Cooking in general

[DMGNUT]

Cooking

Cooking fuel is one of the often overlooked, but more important items to have on hand in an emergency. Consider that you’ll be under considerable stress and feeding your body a diet which it may not be used to. You’d also be surprised how quickly cold food will get old, even disgusting, and remember, much of your food stores may not even be edible, without first being cooked (dried beans, wheats, rice, oats, etc). In regards to traditional charcoal grills or LP gas grills; they are not very efficient. However, if you have one of these, and intend to use it for your emergency plans, you should be sure to have several extra LP bottles on hand and/or lots of charcoal. These are great for tossing some franks on after work, but when you can’t go to the store to buy more fuel, they simply will not do. The same problems will exist for pretty much all traditional cooking devices whether it be a backpacking/camping stove or even cans of sterno. Below are a few of what I believe to be, some of the better products, currently available for emergency cooking. An internet search will turn up an assortment of other appliances and ideas.

The volcano style stove is truly one of the most efficient charcoal grills on the market today. It’s double walled construction keeps it cool to the touch at all times (even the bottom), as the chimney effect, which it creates, channels all the heat directly to the cooking area, instead of the surrounding air. The result is a stove that can cook twice a day for approximately four months using only 4 25# bags of charcoal and for 1 full year with only 12 bags. An interesting side note about charcoal is if it stays dry, it will last forever.

The Applebox Reflector Oven (named for its original design, which used an apple box for construction) is a remarkable item. Its efficient functionality is similar to the volcano style stoves, in that it can cook a lot of meals with a minimum amount of charcoal. When used for baking, it out performs any other emergency style oven I’ve seen. Find some great directions for building one of your own, along with other Applebox Oven baking tips by doing an internet search.

Solar ovens are an excellent secondary cooking device. You’ll need sunny or mostly sunny days, and you’ll need to be prepared for longer cooking times, but the fuel is free and we are in an optimum location to benefit from such a device. You can find premade solar ovens and detailed instructions on how to build your own (out of basically cardboard and aluminum foil) by doing an internet search.

Rocket stoves are a marvel unto themselves. Do an internet search to find plans for the easy construction of this device which uses only small twigs as fuel.

Kerosene stoves (and lanterns too for that matter) have what many consider to be an "undesirable" odor that accompanies their use. Kerosene itself, as with most petroleum fuels, has a shelf life (which although it can be extended with additives such as Stabil), leaves it in a less desirable category, as it necessitates it's use, or disposal in a given period of time. What many people do not know is that Odorless Mineral Spirits, can be used in all Kerosene appliances, and Odorless Mineral Spirits has no shelf life. Although it cost a little bit more initially, it will store quite nicely without ever needing to be replaced.

[Volcanogrills]

Most of you know that I work for Volcano Corp. And, well, if you didnt.. you do now The Volcano presents some marked differences over many cooking devices that are out there. First, it is efficient. 12 briquettes will cook a hot meal.. 15 20lb bags will cook a meal a day for a year. The versatility is unmatched. You can use Propane, charcoal or wood. You can cook with a wok, pot, pan, grill, bake (with optional lid) pretty much anything you can do at home in your kitchen you can do it on the Volcano. The volcano will give you enough heat to boil and sterilize your water.. This is NOT an option with a Sun Oven. And, where I live (Utah) on the days that you need it the most, the Sun Oven is useless. If you live where there is sunshine all the time.. the Sun oven is a terrific thing. But, it seems to me, on the days you need it most (Cold, wet, rainy days) The Sun Oven would not serve your needs. The apple box stove is a great start.. And if that is all you have.. then it is better than nothing.. but they dont last long and are not terribly portable. Kerosene and like stoves bring the danger of having to store sufficient flammable material for long term preparedness. If you live on a ranch and can store it away from your house.. Good. If you are an urbanite, like I am, having gallons and gallons of Kerosene in my garage is a bad idea.
Ok, sorry to sound like an ad.. but I spend a good deal of my time testing "stuff" might be a rocket stove.. might be a Sun Oven, etc. etc. You just cant get a bigger bang for the buck than with the Volcano.

[UT2NH2SC]

I don't work for any grill company. These table top charcoal grills are great if there isn't a fire pit or place to grill food. I have the old style Volcano and have used it many times over the last 20 or more years. It has served its purpose and will in the future. It does really show any wear and tear. One complaint is that it isn't very portable, its shape is awkward to load in the trunk etc. I will probably upgrade to a couple of the collapsible ones.

Another grill I own that has been our "in the trunk" quick picnic grill is the Cobb grill. It is ideal for two people and that is about it. Packs up nicely and you don't need to lug around dutch ovens with it. Everything is contained in the kit to cook up a lunch on a picnic table. It uses very few briquettes and has the same "cool" to touch on the sides feature as the Volcano. I picked one of these at a CamperWorld outlet. http://www.cobbamerica.com/

My wife wanted a solar oven for Christmas. I will give a review when she unboxes it and tries it out. This was purchased mostly for the emergency preparedness hobby. We follow the adage, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. But why not have fun preparing for the worst? (Yeah, we spent the weekend canning meat...).

When I do serious dutch oven cooking at places that aren't setup for cooking like at Field Day for Amateur radio (in the K-Mart Parking lot), I also haul around the Lodge Dutch Oven Table. This puts up a nice heavy duty and wind shielded platform for using 2-3 dutch ovens. Its great for using the chimney's for starting your charcoal as well. Outdoor cooking is really fun stuff.