At times when conventional cooking is not an option, there are many ways of being able to cook food, depending on what’s for dinner, can foods come pre-cooked and can be eaten straight from the can, in a time of crisis. Depending on the area in which you live and the season it is, canned foods can be placed outside in the sun for a few hours, so you can be able to enjoy a warm meal. Certain foods such as legumes and grains need to be cooked in order to make indigestible components digestible.
Cooking Utensils
It would be great if you had a two-four quart pot with lid, but if not then you can make a pot by using a number 10 can, usually from stored food or coffee. Many cans have a plastic coating on the inside that must be burned of completely before it can be used for cooking. Make a fire outside, in a woodstove or fireplace. Place the can open side down on the flame. It will take about 5-10 mins for the plastic coating to be burned off. Once the flame subsides and the can cools, wash the can thoroughly with soap and water. Now the can could be used to cook with. You can also poke two holes in the opening of the can, one on each side of the can and a salvage wire can be doubled up and anchored to the can through the holes. It can be used as a handle to suspend the can over a heat source and also as a way to carry the can when hot.
When making cooking utensils, make sure they are made of metal, because glass and ceramic cookware can be easily broken.
Eating Utensils
Many foods can be eaten with your hands, even though by doing so can result in gastrointestinal problems, when you are put in a situation where you will also have to use emergency sanitation techniques. Forks, spoons and knives are not a necessity. A Spork will suffice and can be easily carved out of a piece of wood. Chop sticks can be made even easier, out of two twigs. After use it can be added to the fire or thrown away, which saves on cleaning time and wash water. Bowls and spoons are not required, because you can “slurp-drink” your soap right from the cook pot. Spoons are good for canned foods and survival fare, which at some point in time will manifest itself as soap or stew. A knife might be useful if your food gets tough or stringy. Even plastic silverware is suitable at first, but it is fragile and frequently breaks. So if you are only able to pack one eating utensil, make it the ever so useful spoon.
Cooking Alternatives
Charcoal and Barbeque Grills
Grills are a great tool to use for cooking during a crisis. Most BBQ grills are run on propane gas. Quite astonishingly the propane will last for quite some time, depending on what’s being cooked. Some barbeque grills also have a side burner, which will allow you to cook food in pots. A down fall of you using a BBQ grill in the time of a crisis is that once your propane has run out, it wont be easy to get more. Also if you need to travel, a BBQ grill in not transportable. The spherical-shape of a charcoal grill will allow you to burn almost anything as a fuel source, due to the shape and volume of the grill. Carbon-Monoxide from the burning charcoal briquettes have killed people who have brought their grill in the house for warmth during power outages. So use caution, common sense and DO NOT bring your charcoal briquette fueled grill in or near the house
Mini Stove with Fuel Tablets
Most cooking stoves are no more than a collapsible metal grate in which hexamine tablets are placed underneath to heat whatever needs to be heated. They are pretty cool and will simmer a cup of water, but your family might bludgeon you to death as they go through the painful agony of waiting for their dinner one cup at a time
Candles
A candle can be used to heat up many things. It will be a very time-consuming and tedious process. Canned foods can be opened; their paper label removed and can be placed on a makeshift grate positioned over a candle flame.
Woodstoves
Woodstoves feature a flat surface that is ideal for cooking. The drawback to a woodstove is that it is located in your home, so if an emergency happens in the middle of July, it is very unlikely that you will want to fire it up when it is 95 degrees outside.
Campfires
There are many different campfire lays, depending on how you would like to set things up when you are cooking with fire. A radiant flame produced more heat and smoldering coals produce more even heat without scorching. Until you get a good cooking system going, your pot will drive you crazy, because either it will be to far from the heat source, so it will take too long to heat the food or it will smother the flame by preventing the oxygen from getting to the flame, by being it to close. So if you are put into a position where you need to use a campfire, go slow, use caution, common sense and patience. You will eventually get the hang of campfire cooking.