Have you ever been caught in an extended power outage? If you have, you know that it’s not only an inconvenient experience, but a costly one as well (especially if you have a bunch of food in the freezer). Hopefully, you’ve followed my advice and got yourself a backup generator. If you don’t have one, you’ll probably pull hair trying to figure out how to cook all of that food you stored.
On an even more serious note, what if your gas and electricity were cut off for awhile due to a major disaster? How would you make a hot meal? I have a few basic survival cooking methods to share with you.
1. Grill (my favorite). To me, everything tastes better on a grill anyway, so get your food in order of its “perishability”, wrap it up in tin foil and grill it to perfection. I use the grill for everything from eggs, to soup, to tea. By the way, if you haven’t tried tea or coffee cooked on a grill or open fire, you are missing out – the smoky flavor is great. You’ll likely be out of coals pretty quickly, so be sure to conduct regular stick gathering expeditions if you don’t have firewood on hand.
The grill is also great for boiling water if your water supply has been compromised during the crisis. Hopefully you know this, but just in case… Don’t bring your grill in the house! Not only is it a fire hazard, it is a toxicity hazard, since it releases smoke and toxins into the air.
2. Open fire. If you don’t have a grill, make a small fire and cook over the open fire or over the hot coals. You can use the open fire to make just about everything you can make on a grill. Make sure you don’t build the fire close to the exterior walls of your house, near brush or near your car.
3. Pit cooking. A method used by various tribes all over the world, pit cooking is an easy way to make delicious hot meals without the hassle of “babysitting” them. Make a fire and burn wood until you have a bunch of nice hot coals. While the fire is burning, wrap food in tinfoil or place in a Dutch oven. Dig a hole in the dirt, place the coals on the bottom and place the food on the coals. Wait almost as long as you would wait or an oven to cook the meal and check it. Use the food thermometer when in doubt. One of my absolute favorite pit cooked meals is steak and baked potatoes. By the way, you don’t even have to wrap the potatoes; just keep the skins on and bury them.
4. Solar cooking. This method uses the sunlight to cook your meal. You can buy a solar oven or make one yourself (a topic for another e-mail) by using a box, some sticks and tinfoil. In takes awhile, but in the absence of other tools, it is a foolproof and smoke-free way to cook.
Whatever you’re cooking, don’t forget to follow basic food safety and fire safety guidelines. Bon Appétit!
To your survival,
Richard Marshall
