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If the power goes out, you’ll need alternative ways you can cook off-grid without power. A hot meal is appreciated at any time, but especially when you’re stressed out because the power’s out. When you have several options for cooking, you can always have a reliable way to prepare meals, no matter what. In this article, I’ll give you plenty of options to consider.
In this post
- Practice Cooking Without Power
- How I Came Up With the Best Plan For Off-Grid Cooking
- Step Four: Multiple other ways to cook outdoors that need a fuel supply
- A Round-Up of Other Methods to Cook During Power Outages
- How Many Off-Grid Cooking Methods Do You Need?
- An Important Safety Message
- FAQ
Practice Cooking Without Power
When you buy or otherwise acquire preparedness supplies, do you practice with them, or are you a prep hoarder? I think I’ve been guilty of both, especially with off-grid cooking methods.
Maybe you know what I mean. Preppers are notorious for wanting every new survival gadget that comes out. We’ve got no less than ten ways to cook that aren’t tied to the power grid, yet when another new off-grid cooker comes out, we simply must have it to add to the stash in the storage room.
And there they sit, safe for when we need them, gathering dust and maybe spiders,
Do you ever try them out when they come in the mail, or do we add them, still in the package, to the ‘cooking shelf’ in our bug-out trailer? It’s important to do so.
I can say that I have used each of my off-grid cooking methods several times. Some had a learning curve that I mastered, and I’m still climbing that curve with others. Some are easier to clean and store than others. Fuels differ, conditions they can be used in differ, and set-up, clean-up, and storage instructions are not the same, but we need to learn how they work.
In a major crisis, when emotions are high, and everything and everyone is confused is not the time to try and figure out how to put that HERC stove together!
How I Came Up With the Best Plan For Off-Grid Cooking
For my family, I want to have at least three or four different ways to cook and heat up water as well. When you’re trying to figure out what your back-up cooking methods should be, consider the type of fuel necessary. This is extremely important because if you’re relying on using propane, for example, and it’s no longer available because of supply or delivery issues, or because everyone else is buying propane, then you’re out of luck.
Ask anyone who has tried to find propane tanks after a hurricane!
Here’s how I came up with my off-grid cooking plan.
Step One: Cook without needing a source of fuel
Because fuel can quickly become an issue, I first wanted a solar oven. This only requires enough sun for the oven to cast a shadow on the ground, and it can usually be used year-round unless you live in a location like the very wet and rainy Pacific Northwest.
I purchased the Sun Oven and highly recommend it, but there are many other brands on the market, and you can try making one yourself using a number of DIY instructions online.
Here’s a link to my guide to cooking with a solar oven to get you started, or, if you want to up your solar cooking game, here are a few more tips.
Even though I live in a heavily shaded area, my plan in case of a long-term power outage is to place the Sun Oven in my driveway where there is more sun and less shade, put it on the roof of my patio.
Step Two: A stove that needs very little fuel
Next, I wanted something that was highly fuel efficient and didn’t require me to purchase fuel. I also wanted something that used fuel, aka twigs and other biomaterial, that I can get any time of the year from my backyard!
For this, I turned to rocket stoves. These use very little fuel and heat up quickly. It’s possible (and I tested this!) to cook a meal using just a few twigs.You can make your own rocket stove — here are instructions for a super-easy DIY rocket stove. I also have two rocket stoves from EcoZoom. They are heavy-duty and have lasted almost ten years.
It’s not recommended to use a rocket stove indoors without taking precautions, including providing a vented window.
Step Three: A way to safely cook indoors
One of my concerns is that most off-grid cooking methods are meant for the outdoors. That’s find except when outdoors is freezing or wet!
For this back-up option, I turned to the HotLogic, one of my newest best friends! You can read my full review here, but this indoor slow cooker is a wonderful option as long as you have some sort of generator to provide power. And, if you don’t have that, then it can be plugged into your vehicle. It can cook food from its raw stage or be used to heat up leftovers.
Besides the HotLogic, and as long as you have a small generator or a portable power station, electric skillets, rice cookers, small microwave, an air fryer, or any number of other electric cooking appliances are excellent backups.If this is part of your off-grid plan, then take a look at the appliance you plan on using. It should have a label with the number of it requires. Then look for a power bank/power station that provides at least that amount of wattage.
I use and recommend Jackery products, Anker, and GoalZero. There are many other brands out there. Just be sure you’re buying one that gives enough power so you can utilize your appliance. I go into detail here about all the different electric appliances that come in handy in an emergency scenario.
Step Four: Multiple other ways to cook outdoors that need a fuel supply
Finally, I went through our supply of camping equipment and tracked down our Coleman stove. We have the one that can use either Coleman liquid fuel or gasoline. To give you an idea of how you can use this for baking, this is how you could bake no-knead bread with your Coleman stove.
Remember, when you’re making plans for any type of emergency scenario, always consider multiple options — a “backup to your backup” as they say.In this case, if I couldn’t get Coleman fuel, we always have a few containers of gasoline stored to use in the lawnmower or our generator. (Safely store liquid fuel using this advice.)
Finally, as a final backup, we have a BBQ grill. Ours is super basic — not one of the fancy propane-fueled kind! We just keep charcoal on hand for whenever we want grilled steaks. In an emergency, though, we’d use charcoal or, in a pinch, small pieces of firewood. (You’ll want to know how to store charcoal properly.)
