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I lived in a downtown area on south Florida when a hurricane caused the electricity to go out for 2 weeks. My family was the only one with a grill in our small apartment building of about 12 units. We brought the grill out side to cook and all the residents came around to ask if they could use it too. Let me just say that we all came together like a family and planned who would cook what, when. We all shared meals and ate fine together. No one had spoiled food. I know it was only a 2 week duration, but there is so much talk in these comments about people coming after each other and I just want to say that I was lucky enough to see the humanity of people caring and sharing with each other. I would suggest everyone to get to know your neighbors. We need each other; especially in survival times.

For those with solar generators a instapot is a great choice for cooking with. Only uses electricity to bring up to temp then shuts off and slow cooks under pressure. Little trick i learned from the van life peeps

Soak your grains and legumes overnight to cut way back on cooking time. Cut veggies and meat smaller to cook more quickly. Awesome video!

I live in a small town in rural Alabama, and moved here from Bham in 2001. I have a friend who lives near me who literally cooks all of her meals outside on a fire built near her steps, and uses cast iron. She does not have a stove inside, and she owns her house and land, but it's a very old unpainted wood house that's built in a very old style like a cabin - I don't think she has the type of electric connection for a stove or room for one, and doesn't have gas connections at all. She grows her own vegetables and also has chickens. She is retired and knows so much about self sufficiency. I didn't think about asking her if I could make a video of how she makes a meal, until now. I don't know how to edit, and only use a phone for internet, not a desktop or laptop, but I can try to make something and post it if you want. I'm sure she wouldnt mind sharing how she does any of the stuff she does, she great.

As a Veteran I thank you for helping others to better prepare for difficult times

I recently had a long power outage. I had my camp stove in a storage unit. The person running the place didn’t know how to manually open the electric gate, so there was no access to my stuff. Luckily I had her phone number so I could contact her and helped her open the gate. I realized my short term preps need to be in an always accessible location. The long term stuff can stay in storage.

Going into the 4th day without power here on Cape Cod. Got my 2qt Dutch oven in the fireplace right now heating up a meal I had previously frozen. My cast iron has been invaluable the past few days. Stereo heat(from the dollar tree) has also come in handy. I also have a few dozen unwashed eggs I don't have to throw out with no working fridge. I trade with a local family for my homemade bread. Glad I was prepared for this storm. Many rechargeable lights and other items, along with our fireplace, make it easier to get through this power outage. Thanks for the info in this, and your other videos! We have another storm coming in tomorrow and winter isn't even here yet. Mother Nature has provided some unexpected firewood too🙂

PSA: DO NOT USE THAT STYLE OF BBQ BRUSH!!! The fibers have been known to come off on the grilles and attach themselves to food, where they will puncture your stomach, causing a sometimes fatal infection!!!! It is way safer to use something like a plank to scrape off older food, but there are tons of alternatives! The metal whisker style is dangerous!

The food that produces the least amount of scent is probably soup, if you do it right. You can't use all the fixings like your would a crockpot meal where it stinks up the whole house, you have to just use enough seasonings where you can taste it well enough. Soup is the ultimate survival food. Boils your drinking water, preserves all the flavors and calories that seep from the food, minimal smell, nice and moist for your throat and gut. Plus you can have it cooking nonstop around the clock without burning anything, so long as you can keep the fire going

One seriously overlooked item I found out through hours of practice. The thermos flask Or lots of them Every time you heat water you can STORE that hard won item The thermopot is going to be my next purchase. Thank you so much

Can take the rack out of the oven and put it on 2 cinder blocks over camp fire outside. Can do this with bricks in fire place too.

About 20 years I was visiting my parents when the power out. I had been camping so still had my gas cooker in the car. I brought it in & boiled water for my parents to fill a thermos of hot water. I visited the elderly neighbours either side who lived alone leaving them each a thermos of hot water to make tea or coffee. Next day I stopped by & they both told me they were safe but appreciated the hot water. These butane cylinder cookers are what I used on picnics / bbqs. I keep one in my garage for these type of emergencies.

