5 Ways to Cook Without Power You Probably Haven’t Considered

I have discovered something about myself.  I like having a plan.  Do you ever find yourself wanting the same thing?  Do you feel better if you have a plan in place whether it’s just a plan for your week or a plan for doing laundry if you’re without water or power?  Planning takes the guesswork out of things for me.  Planning means I don’t have to think about what I’m going to do because I have a plan.  The same goes when I have to cook without power.

I’ve also learned that while I like having a plan, I also like having options in case the plan doesn’t go the way that I wanted.  I have several ways to do laundry.  Each of them is good for different types of laundry items.  I’m the same way when it comes to cooking without power.  I own about seven different ways to cook without power.  Some work better than others, but all of them are good for different things.

Butane Stove

I have a gas stove for which I am so thankful.  But if I ever didn’t have my trusty stove, I have a backup plan.  Needing to make a stovetop type of meal, but don’t have electricity or gas?  A butane stove is the best way I have found to do it!  This works very much like a gas stovetop.  You can cook pasta, soup, eggs and bacon, grilled cheese, and so many other things.  It is such an easy gadget to use.  You insert the canister and turn it on.  It heats quickly and evenly.  I would suggest that you keep a carbon monoxide detector handy.  While these are oftentimes safely used inside – especially in oriental households – they do come with a warning not to use in enclosed spaces.  Personally, it doesn’t worry me, but I want you to be aware.

Thermal Cooker

I love my Thermal Cooker.  I’m a self-proclaimed lazy cook as I’ve mentioned before. I love my crockpot, and if it were up to me, I’d use my crockpot to cook every meal all week so I don’t have to “cook” in the afternoon.  A Saratoga Jack is the electricity-free version of a crockpot.  The difference is that you have to heat up the liquid in the insert to boiling.  If my gas stove isn’t working, I use my butane stove to do this.  Once the liquid is boiling, you turn off the burner and set the insert into the Saratoga Jack.  It will continue to cook whatever it has in it and keep it warm for up to 8-12 hours.  This is my favorite no power way to cook.

When you look at how people used to cook before electricity, soup was almost always served for dinner.  It was fast and ‘easy.’  When you consider how much other work that women had to do, something fast and easy was the way for them to go.  Think of this as your blast to the past as well as your way to get more done in less time.

Solar Oven

I put this out there, but I will admittedly state that I have yet to master my solar oven.  This is a good one that a lot of positive reviews.  The one that I own is no longer available.  I haven’t taken a LOT of time to get used to it yet, and I am still trying to figure it out.  But if you’re without power on a sunny day, this is a wonderful way to cook — and especially bake for your family.  You do need to make sure that you practice with it before you depend on it.  Please don’t go into this without practicing – several times.

Fireplace or Firepit

If you have a fireplace or a firepit it presents another way to cook.  Yes, it limits what you can cook, but it is “A” way to cook.  And you may not be as limited as you think. I

Obviously, you can use hot dog forks or even sharpened sticks to cook hotdogs.  You can also cook baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil in the coals.  Toasting bread on a hotdog fork is also an option.  How about using some nifty sandwich toasters to make grilled sandwiches like grilled cheese.  Try making campfire “pizza.”  Just take two pieces of bread, smother one of the pieces in pizza sauce, top it with cheese and pepperoni put the other slice on, close the sandwich toaster and cook it over the fire.  You can do that with any kind of hot sandwich, and they are yummy.  Try ham and cheese, chicken alfredo sauce and ham for a “chicken cordon bleu” sandwich.  You can also make “pies” the same way – two pieces of bread with cherry pie filling or blueberry pie filling in the middle and then toast them over the fire.

Another tool to cook in SOME fireplaces or in a firepit is a Dutch Oven.  If you are going to cook on coals, a dutch oven with legs is preferable.  The great thing about a Dutch oven is you can cook soups in it.  But more importantly than that, you can bake in it!  Here’s a great book that will walk you through cooking in a dutch oven.  So when I’ve been going to Lincoln’s New Salem (which my subscribers have been hearing about in my newsletter), when I was out there – one of the interpreters told me that 5 charcoal briquettes underneath it and 15 on top of it equals a 350-degree oven!  How cool is that!?!  Want some other ideas?  Check out this post.

Herc Oven

Have you even heard of a Herc Oven?  It was a really revolutionary concept for me when I first heard of one.  It is an oven heated by tea lights!  When in an enclosed area, tea lights can be used to bake foods.  Recently, we built our own HERC oven using a tutorial (which no longer exists) and a second-hand toaster oven purchased at a local resale shop.  Again, you need to work with this to see if it works.  You may need to drill more holes than you originally did.  Or there’s a chance that you may need to use more tea lights or fewer tea lights.  Make sure that you practice with this before you depend on this to cook in.

So it has been quite awhile since we’ve built ours, and I do not have pictures as we actually did it, but let me walk you through the process.

(1) Using an used toaster oven.  I purchased mine at a second hand shop.  Remove all of the wiring and the plug.  This may require removing the back and a grate on the inside.  Replace the back if you had to take it off.

(2) Drill 12-15 holes in the back of the toaster oven.  This allows air to flow through so as not to smother the flames from the tealights that you will use.

(3) Attach two small bread warming stones  or one large bread warming stone to the top of the oven with wall hanging brackets.  I purchased an oven thermometer so that I could gauge the temperature so as to know if I need to add additional tea lights or if I need to bake the item longer.

(4) Place tea lights underneath the grate.  Light them and close the front door to make sure that they will stay lit.

What About You?

Do you have any of these items already?  Have you practiced using them?  If you have more than one, which way is your favorite?  As you work to figure out the best way for you to cook without power remember . . .

You’ve Got This Mama!