Tips For Cooking When The Power Goes Out

Can you use some tips for cooking when the power goes out? If you are lucky enough to have a gas stove in your kitchen, you will probably be okay. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the thought of cooking devices to use after a disaster strikes your neighborhood? You are not alone, I promise.

What scares me now is the fact that some of these are sold out or unavailable at this time. Please get something to cook your food or boil water now if you don’t have something. I would check Facebook Marketplace or your local thrift stores, and you may find a gently used item that your family can use.

Let’s break this down by discussing each device I have personally used. These are all in my emergency preparedness preps stash located in my home and garage. I wanted to update this post to remind you of your options before a disaster or unexpected event affects your location. Make a plan and sleep better at night knowing you’re prepared.

During the winter months, when we get heavy snow and ice storms, in the summer and fall when we experience those heavy winds, rains, and hurricanes, and just about any time during the year when earthquakes and tornadoes hit, different parts of the country go through periods when communities and your neighborhood are likely to lose power. We all need to plan and have options available for cooking both indoors and outside. In case you missed this post, My Favorite Emergency Fuel To Store For Survival

Tips For Cooking

1. Butane Stove w/Butane Canisters

What Can I Cook On A Butane Stove?

I used a butane stove indoors for several weeks, along with a Sun Oven outdoors, while Mark and I waited for our gas line to be run for the gas stove in our kitchen to be installed. It worked great, and I used very little fuel.

When I taught classes at specialty outlets, some of the stores had a butane stove for me to use. The instructions say to use them outside. I use mine inside with a window cracked nearby. Please use your judgment when using yours if you decide to go in this direction.

You may remember me telling you I gave these stoves to each of our daughters for Christmas one year. Here’s the deal: They can cook any meal if they have fuel stored, which they do. Here’s one like mine: BUTANE STOVE

• Boil water.
• Scramble eggs.
• Chipped beef on bread.
• Grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Cook soup in a saucepan.
• Make coffee or tea.
• Cook anything you cook in a small to medium saucepan on your stovetop.
• Cook rice.
• Boil macaroni.
• You can cook just about anything out of a can if the pan fits on the burner.

What Fuel Do I Need?

• Butane BUTANE FUEL

Pros

• Inexpensive

Cons

• You can’t cook in large pots.
• Cooking quick meals only.
• Once you run out of fuel, you are done cooking with this unit.
• May have to use the outside.

2. Kelly Kettle

What Can I Cook On A Kelly Kettle?

If you missed my post on how to use a Kelly Kettle, you may want to see it. It shows pictures of how to use it step by step. KELLY KETTLE TIPS You can boil water and cook just about everything you can cook in a small saucepan. KELLY KETTLE

• Boil water.
• Cook soup.
• Heat anything you can fit in a small saucepan.
• Make coffee or tea.
• Fix a small meal.

What Fuel Do I Need?

• Wood chips
• Dried leaves
• Pinecones
• Dried twigs
• Newspaper or magazines, mainly to get the fire started.

Pros

• It comes in a compact bag and takes up very little space.
• You can cook a meal quickly.
• Uses fuel that you can find just about anywhere for free.
• Heats up liquids easily and quickly.

Cons

• I hesitate to say it’s expensive because the one I bought came with a rocket stove, saucepan, plates, and cups.
• The only downside is that you can only prepare small meals.

3. Hike Crew Stove/Oven Combo

What Can I Cook In A Hike Crew Unit?

I have taught several classes using one similar to this one. Hike Crew Stove/Oven

• Bake bread, yes, I have done that; it works great.
• Casseroles.
• Grilled cheese, if you get the griddle that goes on top.
• Pancakes, here again, if you buy the griddle.
• Cook on top of the stove in a small to medium-sized saucepan.
• I do not recommend canning on this unit (you need constant heat).

What Fuel Do I Need?

• Propane: Please check the unit you purchase, it may only come with the smaller connect attachment for the small canisters. I highly recommend getting the larger tank connectors that go with it.