Learn to eat cold food out of a can, then bury the can. If frozen in the can, heat it up just enough to loosen. Hungry people will smell your food cooking/heating a mile away. I've been teaching the grandchildren this, we practice on Sundays.

I've scrolled down through the comments and haven't seen anything on pressure cookers. They do take a little more time to heat up but make quick work of even the hardest and driest foods.

Whenever cooking with a, from the bottom heat source, USE A LID! It cuts the time needed to boil water or heat anything. This will save time, and resources. In an oven this would not be the case. It will also reduce but not completely the smell of that great hot food you are cooking.

In re: alcohol stoves indoors. Sailboat owners tend to replace the original alcohol stoves in their galleys because you can't see the flames when they're lit. This makes them Very dangerous, especially if you have pets or small children. I live alone and can put together a quickie stove using a #10 can, a roll of toilet paper and 91-percent rubbing alcohol, but I consider it a real doomsday option. Headline that I never want to feature in: Local Woman Flambes Self During Power Outage.

Mom told me years ago the grandma would heat up potatoes in a pot of how water then wrap them in a towel then put them under a pillow on the bed to keep them warm and will be cooked in time they just had a 2 burner stove and that was it.

I have a K-Rocket Stove. It works great! I made a chicken pot-pie on it the very first week that I got it. I also have the option of using tea-lights underneath a stove grate in my kitchen if it's raining outside; not optimal, but at least I can heat something up. There's more than one way to get the job done...

Great informative content for many people who have no clue, alot of different choices you gave ---- I've made sure since well let's say this past February 2021, in TEXAS- all stores were closed, NO ATM'S to get cash , MOST of Texas Uses Electric to heat their home , For such a HOT STATE, ALMOST ALL HOMES HAVE FIREPLACES - Thank goodness we also did, an propane an camping gear for years we camped,,,taught our grown adult Children how to garden, fish , hunt ,be frugal etc .... Our only Daughter April ann Ulrich at age 19 was killed by an illegal Criminal 5 months after she Graduated Highschool. WE With our Sons & many,many fire department families along with TRUCKER families have been preparing since NOV 2020 . God bless you & appreciate your calming voice ... Josette Tharp Montgomery County, Texas 🙏🏻

I bought the Kelley Kettle deluxe set for about$165. It seems to be well-made and stores in about a one cubic foot space. It is a great option for us senior citizens who may not have the physical strength to manage many other options nor the space to store lots of equipment.

One of the things I was thinking you'd mention are the chemical heaters in MRE packs that I remember from the military. While they are single-use for one MRE meal, they don't generate any smoke and they seemed to get the food just hot enough to eat. I don't think it's a great solution overall, but it's definitely an opsec friendly option.

That cup warmer coil is a decent thing I never would have thought of. Working construction through the winter this is definatly getting tossed in my car.

I didn't know this until recently, so I'll share in case others don't know, but you can buy an adapter to refill your camping stove Propane tanks (1 lb) using the larger tanks (20 lb).

Good overview of cooking options. I'm sure all of this is new to so many who never dreamed they would be faced with the state of the world as it is now. Not me, I have 100 gal propane tank and extra 20 lb tanks, a propane grill, a propane heater, a wood/charcoal smoker/grill, a "hot tent" woodstove with side water tank, a fire pit, acres of woods and the means to cut it by hand if necessary, and lots of cast iron. Clearly I intend to bug in, but if I had to be on the "lamb" I have gobs of lightweight camping/backpacking cookware and have used all of the before mentioned several times each year. I practice bushcrafting and survival skills regularly and have been honing my skills for decades,

I have the fire grate, a gas grill with a side burner and three tanks, a charcoal grill, and a butane chefs burner with 20 spare canisters. . I feel pretty good for now.

A small detail that speaks *volumes* on the personality and mentality of those who create these videos. They always talk about *hiding* from others, "concealing your activities", "operational security challenges" and so forth. No-one has come out of long-term hardship or thrived as an individual. Communities however (down to even 2-3 families) who are there for each other, share the same mentality, can achieve far more than 'hiding' and 'concealing the small of burgers from your chimney'! Remember that even the proverbial 'Lone Wolf' is part of a pack and can't hunt or survive on its own

I use a Coleman foldable camp stove and the 1lb propane tanks daily. 1 tank last me about a month cooking a meal a day. I also have the 30lb tank attachment I use in the winter. I've cooked just about everything you can imagine on it including baking bread and whole turkeys using a large dutch oven.

