What must I know about cooking my food reserves?
You must always consider how to cook what you want to eat. Note that typically, if you’re dealing with a long term emergency, then power is affected. When power is out, forget using your refrigerator, stove, microwave, and deep freezer (unless you’ve thought through power back up for all of these). How will you boil water, heat up canned goods, and prepare pastas or rice?
Think about what’s available to you that you’re willing to consider storage for.
Beginner emergency cooking checklist should include:
- Storage space and shelving
- Air tight storage containers
- Knowing best storage practices to prevent food spoiling
- Utensils to open or re-seal storage containers
- Camping stoves and camping fuels
- Gas grill and fuels
- Fireplace, or fire pit, and wood, open-fire-able pots, pans, and utensils
- Pressure cookers and a heat source (intermediate to advanced prepper)
- Solar powered ovens (intermediate to advanced prepper)
Also consider whether you are growing your own garden in the midst of a long term food disruption. How can you best capture and store the yield of produce? Just like two generations ago, canning foods is your best bet. However, we strongly caution practice now before you delve into canning. Again, this requires having the tools on hand: canning jars and lids, salts, a pressure cooker, a heat source, and a water source.
