The Survival Mom lays out a failproof strategy for cooking in a power outage in this featured post. She lists several steps to follow to have success in taking care of yourself and your family’s needs when you don’t have power. ~ The Editors
When the power goes out, the last thing you want is to be standing in your kitchen wondering how you’re going to feed your family with no stove or oven. I mean, you’re hardly a Mountain Man/Woman used to cooking over an open fire out on the prairie!
You’ll be happy (and relieved) to know that cooking “off-grid”, in your own kitchen is easier than you might think. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4 with my simple plan.
The struggle is real: no power
Off-grid cooking requires some sort of power for the heat source. A rocket stove, campfire, hibachi grill, volcano stove — they all require an open flame. Inside your home, this isn’t safe or recommended, not only due to the flames but the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Solar cookers are a terrific, clean way to cook food when the power goes out, but they can only be used outdoors and require plenty of sunlight and enough hours of sunlight for cooking. This isn’t a method you can instantly put to use, either. Over the years, I’ve cooked everything from brownies to stew in a solar cooker, and there’s a definite (sometimes steep) learning curve involved.
I recommend having multiple ways to cook during a power outage, but only one method is quiet, clean (no fumes), indoor-safe, and can be used by a child. That would be a power bank.
Step One: The power bank solution
A power bank is simply a large, portable battery that stores energy so you can run just about anything requiring electricity. They come in all sizes, but as a solution to power-outage cooking, I recommend one no smaller than 1500 watts.
Power banks are sometimes called “power stations”, and if they come with the capability of charging via solar panels, they’re referred to as solar generators. I’m all in favor of anything solar when it makes sense, and when a power bank needs to be recharged, solar panels are handy in an outage. However, it can take many, many hours for that recharge — something to keep in mind as you shop and compare prices, brands, and features. I keep my power banks charged up via an electric outlet in my house so they’re full and ready for emergencies.
Make sure you are prepared and ready to cook in a power outage. Head over to The Survival Mom’s website to read more tips.
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