I live in a populated neighborhood and i have some food set aside. If I started cooking the smell would draw in the whole neighborhood.

Love the Coleman stoves; just make sure that you have a carbon monoxide monitor if used indoors.

For just 1 or 2 people I think I might go with a coffee can hobo/twig stove combined w/an alcohol penny stove made from a soda can. This allows for the option of using twigs or alcohol in the hobo stove. It also packs well if you need to become mobile. For something more,(semi), permanent I think I’d go with the Dakota Pit, however I would build the actual fire pit in the shape of a cone with a 6” or 8” opening at the top,(shaped like an upside-down flower pot). The smaller hole at the top creates a stronger draft, which causes the fire to burn hotter and the wood to burn more efficiently,(less smoke). It also helps the flames and light to be less visible. It can actually be made using a terra cotta flower pot using an angle grinder to cut the bottom off and cut a hole in the side for the air vent. To help retain the heat it can be surrounded by block and mortar or stones and clay.

Another avenue to save time while cooking is a stove top stainless steel pressure cooker. It can significantly decrease cooking times. We use it alot in Brazil to cook beans. It significantly decreases cooking times along with pre-soaking the beans. On a gas camping stove with a big gas tank you can cook for months.

This is outstanding. Last Feb during Winter Storm Uri, I saved a few of these videos to my phone before the 10 day blackout that helped a lot. This and the water ones are downloaded in full res to my phone.

Have made what we call buddy burners for years, a tuna can spiral cardboard in it then fill with wax long lasting cheap and with a folding stove or small cooking grate.

Whatever you use, IF it needs a replacement part, get it now!

You don’t need anywhere near as much food as you think you do. Water is what is truly needed.

We have a big green egg. There are ways to produce your own briquettes if you have a wood source. It is part of our preparedness. Granted you can’t move it but if you stay in place it is also an option.

I just bought a campfire coffee pot- must have coffee!! 😉

Short term? We are not likely to have to worry about other people being out to get us. And for such a short duration, there’s plenty of easy food to eat that doesn’t require cooking. If we had to go 10 days on Twinkies and pretzels… Most of us would survive. LOL. Long term? Now there’s a problem. But to be perfectly honest ...it’s hardly the biggest one. On the list of things to worry about, hot home-cooked food will be on page 16 or 17. Now I know we prepare for many reasons. Some of us even prepare to maintain our current lifestyles and modern conveniences. But on day 182 of a grid-down scenario, you will be amazed how much lower your standards will become. A can opener and a spoon will become your best friends. If we are expecting to be following a recipe on day 182 that involves directions more elaborate than “eat it”, ...we miiiiight not be understanding the scope of the problem just yet. Lol.

To me, a much more practical and renewable resource is a woodburning heater. I have cooked on the top of a wood heater, and I have cooked on top of a kerosene heater -- even baking biscuits using a cast-iron crockpot (similar to a Dutch oven, but without the feet and the flat lid). Gas -- both natural gas and propane -- is likely to climb high in price and possibly become unavailable in some areas this winter. While that makes it unreliable in my mind, wood is always available.

I've been thinking of making one of those slow cooker bags. With a family of 6 I figure it would come I handy.

We used the butane stove a few times at the race track and still never used up the first bottle, so we bought a second stove seeing they were only $15 at ALDI and 4 more bottles of gas for emergencies.

