Methods for Cooking Without Electricity
Being able to eat cooked and warm meals is very important for a person's physical and psychological health. Here are a few alternative cooking methods that do not require electricity:
Rocket Stove
Uses airflow and small amounts of wood to produce a hot flame that acts like a stove cooktop.
You can buy a good rocket stove for around $100, or build your own.
Solar Oven
Uses solar energy from the sun to heat the inside of the oven to temperatures of 250+ degrees F
They come in various shapes, sizes, and qualities. Prices from $50 to $350, or build your own.
Dutch Oven
Uses coals from a fire (or briquettes) to cook the food inside of the cast iron dutch oven. Since they hold heat well, you can also use them to keep food warm longer, for large groups.
$25 to $50 depending on size.
Indoor Wood Burning Stove
A wood burning stove can double as a cook top, by allowing you to boil water and heat things up.
If you have a built in fireplace, you might consider looking into a pot hold of some sort for cooking.
Propane and Charcoal Grills
Like your patio barbeque or you camp chef style cook stoves. Just be sure to store plenty of fuel.
*Safety Note: You should never cook indoors using briquettes, as they’ll let off harmful fumes.
Backpacking Camp Stoves
This is a good option if you are traveling, and only cooking for a few people. Most of the burners use butane canisters, and are very light weight. Stove costs between $10 and $100+. (the stove below is an awesome choice for the money, and a very functional and quality stove)
Cooking Over The Fire
Many meals can be easily cooked over an open fire. Its a good idea to practice this technique and get comfortable cooking food this way. It requires no special equipment, and can be a lot of fun.
Earth Oven
Food is placed inside of a heated pit dug in the ground, and left covered to cook. You can either place heated up rocks in the pit or burn a fire down to coals in it. They have been successfully used around the world for centuries, to bake, smoke and steams food, and even to bake bread!
Milk Can Dinner
This isnt really a cooking method, and could actually be cooked in a fire or on a stove. It's an efficient way to cook for lots of people at once. You literally fill an old, clean milk can up with food and cook it. You can follow a traditional milk can recipe, or make soups, stews, beans, etc...
