Here are some of the most common varieties available: HOBO STOVES: Homemade portable wood/camp sto es ost ofte referred to as ho o sto es ha e ee o o pla e ooki g de i es for ho os, the homeless, and backpackers for years. They are easily fashioned from old tin cans and are surprisingly quite effective for cooking and heating. You can find a great number of sites online with various versions of the basic hobo stove that you can learn from. Just do a Google search on ho to ake a ho o sto e a d take our pi k. WOOD GASSIFIER STOVES: 3

5 The portable wood stoves that I highly recommend are wood-gassifier type stoves like the Solo Stove or Bush Buddy. These are a more state-of-the-art type of hobo stove that is able to preheat the air coming into the combustion chamber through a double-walled set up. This creates an effective bellow-like system that burns the wood much more efficiently. Here s a great ideo re ie to gi e ou a etter idea how these stoves are used (click on the image or goto: The benefits of a portable wood-burning stove is that the fuel is free and (depending on the area) widely available. Also, the homemade varieties range from costing nothing to under $10. The flip side to wood-burning stoves is that they require more skill to light -- this is especially apparent during inclement weather. If you find lighting campfires difficult under optimal conditions, you may want to stay away from these types of stoves until your skill level improves. Keep in mind however that most wood stoves can double as Esbit and gel type stoves. Taking along some extra Esbit tablets or gel fuel as backup is always a good idea under any conditions. TODO: Determine and procure the portable stove option you want to include as part of your bug-out gear. 4

6 COOKING WHILE SHELTERING-IN-PLACE If the grid were to go down tomorrow and you had no access to gas or electricity, would you still be able to heat and cook your food? Do you have a backup plan available that can last you at least at least 2 weeks until the grid is restored? This section deals with the options that are available to you while sheltering-in-place at your home. SHELTERING-IN-PLACE COOKING OPTIONS GAS AND LIQUID FUEL STOVES For short-term interruptions in your fuel supply, gas and liquid-fuel stoves are an excellent option since storing two weeks of fuel is a viable solution for many people (see Course 103: Battening Down the Hatches for more info about storing fuel). Here are some of the most common choices available: PROPANE STOVES: Propa e sto es o e i a shapes a d sizes e er thi g fro a standard home stove to an outdoor grill. They are excellent in that they provide clean, reliable burning but the downside is unless you can make the fuel yourself via methane production, the only real option is to store a bunch away. The good news is propane can be stored practically indefinitely in containers ranging from an LP camping bottle to a 1000 gallon tank that sits in your backyard. For me personally, these large tanks at this time are not practical but I do store multiple 20 lb grill tanks at my home -- enough to easily last multiple weeks of cooking. MULTI-FUEL CAMP STOVES: Although this was covered in the previous section, these are still good options for cooking while sheltering-in-place. Some of the double- ur er a p sto es that are a aila le hile too cumbersome for bugging-out are perfe t for lo g-term use. And 5

7 since many will run off of grain alcohol, they are perfect if you can make your own fuel. MARINE DIESEL STOVE/OVEN: Typically used on larger boats (as well as RVs) for cooking, marine ovens and stoves are a valid option for the home as well. If you have the ability to store diesel fuel, these types of stoves and ovens may be a good choice. Be prepared to pay a hefty price though. Keep in mind with all fuel-based stoves (wood also) you need to be wary of carbon monoxide poisoning. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation and are following all of the manufacturer s recommendations. SOLAR COOKING Harnessing the power of the sun can be a readily available and very effective method of cooking. Solar cookers can cook stews, bake breads, fry eggs, even pasteurize water and sanitize medical tools and equipment. On a standard sunny day it can reach temperatures of up to 400 F and as lo g as it s a lear da, these su o e s a e used i the winter as well. If you want to build your own simple-to-make solar cookers check out this great online resource: I additio, I e i luded a e elle t PDF do u e t alled Solar Cookers - How to Make, Use and Enjoy (this is not part of the Prepper Academy Library) under Course 104: Cooking Off-Grid. For those who would rather purchase a pre-built solar cooker, the Sun Oven comes highly recommended. The obvious disadvantages to these o e s are if there is o su, ou a t ook. If ou li e i a area (like I do) where you will have week-long overcast days or more but still want to have this stove, then having another backup is essential. WOOD/CHARCOAL STOVES 6