We live about 90 miles inland from the Gulf coast, NE of Houston, in the Sam Houston NF. For the last 40 years we have tried to be as self sufficient as possible. We have electricity, which can go out often from trees or limbs falling on the lines, we do not depend on it. I have. 500 gallons of LPG, so we utilize a gas range, also a gas grill, two charcoal/wood grills, a large smoker type grill, a Coleman camp stove, and a single burner butane stove. No worry about something to cook on, but in a true SHTF event, I would have a concern for the cooking odors wafting on the breeze. Should we need to bug out, (and for camping) I carry a folding grill, tho with shorter legs than the one shown above. I dig a hole about 18" deep and place the grill above it. Fire is from smaller twigs and wood pieces. It does smoke some, but you can cook at night, as the fire pit mostly hides any flames/light. Again, be aware of cooking odors. Easy to pack if walking, if necessary. I doubt the wife & I would try to bug out on foot, we're both well past 70, so we'd have to depend on our wits as much as possible. Really enjoy your channel, thanks for more ideas.

Bro that stache!!!! 👍🏽

Dang, that’s a deep dive into cooking shtf for sure. I was just going to heat up my canned and freeze dried food on a tea light candle or two. Nice.

12 volt rice cookers use 100 watts and are great with small power stations.

One thing we prioritized here was the outdoor kitchen. Rocket stove, solar oven and brick oven.

I didn’t see you or anyone in the comments mentioning preserving food before anything happens. Like jerky or pre-smoked meats, dehydrated veggies and fruits. They can be eaten as is, or used in soups and stews when needed.

When I was a reservist in the Canadian Army many decades ago, we were trained in various disciplines while in the field and operating tactically: noise discipline, light discipline, track discipline and odour discipline. Odour discipline meant having to eat our rations cold, so as not to give away our location through the smell of cooking, cooked food or the smell of an open fire. This also tied in with light discipline, as we would not be able to use wood fires to cook or reheat our rations.

Using a pressure cooker would keep all the food smells from drifting to hungry humans. Just let it depressurize naturally or it will give you away. This would work fine with a wood cook or propane stove. Or use an electric pressure cooker with your generator.

I have a charcoal grill I got this summer. Took me a few times to learn how to use it. I’m so glad I got it now. Best $5 I’ve spent.

Oregon Patriot Prepper here, Love you !! 🇺🇸❤

I love cooking in my Dutch oven they are so versatile in the types of foods you can cook and with some you can even cook on the lid

Lived on cold MREs for nine month during deployment...not one hot meal (not even the MRE) in nine months. Alot to most can goods can be ate right out of the can. Warm or hot food is a luxury, less it MUST be cooked.

I’ve always said Ready to eat meals are the only way to go into natural disaster. Avoid the fires that could cause an explosion. Gas leaks etc. and keep yourself safe from detection.

"This video is a little on the longer side"- please, no apologies needed, mate! Great video, many considerations!

Maybe it's a French Canadian thing, but there's a recipe for baked beans where you bring the ingredients to a boil and then bury them in the ground on a layer of hot coals; mark the spot and come back in 8-12hrs for a delicious meal! This method is awesome for one-pot meals and it's a perfect way to use up the firepit coals at the end of the night for lunch the next morning. As long as you are mindful of where you dig (tree roots= forest fires), it's crazy easy and good to use in my bear-infested province.

Love that you included the Solar cooker. Got 2 types of these. Florida has alot of sun.

I love my Coleman 502 stove! It is just a single burner white gas stove that holds 16oz of fuel and you pressurize the tank by pumping it up. It is very stealth and burns perfectly clean! Also, it cools down very quickly, is very light, and takes up very little space in my backpack! So far, I've used it quite a few times and still haven't put a dent in the gas usage. Very high quality all brass fittings, and since I have an old model in mint condition from 1964, the cooking grate is some sort of stainless steel. I don't like the new stoves because the cooking grate seems to be cheap and prone to rust and would never recommend or buy one.

Suggest have extra silicone lids and pot holders. I have large and small rectangle lids I can put on any of my frying pans to keep the heat in. Light and durable.

Another low-cost option for a thermal cooker is a haybox; any box lined with hay or similar material to insulate all sides into which the pot is nestled will hold the heat for several hours. Saw it on _Wartime Farm_.

I suggest more than one method of cooking in case you run out of one fuel source or something breaks or it may be too cold to build a fire outdoors. Stock up on more fuel sources than you think you need- i.e extra bottles of propane. Redundancy may save your life. Also, get them now while available before the disaster.

I love videos like this because they are done by urbanites who have never been presented with an actual survival situation.