Pros

• Inexpensive to purchase.
• Cooks many types of meals.

Cons

• Once you run out of fuel, you are done cooking with this unit.

4. Lodge Dutch Oven

What Can I Cook In A Dutch Oven?

If you have one or more Dutch ovens, you already know how versatile these gems are. These are probably the cheapest cooking devices you can buy. Plus, it can be used to cook a wide variety of dishes. Be sure to check out thrift stores and garage sales for a used one. They are easy to clean up. Lodge 6-Quart Dutch Oven

• Boil water
• Make biscuits
• Bake bread
• Make casseroles
• Great for breakfast casseroles
• Pineapple upside-down cake
• Cheesy potatoes
• Meat

What Fuel Do I Need?

• Charcoal
• Lump charcoal
• Wood

Pros

• Inexpensive
• You can stack several Dutch ovens to cook multiple meals simultaneously, provided you have the ones with lids, as shown above.
• It can be used in your oven indoors, if desired.
• It can be used over an open fire when outdoors.

Cons

• If you have fire restrictions where you live, you may not be able to start a fire even in your fire pit (this happened when I lived in Southern Utah). If you run out of fuel, you’ll be unable to cook any more meals.

5. Sun Oven

What Can I Cook In Sun Ovens?

This is a great cooking device if you have sunshine at least 200 days a year. If you don’t have a lot of sunlight, I wouldn’t buy one. In Southern Utah, we averaged about 255 days of sunny skies each year. Salt Lake City has about 222 days os sun each year. All American Sun Oven (SOLD OUT); You can sign up on the waiting list.

• Brownies
• Bread
• Cakes
• Boil pasta
• Any casserole
• Fish
• Turkey
• Chicken
• Cheesy potatoes
• Cookies

What Fuel Do I Need?

• Sunshine

Pros

• You can bake anything in a Sun Oven that you can bake in your conventional oven. If the pan fits, you can bake it in the Sun Oven.

Cons

• If there is zero sunshine outside, you will not be baking.

6. Camp Chef Three-Burner Stove

What Can I Cook On The Stove?

This is a great stove, even if you are cooking for a crowd. It’s like having your kitchen stove with three burners outside and ready to cook for the neighborhood. This is the stove that many church groups use to cook for large crowds. You will see 4-6 of these going non-stop at breakfast parties. You may even see people flipping hamburgers at family reunions on one of these gems. CampChef Three-Burner Stove or Camp Chef EX60LW Explorer 2 Burner Outdoor

• Pancakes (if you have a griddle)
• Grilled cheese (if you have the griddle)
• You can cook anything you cook on a griddle inside your home.
• You can use larger pots on one of these stoves.

What Fuel Do I Need

• Propane

Pros

• It’s pretty inexpensive, even with a bag to keep it stored.

Cons

• Once you run out of propane, it becomes useless.

What can I do if I have a natural gas oven in my kitchen?

If you lose power, you can’t use your forced-air natural gas furnace since the unit uses a fan to push the heated air around your home. But, you can use the natural gas stove in your kitchen since it just requires the gas to heat the oven, and unless you want to use the “convection” feature on your stove, no fan is used. Please check your brand to see if this is safe to do.

Note, you will need a match, lighter, or other flame sources to start the burners on top and the oven, since the igniter needs electricity to work.

Be careful when lighting the natural gas stove. Don’t turn on the gas without knowing where to light the unit, whether the stovetop or oven, and don’t let the gas run for more than a few seconds without a flame, or you could experience a large flame or explosion.

Final Word

I hope today’s post on tips for cooking when the power goes out helps you understand a few ways you can cook when your power goes out for days, weeks, or months. We can do this if we prepare before an event hits our city or neighborhood. It’s all about having the cooking device and the proper fuel for each unit before the power goes out. We can do this, I promise. May God bless this world, Linda

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