Planning #3 - How to Cook?

Now that we have sat down and started to think about planning a bit more let's take a trip into the rabbit hole. Grab your government suggested list, coffee and find your favorite place to sit. Think about the situation we have been using for this example, the 'Big One' hits Southern California or whatever the greatest threat to your family is in your area.

Your prior planning has worked out so far and after a few hours of being scared your entire family has made it home and are safe. Why, because everyone already knew the plan was to go home and met there. Your home is standing and you will be able to shelter inside for the duration of this emergency. You look at the stuff you put away for just such an incident and feel good about what you did. Now it is time to make a meal, sit around the dinner table and be thankful everyone is safe. Going to the cupboard you grab a couple cans of chili, some cornbread mix, along with some onions and other vegetables to add to the chili from the fridge.

Taking a can over to the can opener you find yourself confused for a moment or two...... You put the can in the opener correctly? You pushed the handle down correctly? Why won't the can opener work? Of course one of the kids sees you doing this and pops off with "There's no power, duh!" Searching through the drawers you realize you have three wine bottle openers but no manual can opener!!!!!

"MY KINGDOM FOR A CAN OPENER!!"

You can have a pantry full of cans, enough for a year or two but forgetting just one thing can make them almost useless! We relay so much on electricity every day some of us might not have any idea how to function without it. For some of us "older and wiser" folks we remember the way back days...... before the internet....... before cell phones....... but see if you kids can operate a can opener.

Of course you panic looking for some way to open the cans..... until your better half hands you the can opener. Ok, this obstacle has been overcome!!!!

Going to the stove you turn the knob and nothing happens. No clicking, no gas sound, no gas smell? It takes you a moment to realize your home might be alright after the incident but the gas you use to cook comes from somewhere else! Now you have a pot full of chili, with the added parts you put in to make it special and no flame to heat it on.................. "OK NO BIG DEAL!" you tell yourself as you go to fire up your BBQ.

And down the hole we go........... Do you have charcoal? Do you have enough for three meals a day, for at least three days? Maybe you have a hiking stove? Do you have enough fuel to cook for the whole family for three days at the least? Do you have pots and pans you can put on an open flame, you know without the plastic handles which will melt?

You don't have another way to cook?!?!?!?!?!?!? OK........ Maybe you do not BBQ, go camping or do anything where you would have a readily accessible alternative way to cook with no power or gas. You need to find one! Without a safe way to heat up food or boil water if you had to the next few days are going to be long....... Even if you live in an apartment there are small grills you can buy for BBQing.

When you buy one you can get one which runs off of gas like the one in this picture. Just remember gas runs out. If you can find one which you can utilize by burning stuff. Briquets are good and most of these types you can burn wood in if you had to. Besides everyone should have a BBQ! Everyone can have an enjoyable time with friends and a BBQ. You also can get practice using your alternative cook system, always training! Even if you are the only one who knows you are training.

Were good now and your cooking with fire!!! You put the chili on the BBQ and go to figure out how to cook the corn bread.................. The oven doesn't work......... For most of us this means no cornbread to go with the chili. If you have a Dutch Oven and are cooking on briquets your in business!!! Of course now is not the time to try and figure out how to cook cornbread in the Dutch Oven, Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. A few weekends spent at the BBQ will pay off now when you "need" to cook.

 Alrighty, we got the BBQ going, chili is cooking and we got the cornbread baking!! What are we going to eat on? We could use our regular plates, silverware and cups BUUUUT we would need to clean all of those after we eat and the dishwasher doesn't work! Not to mention we only have a gallon of water per person per day...... Hopeful we have some paper plates and red cups sitting around from the last time we you had people over for a BBQ or kids party???? This sure will cut down on the amount of water we have to use to clean up after eating.

Speaking of cleaning up....... Do you have any dish soap? Do you only have soap for the dish washer? This is starting to take us down the rabbit hole a bit far so let's back up a bit........