I have a Biolite for emergencies. What I really like about it is that it uses biomass to cook with, but it also generates electricity so I can charge devices with it. I have battery and hand crank operated flashlights, for example, but I also have ones that work on solar +/or USB charging. The same thing with lighters. I have a lot of Nice ones, but I also have a couple that are flameless and are charged with a USB cable. For me, it's all about having multiple ways to do things, which is why I went that way. By the way, I also love Rocket Stoves ;)

One of your best videos yet. I have a couple of the cooking options but now I’ll be using them monthly

During the two Climate-induced heat waves here in the Pacific NW this last summer, I used my brick rocket stove off the back deck in my backyard to cook breakfast a couple of mornings, just to keep from generating any heat inside the house.

I'm in Austin tx, I spent a year and a half homeless in a tent in the woods behind a bad landlord and learned how to cook almost every meal over a campfire to save money. In Feb of this year, tx had a major ice storm that almost caused a state wide electric blackout, and messed up the water infrastructure for weeks. As a result, despite me being on fixed income, I invested in emergency camping water filters to secure a water supply. I was looking into setting up a primitive teepee style smoker for food preservation if I have to resort to hunting for food. However, I haven't been able to afford that as of yet. Earlier this month, I went to take trash to the dumpster and found a small cabinet stlye double Decker smoker that needs repairs in order to be used, but I think I can use it for an emergency cooking method, as well as for food preservation. I only would need to collect wood and kindling to use. Most of the damage on it is cosmetic rusting, however one of the legs is mostly detached and the bottom is rusted out badly. Luckily there is a hime depot nearby where I can get materials for tge repair, I just need to order the tools online. I got advice on the repair from my best friend from college who has a degree in welding and smithing. I figured relying on her degree plus country girl expertise was the best option.

The tried and true Coleman stove is another great choice. Got me through Ida when we had no power.

Thanks Chris! Love your channel! How about a session on solar cookers and generators? You are my fav prep channel! 🙏🏼

Hi Kris. I too live in CA; on the central coast. I have multiple cooking options both indoors and out. Without worrying about OPSEC, I’d prefer my open pit BBQ. It it were a concern, I’d rely on my 2 burner camp stove.

Cooking was a worry so I bought a pair of 100 lb propane tanks and the adapters to run Mr Heaters, my camp stove and the BBQ, and I'm happy about that. I also got a full cast iron set with a griddle, Dutch oven, pots and pans, so when the propane runs out I can start burning wood for my fuel. I still need a wood-burning stove in my house though, as that's a real long-term solution for both heat and cooking (provided it's defensible)... that's my long term goal.

I'd like to see a plan to address perishable foods, after a major event knocks out power for a projected long period. That will help before diving into the canned goods.

Comprehensive video 👍 With the exception of gas, all the other cooking fuels and methods need practice to achieve good results...only one I haven't tried is solar (I'm in UK) enough said :) Denatured alcohol is safe to use indoors... I think that's a big plus. The primary biproduct from burning it, is water vapour... virtually no carbon monoxide is produced. As you suggest, I do think a mix n match approach to fuel types and appropriate cookware is a reliable solution. I quite like wood pellets, since they can be weighed out for specific burn times, and they're virtually smokeless...cheap too, easy to store, clean to handle with little ash remaining. All the best from Bournemouth (South UK) 👍

You need to add to the list Evacuated solar tubes. Great for boiling water or cooking a meal without fuel, only sunlight. There are different sizes available.

Thank you for mentioning the cook time. Non-instant rice and beans take a long time, and if you don't have a wood stove or a battery system, odds are it's too much fuel. Instant rice, pasta, canned beans and veg and meat. Too many peopole say "this is what the pioneers used" or "this is what they do in haiti". Look at what people who are sailing long distances on small craft do.

Great video! I'm self-teaching for this type of stuff. Videos like these are fantastic for learning new methods and tricks to practice. I was out in the cold for a few days when my town flooded. Never letting that mess repeat itself if I can help it!