One other outdoor method we have is our fire pit — one built directly into the ground or one that is store-bought. Ours is from Solo Stove, but these have become so popular that you have your choice of styles and brands. For cooking, you’ll need some type of grill to place over the flames, and then be prepared to clean out the pit area after cooking. The grill, by the way, could be one of the racks from your oven if you have nothing else.
Have extra matches and lighters on hand — sounds obvious, but more than once I’ve had to look through every nook and cranny of my home in search of matches!
A Round-Up of Other Methods to Cook During Power Outages
Here are some other possibilities to consider, although I have no personal experience with them. It goes without saying that whenever usingany method that involves flames, please be extra careful.
- Kelly Kettle
- Volcano Cooker with oven tent
- Butane stove burner — We used one of these for two weeks on a camping trip in Iceland, and it worked like a little champ. Just make sure to have plenty of butane cylinders.
- Campfire — Be careful with this one, but if you love cooking with a Dutch oven, this is ideal.
- Wonder oven, aka hot box
- Sterno Alcohol Stove
- HERC Oven (Home Emergency Radiant Cooking). Cook just about anything using only tea lights but a bit on the spendy side these days. Read the Survival Mom’s review of her HERC XXL here. These can also keep food warm by placing it on top of the oven while something else is cooking.
- Fondue Pot. Keep an eye out at yard sales and thrift stores for this blast from the past! Advantage? It only needs a few tealight candles to warm food.
- Kerosene stove. For outdoor use only.
- Wood burning stove (If you have enough room to cook on the top.)
- Esbit Fuel Tab Folding Pocket Stoves
- Reflector Oven. Bake using the radiant heat from an open fire.
- Swedish Torch Fire. One log, wire, and an axe. Mixed feelings about this one, but the video is fun to watch, eggs and all. Here’s another version using an auger.
- Outdoor Percolator. Coffee. ‘Nuf said.
Additionally, you’ll need to be sure to have the necessary kitchen tools that work without electricity to make food using your chosen methods. If you think you might need to cook after dark, you’ll also want to plan for some emergency light sources so you can see what you’re doing.
Of course, if you know how to cook from scratch, it also helps immensely. Read this post if you need convincing about why scratch cooking is an essential skill.
How Many Off-Grid Cooking Methods Do You Need?
How many different cooking methods do you have for when the power goes out? You really need at least 2 of them, making sure those two do not rely on the same fuel type.
Are you familiar with using all the different methods you have? Are your children? What if you, THE MASTER OF ALL THINGS PREP in your home, are not around or are injured or ill? Who is going to do the cooking then? Learn them yourself. Teach them to your family.
Spring and Summer are a GREAT time to get out the different tools/toys you have for cooking meals off-grid and practice, practice, practice. If you’re trying to be an urban off-gridder or are considering the off-grid lifestyle, think about how you could cook off-grid in your location.
Pick one night per week and make it an adventure. Have a cookout in the backyard. Learn all about that method and gather some recipes to try out.
An Important Safety Message
Many of the cooking methods discussed here are safe to use indoors with caution, although outdoor use is ideal. Two major issues for indoor use are open flames and carbon monoxide build-up.
Any type of cooking device needs to be on a flat, stable surface. If any type of flame is involved, cook near a vented window and, especially, watch out for kids and pets. It’s all too easy to knock over a portable cooking device, and if it’s indoors and flammable, it could create a deadly house fire.
A carbon monoxide detector, a fire blanket, and a fire extinguisher are must-haves, and even with being extra cautious and ready to put out a small fire, I strongly suggest minimizing the use of any cooking method that utilizes a flame:
- Rocket Stove
- Coleman cookstove
- Kelly Kettle
- Volcano cooker
- Kerosene stove
- Swedish torch fire (goes without saying)
Very small stoves, like the Esbit Pocket Stove or a Sterno stove can be used safely — just watch that open flame. Propane cookers are safe to use indoors but do provide ventilation.
FAQ
If I live in an apartment, what would you suggest I use for my backup cooking methods?
If you have a balcony that gets a good amount of sun during the day, a Sun Oven or similar solar cooker should work out. A butane powered stove burner can be safely used indoors. Stock up on the butane cylinders. If you use a small stove, like the Esbit folding stove or a rocket stove, use it near a vented window and be careful of the open flame.
Otherwise, any of the small appliances like the HotLogic can work well in a pinch using a portable power station that provides enough wattage.
What type of food should I stock up on for this type of cooking?
Anything quick and easy! Just-add-water meals from companies like Thrive Life and Mountain House are ideal for emergency meals when you need to cook something quickly. You don’t want to waste fuel on anything that will take a long time to cook or bake. Canned food like soup, chili, and stew are also quick and easy to cook and clean up.
What is the safest way to cook off-grid indoors?
The absolute safest is with a small electric appliance and some type of generator. There’s no worry about carbon monoxide, ventilating the house to avoid the build-up of dangerous fumes, or accidentally starting a fire. Also very safe is a butane stove burner.
I have other questions about power outage survival!
Fortunately, I’ve written a free ebook, The Family Power Outage Handbook! It has a list of no-cook foods, suggestions for getting ready for power outages, and a lot more. You can request it at this link.