When your planning you obviously can see we need to use some forethought in the planning. Something as simple as heating up a can of chili can go off the rails because of the littlest thing. For now let's not go too far down the rabbit hole when it comes to cooking!!!!

Do you have another way to cook without power? Can you open a can? Can you heat up food? Do you have the pots to cook over an open flame? Have you practiced cooking with your alternative method? Just cover the basics for now and make sure you have the options available to look after your family if the need arises.

As Always,

Stay Safe.    

Cooking - Dry Run

When we are discussing a bad day we have to take into account all the things we take for granted. Daily we cook food or maybe we order food. Either way food is a major part of all of our days. How do you deal with a day when our normal means of cooking food is unavailable? The power is out, the place you order food from is closed or any other issue which might cause you an issue.

Regardless of where you live each of us needs to have an alternative means of cooking food. A portable means is a bonus. If we live in an apartment, a small grill we can cook with on the balcony is good. If we live in a house a BBQ grill is great! A camp stove is good, a grill you can burn charcoal and wood in is better. Why? Because camping stoves use gas for fuel, fuel runs out, a grill you can burn charcoal and wood in allows you to use what is at hand even after the fuel runs out.

Take a day off and plan on trying out your ability to cook during a bad day. Pick a meal and cook everything on your alternate system. EVERYTHING! Do not cheat and see how much you can really do without using the stove or microwave. You can add a new skill to your tool box and if things go horribly wrong, you can cook your regular way and everyone still gets to eat. During a bad day if you burn the food or have no way of cooking the food, your family might go hungry...............

First item to consider is where are you going to cook? Please do not move a BBQ into your living room and try using it there! Find a location outside and practice cooking. Odds are if you have to cook this way you are not going to want the risk of also burning your house down on top of whatever is happening. Find a well ventilated area away from anything which might catch fire.

Next item would be what are you going to cook on? The pots and pans you have in your kitchen are not made to cook over an open campfire type flame. Most items made for a modern kitchen have plastic handles. These will quickly melt over an open fire and could burn you badly if you grab the handle with the melting plastic! Same goes for plastic utensils, they will melt if left in a hot pan or too close to the fire.

During a bad day you can use these if you have to press them into service. I would suggest cutting off the plastic cover on the handles first. Buying a few cast iron cooking pots and pans is a better idea. Add in some of my favorite wooden utensils and you are good to go. Maybe add an old school camping coffee percolator? Do not try to make coffee over an open flame using glass! Odds are the flame will get to hot and break the glass, which would be a waste of water and coffee!!!

Cooking with cast iron takes practice. The flame or heat is not consistent as you are used to. The great thing is you can still cook everything you want, with a little practice and the right tools. The best item to add first is a Dutch Oven. You can cook almost everything in these. You can make eggs, bacon, casseroles, biscuits and even pies!! Wouldn't it be great if your family could have beef stew, greens, biscuits and apple cobbler during an emergency???? This takes practice and cast iron items have to be cleaned differently than what you do normally.

The trick to cooking with an open flame or charcoal is timing the cooking of the food. Food cooks better on hot coals then over raging fires. you also will want to practice to try and have all the food cooked and ready to serve at the same time. This takes practice, especially if you are not going to be reheating anything in a microwave!

While we are practicing cooking we should take a look at what we would serve the food on? Do we have paper plates and cups to use? Do we have zip lock bags or tupperware to put leftovers into? Do we have chairs and maybe a table to sit on outside? The biggest thing to test or learn is what could you not cook? Can you figure out a way to be able to cook more things? What do you have in your food storage you would not be able to cook? No point in storing those items any more.

Most of all, have fun learning something new! Even if you are a master on the BBQ test yourself. Try cooking an item you normally do not cook. Ribs, hamburgers and hot dogs are your specialty? Cook eggs, make biscuits, corn, stew and go for a pie!!!!! Remember, Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!!!

As always,

Stay Safe!!!!