Absolutely terrific episode! In fact I may look into the thermal cooker. That isn't something I had considered and being able to just bring it to a boil and then put it away for 8+ hours is something I could work into a 'typical' day. eg: Before sleep; stage tomorrow evenings meal ingredients. Morning; make coffee and a frieze dried meal [or whatever else is the morning meal] with boiled water. Place the pot and that days meal on the heating source I already have started. Boiling food, put the pot in the thermal cooker and extinguish the fire. -daily work and activities or even relocation-. Evening meal and clean up. Stage tomorrow evenings meal [stage it right in the pot! without water until ready to cook obviously]. Of course not something to carry on your back but even with a uni-walker I can see the thermal cooker as being very useful. Especially while on the move or during high labor times like spring and fall. It's a lot of work setting up a camp after a long day of walking, not having to think about making food is a welcomed check box when tired.

Wow, that is a huge topic with a million variables - someone in a desert suburb with low fuel (pretty much just cannibalizing homes) and lots of neighbors is a VASTLY different scenario that someone in a rural wooded neighborhood where everyone is going to have some form of camp fire if only to boil/sterilize creek water with. Grilling up at first is going to be safe and universal as everyone is emptying their freezers and still has pantry food. Alas, Babylon (admittedly fiction) even comments on this after a nuclear strike. Your concern here is likely about how you are most efficiently cooked (and possibly preserving) those foods. Most will be preserving them as human fat by stuffing themselves on softening ice cream and frozen meals while the meats are thawing down to grilling temps. Having a plan to extend your freezer life (generators, keeping them full of frozen water bottles to preserve the cold, having coolers on hand, and even having some ice cream salt around to use your remaining ice to keep the last foods frozen longer all have their place as you eat your way through your freezer and fridge). Op sec is less important than maximizing that food. This is also a good time to be generous and get to know your neighbors in their new attitudes (they will be different people in a disaster than before).Find out who is staying, who is leaving, who seems desperate or panicked, who seems suspicious, etc. Get an idea of any major needs people have and try to work to facilitate them getting those needs met by others in the group. Being the middle man in neighborhood dealings is always better than being the neighborhood merchant baron yourself. Even if you are not a dedicated canner, dehydrator, etc - if you have some jars (even reusing things like old pickle jars) you can safely water bath can ANYTHING if you are only going to need it to last a short while so long as it is acid enough - so, if you can something in vinegar, tomato sauce, lemon juice, etc you are good canning cooked foods in boiling water pots for whatever length of time it takes to get them to seal (10-15 minutes at a full boil will usually work for all by the largest jars). This is NOT for real canning. This is to put a week or two only something that would otherwise go to waste. Once that phase is over - a few days to a week or two in colder weather - people will be down to pantry eating. At this point, you will be cooking less (you are not stuffing yourself with perishables, preserving foods with your canner on the grill, etc). Go with the flow. If the neighbors are cooking on campfires in their back yards - do that. If they are grilling - do that. When you notice that someone cooking something like bacon is drawing neighbors over to their house just to say "hey" (and maybe be offered some breakfast), that is your cue to cut the smells. I'm rural enough (and heavily wooded) that I could probably cook outside (or in the fireplace in winter) indefinitely. If necessary, however, my option after the grill is the camp stove - also propane, with adaptors for the grill tanks and plenty of the little green bottles as well. Blankets and stove in the winter are not ideal, but will absolutely take your profile down to almost nothing when everyone else has their fireplaces roaring. For me, that is it - the propane for convivence and speed at first and for stealth later with an unlimited ability for fire based cooking (I could armor a tank with my cast iron collection - it probably justifies intervention at this point). Learning to make a brick rocket stove is an afternoon's skill to do (and having the bricks for one stacked up out of sight lets you have one and have a happy wife).

Carbon steel paella pans are very light compared to cast iron skillets and are designed to cook over open fire. They are also very good for baking biscuits or pizza, can be used to fry eggs or pancakes like a skillet or griddle, and they are *MUCH BETTER* if you have to carry your cookware when bugging out.