8 When it comes to cooking food, wood has been the fuel of choice for millennia. Fortunately, due to modern technology, cooking via wood has come a long way since the basic three-stone fire. WOOD BURNING COOK STOVE: Modern cook stoves serve as dual purpose heating and cooking stoves. They are constructed much like wood heating stoves but are specially designed to focus the heat at particular surface areas for cooking. Some of the higher-end stoves also have ovens for baking and some even have the ability to heat water for your hot-water needs. The newer ones are definitely pri e ut I e see a of the older o es selli g for under $500 on craigslist in my area. For more information or if ou re interested in purchasing one of your own, you can check out these links: Leh a s Antique Stoves.com Stoves & More ROCKET STOVE: For those a bit strapped on cash at the moment but still want an effective form of cooking off-grid, the rocket stove is a perfect choice. Invented by Dr. Larry Winiarski, the rocket stove is a highly-efficient cooking stove that requires very little wood to cook an entire meal. Due to its design that allows for complete combustion, with just a few twigs a d sti ks you a ai tai a hot ur i g fire that s super clean and produces practically no smoke. There are a number of resources online that teach you how to make your own rocket stove for under $20. I e i luded so e of the etter ideos out there in the Related Web Videos section under Course 104: Off-Grid Cooking for your reference. I additio I e also i luded a ideo here I sho ou ho to ake a version of the rocket stove from bricks. 7

9 If ou do t ha e the time or patience to make your own, you can purchase one through Stovetec.net or EcoZoom.com. TODO: Determine and procure the stove option you want to include as part of your shelter-in-place preparations. CAMPFIRE COOKING Cooking over a fire is probably the oldest known method of cooking and can be used both in a bug-out situation as well as sheltering-in-place. Although it s ot the ost effi ie t i ter s of conserving wood fuel it is still a viable option if that s all that is a aila le to ou. Here are some of the more popular options: DUTCH OVEN COOKING A Dutch oven is a thick-walled (usually cast iron) cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens have been used as cooking vessels for hundreds of years. They are perfectly suited for long, slow cooking, such as in making roasts, stews, and casseroles. When cooking over a campfire, it s possible to use Dutch ovens as true baking ovens to prepare biscuits, cakes, breads, pizzas, and even pies! It s also possible to stack Dutch ovens on top of each other, conserving the heat that would normally rise from the hot coals on the top. These stacks can be as high as 5 or 6 pots. If you re interested in Dutch oven cooking, be sure to download the excellent resource on the Course 104 page entitled: Scout Dutch Oven Cookbook TIN-FOIL COOKING Another campfire cooking method is tin-foil dinners. This is very popular among Boy Scouts and for good reason it s easy to do and the resulting food tastes fantastic. 8

10 The basic process is simple: Just chop up your choice(es) of meat, potatoes and vegetables, add some seasoning and oil, double wrap it in heavy-duty tinfoil and throw it on (occasionally turning it over) or bury it in the coals of your fire. Because the food is essentially steamed in its own juices, you are left with very tender and tasty meal. 3-STONE COOKING One of the simplest methods still widely used in primitive cultures today is 3-sto e ooki g. As the name implies, it involves setting up 3-stones that are used to prop up your pot or pan and building a fire in the middle of them. A big disadvantage to this type of cooking is that only one cooking pot can be used at a time and because of the huge inefficiencies, you ll use up a lot of wood. This really should be your method of last resort. RELATED VIDEO: Be sure to watch the accompanying video in Course 104 How to Build a Log-Cabin Fire 9