Cooking During Power Outages

I am a firm believer that learning how to do something on the fly is a great way to learn. However, there are certain things that you should put a little preparation into prior to needing the skill. Learning the art of cooking during power outages is not the time to figure out that you don’t know how to cook over open flames.

Cooking During Power Outages

There is very little more frightening than not being able to feed yourself and family. But it is inevitably worse when you can’t feed your family during an incredibly stressful time, like when you don’t have power. In this blog post, I am going to give you all my tips, tricks, and hacks for how we weather storms and cook for our family. My hope is that you will take this knowledge and run with it.

I do want to be very clear with this post. I am not trying to insight panic or fear. In fact, quite the opposite. There is a certain comfort in knowing that if the power goes out for whatever reason, you can feed your family. Plus, it can be really fun. Learning how to use a grill is a very handy way to not heat up the house in the summer. Cooking over a campfire is a great way to have family time. Again, it can be really fun to learn this skill and it’s a skill that will feed you.

Why do you need to learn?

If you have never had to struggle with paying your light bill, I am beyond proud of you. As a child of a single mother, there were times that the power or water got shut off. Granted, and thankfully, never for very long, but it did happen. As an adult looking back at my childhood, I can honestly say that my mother made the best of a bad situation and it was never a big deal. She would pull out the camping equipment and we would camp in the living room. No big deal.

As an adult, having no power isn’t a big deal for me. We’ve lost power several times over the years and you just make do. There’s very little point in freaking out and panicking because there isn’t power.

All that being said, I learned a long time ago how to cook over an open flame (camp fire) and how to cook on grills, smokers, etc. And it’s a skill that has served me well as I’ve gotten older.

Tools For Cooking During Power Outages

If your stove is electric and you lose power, you don’t have a stove. My suggestion is to have some form of fire to cook with. But my second suggestion is to have multiple ways to cook with fire. That being said, there are several things that will absolutely make your life easier when cooking over fire and I’m going to list those out below. Remember, it is better to work on this skill now, when you have power to read this blog post, than to try to figure out how to open a can with an electric can opener.

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Camp Stove– First and foremost, get yourself a camp stove with a flat top attachment. Yes, it runs off propane but in the 6+ years that we have had ours, I have found that it doesn’t use a ton of propane. I use our camp stove for canning, burgers, soups, and so much more. If I am doing a canning marathon, I can usually run one propane tank for about 6 hours before I start running low. These things are sturdy and I love them.

Fun fact, I desperately wanted a Black Stone but I just couldn’t see spending a ton of money on one. This little flat top is fantastic and so much cheaper.

Cooking Tripod– Now, this particular link is for a bunch of different kinds because I don’t know what your set up is or could be. I have this one from Camp Chef and love it. I cook almost exclusively with cast iron or stainless steel and while heavy, this tripod has held up for us.

Cast Iron– I have an entire post about cast iron here, and like I said above, we only cook with it or stainless steel. That being said, I would not put any other type of pot/pan over flame. You will probably melt handles, or overheat the pan. I just wouldn’t risk it. Specifically, I would get two different cast iron pans for cooking over open flames. A Dutch oven like this and a 12″ pan like this.

Utensils– I’m not going to link any specific utensils here. My suggestion is that you get utensils that are rated for high heat. Things like wooden spoons, metal spatulas, etc.

Tips For Cooking Over Open Flame

If you are use to cooking on a gas stove, understand that cooking over propane or an open flame is totally different. If you aren’t practiced at it, you will scorch your food. Plus, you can’t walk away from the food.

Tip #1- Use cast iron. No exceptions. Cast iron is made to be used on open flame. The way that the pan heats, cooks and cools is all centered around being used over open flame. This is the reason why it was created and part of the reason it will last forever.

Tip #2- Always make sure that your pan is hot before you start cooking. This is especially important for cast iron and an open flame.

Tip #3- Use a quality fat for your cast iron before you start cooking. This may sound like a “duh” thing, but you don’t want to use crappy oil in an already stressful situation.

Tip #4- Be prepared to move your pan around the fire. This is obviously more geared towards a cooking over a camp fire but regardless, don’t be afraid to move that pan around to find hotter or cooler spots. If you have a tripod, even better. You can lift your pan higher to keep you food from burning.

Tip#5- Start with easy things like broth based soups (chicken noodle, beef stew, etc) before you start learning how to cook meat in your Dutch oven.

Tip #6- Always, always have a way to wash your utensils, pots, pans and hands. Don’t get yourself sick because you don’t have some way to wash your stuff. I use a bleach solution that I can just rinse off after dunking. This is not ideal. But neither is cooking over a fire because my power is out. I do recommend getting large tub that you can wash your dishes in.

Easy Beef Stew Over A Camp Fire

I didn’t want to leave you without an easy meal to cook over the campfire. This is one of my favorite ways to have a hot, filling meal.

Tools: Cast iron Dutch oven, spoon to stir, ladle, some way to cook over a flame (tripod, grate, firepit, etc)

Ingredients: 1# of stew meat, 1.5# of potatoes, .5# carrots, 1 onion, about 3T of minced garlic, 1 bunch of celery and about 24-32oz of beef broth.

Seasons to taste: salt, pepper, garlic salt, Cajun seasoning, oil/ fat, flour, bay leaves, oregano

Directions: start your fire and let it get going. Once it’s caught, put your Dutch oven on to heat up. Again use something that keeps it off the fire but still allows it to heat up. Also, be freaking careful! You are cooking over an open flame. This is not the time to make a trip to the ED.

As you are waiting for your pan to heat, toss your meat in just enough flour to coat it.

Once your pan is hot, add your oil. I coat the bottom of the Dutch oven. Once the oil shimmers (moves freely and quickly) and add your onion and garlic. Once fragrant, add your meat. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side. We aren’t trying to over cook the meat here, we just want to sear it. Take it out and put on a plate.

Add about a cup or so of your beef broth and scrape the bottom of the Dutch oven. We want all those brown bits off the bottom of the pan.

Once that’s done, add your veggies, the rest of your broth and bring to a boil. Add your seasonings. I can’t tell you how much to add because I use a ton of seasoning and you may not like how much I add. A good rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper and then 1 tablespoon of each and then taste after about 5 minutes.

Once everything is boiling, move your pot away from the heat (this is where you have to babysit your food) and put it where it will simmer. We don’t want a hard boil here, we just want little bubbles to help cook the potatoes and carrots. Once you’ve got the temperature right, and it’s actually simmering, add your beef back into the pot.

Let it simmer for about 30 minutes or so. Checking and stirring regularly. If you find your running out of broth, add some more or add water. Now, if it is done cooking before you are ready to eat, you can take it off the fire and the cast iron will retain a ton of heat.

Usually what I do, is check a potato. If it is JUST cooked, I will pull the Dutch oven off the fire and set it on the ground next to the fire (covered!). It will continue to cook and stay warm without over cooking.

90% of the time, this recipe turns out pretty good. Of course, it’s hard to screw up beef stew. Usually, if you do screw it up, it’s still edible and pretty damn good.

I hope you enjoy this and try it out! Preferably before you lose power!

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