Having layers of options is my plan. I have one of each of most of those categories but am curious about the thermal cookers after your video. Would save a lot of fuel. One of my favorite backpacking tricks is using a cat food can alcohol stove, denatured alcohol, and a windscreen cut from one of those disposable aluminum cookie pans. Cost a couple of bucks and weighs about an ounce. Fits right in your backpacking pot. The trick with alcohol stoves is to light it, then assume it’s lit, give it a second and then slowly feel for heat with your palm. I can attest to the fact that you can’t see the flame. Note that they are no good in wildfire areas and you can’t buy denatured alcohol in CA. I’ve tried. The OpSec aspect has me a little concerned, even with cooking in the house. Do you take it upstairs to get it above street level? Thorough video as always.

Can't believe you never mentioned " backpacking stoves". They are used by everyday survivalist( backpackers) who actually live day to day in wild. They are cheap, light, and very effective.

I like the camp stoves because they can be moved around easily and used indoors with proper ventilation. Only limitation is making sure (a) you have adequate fuel (b) you can store it safely....

Just adding: don't forget a wok! Super versatile, cheap, and effective.

Great tips about the kinds of cooking methods to use during a disaster. Thank you for sharing these valuable tips. Bless you and your family and stay safe.

I'm a big fan or pressure cookers. They shorten the cook time and therefore use less fuel. They can also be modified quite easily to distill water.

I keep dry milk to be used for brownies. I will eat anything to survive then finish with a piece of brownie. Moral boost.

I’ve got more than one of these methods of cooking. I gradually acquired them over several years trying out different things. I’m contemplating actually building my own rocket stove in a bucket so it’s portable. Good video I liked it.

So thankful for your insightful videos. You explain things in such a way that anyone could understand.

We have MRE’s on hand for the period of time immediately after a natural disaster. I’m in the NW where earthquakes are always a possibility. MRE’s allow you to eat while still sorting out where all your gear is and if it’s still functional.

I have a 12" cast iron frying pan that once belonged to my great grandmother, which makes it over 100 years old (I'm 62 y.o.). I can use it on the stove top, the oven, campfire flame/coals, gas/charcoal grill... just about any where I please as long as whatever it is used on can support the weight. Thanks Granny... just wish you'd also included your cornbread recipe along with it. 😄

I am so glad I know and have attachments to use my canners on fire pits. We could easily can up all of the meats we need to right away from the original grilling. Once they are in the jars, then we can heat up over candles if we want to.

I expect that for the first four days or so of a regional grid down, those who have an outdoor grill and enough charcoal or propane will be cooking food from their refrigerator and freezer before the food spoils. I expect there will be lots of cooking aromas throughout suburban neighborhoods those first four days or so and many backyard BBQ chefs will probably away cooked food to neighbors instead of leaving the thawing food to spoil. A block party cookout or neighborhood pot luck picnic during the first few days of a regional grid gown would not surprise me if the outdoor weather is mild. Better to cook and give away meals than to have a refrigerator and freezer full of smelly, rotting food. Heightened danger will likely start the week AFTER the regional power grid goes down when the unprepared become desperate for food, assuming the unprepared cannot just get into their vehicles and drive several hours to a region that does have a working power grid and open businesses that can process credit cards and debt cards. When people are hungry and still have enough energy to do something about it is when some may use force to seize food from others. When a lean person has been starving for a couple of weeks or longer, they just may be too weakened to be able to use force to take food from others. Those who started out obese, will have larger fat reserves for energy and probably will be active a lot longer during times of famine assuming they have a source of clean drinking water. When stuck in a populated area days after the unprepared have used what food they had before the grid went down, days after the local stores have run out of their food stocks and days or weeks before there is some organized food relief from state government or charity groups, protecting your household from desperate and hungry people will be critical. It does not matter whether you actually have any food in your home. If a desperate, starving person believes you have food, that may be enough for them to target your home for burglary or invasion. Obviously, the aroma of cooking food will be a lure that will attract hungry and desperate people and the neighborhood stray dogs from a long way upwind from your home. Different foods vary in their strength of cooking aroma. Frying bacon and onions will produce a more intense aroma compared to simmering white rice or plain spaghetti pasta in plain water. But when a person is starving, their sense of smell heightens and they can smell that rice cooking. Even if they do not smell cooking food, they will see or smell the smoke from a campfire or charcoal grill and will investigate. If you can safely simmer water indoors on a butane stove when all the windows and exterior doors are tightly closed, then you can prepare instant meals such as pouches of Mountain House meals. If living in a multiple story apartment or condo building, you will attract the least notice if you just consume no-cook foods such as trail bars or peanut butter and crackers or meat jerky or dried fruit or unheated canned vegetables and are very careful how you dispose of food wrappers and packaging. If you must use a wood stove, outdoor grill, rocket stove or campfire for cooking, you will be less likely to attract attention if you are in a thinly settled rural area and do your cooking early in the morning a few hours before sunrise when most people are sleeping. Do keep in mind, when a starving person is sleeping they can be awakened by a strong food odor. Once awake, they will follow the scent plume of cooking food until they find the source. Assuming they still have enough energy to walk. It can be a challenge to make affordable, no-cook meals or low-odor hot meals from long-term food storage. I plan to make museli for breakfast by soaking rolled oats overnight in clean water and then just before serving mixing in powdered milk, sugar and dried raisins. Dinner will be a Mountain House meal plus some rehydrated freeze-dried vegetables using water boiled on a butane stove.

The rack out of an oven makes a good grill in a no power situation when you just have sticks and limbs for fuel .

These are the type of videos I love from you! And what got me to following you on KZfaq. I would love to see more of these type videos.

I personally have a small grill- but no fuel for it. My parents have a fireplace they've never had checked or cleaned and a camp stove with some small bottles of propane. I'm hoping to go with my Dad to get the materials for a rocket stove and some firewood. If a rocket stove can be built in their fireplace it would be very efficient and less obvious, and also wouldn't have the flaw of running out of fuel once the propane is gone.

Awesome advice. This must be the topic of the day since ive seen 5 videos all talking about grid down cooking. Good ideas

I grew up with parents who were and are very into this sort of thing, we used to go camping and hunting near Matagami in the far north of Québec with minimal supplies and yes it was a fun experience but something many preppers do not seem to consider is - is this a life worth living? If the world ends and you are reduced to preparing meager meals in secrecy to avoid the attention of roving hoards of bandits, one must consider why exactly you're trying so hard to go on. Yes, I'm aware is that our ancestors lived very rough lifestyles and modern prepping even of the most bare essentialist sort would be luxurious for them, but they were born into that rough life and it was all that they knew. Yes I know that as a human I am made for hunter-gatherer living and I could survive, but I question if I would want to live in the kind of world that survivalism and prepping prepares for. I don't think I would just as they said after the United States crimes against Japan that those who died right when the nuclear bombs hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima where the lucky ones, for those survivors in the aftermath living was worth than death. Frankly, I think that the same principle would apply in most other situations where survivalist skills like so would be necessary... I would rather not live in that world. I assume that for those with children it is different, because your whole life and instinctual drive becomes about protecting them at all and any cost. But, I look at the world today and I feel that it would be cruel to have children in this degenerate broken Society and in this time and place, I would not want them to suffer in this world, or in the world that might come in the near future, so I am not having them, and I am not planning on being a survivalist if the SHTF....if the world is ending I will end with it.

Rice cookers are remarkably versatile and a great option if you have a way of maintaining electricity, either a generator, solar power, ect. They combine the effects of pressure cookers and insulated pots to allow the food inside to be cooked with the minimal amount of heat input and many come with a variety of settings and accessories such as steam baskets for cooking a plethora of different foods. They can even be great for baking cakes or bread if you want. Also a note about coil heaters... you can find electric kettles which contain these that allow for the rapid boiling of lots of water within a safe and easy to handle vessel. Definitely recommend getting one of these and using it everyday to boil water for tea. They are a godsend for the college student living off of package ramen and instant coffee.

This could be the most important video to watch on cooking. I loved all the options and several of them will be our go-to equipment after and even before a major crisis!

Depending on the environment or predicament we find ourselves cooking it may be a good idea to cook at “odd” times. Guests may drop by uninvited for dinner at 6pm or breakfast at 8am expecting food to be on the table. Do you have enough to share? Could be more than one or once. I’m speaking from experience.