Do You Know How to Cook During Power Outage?

Do You Know How to Cook During Power Outage? If not, you’re in luck as that is exactly what we will be discussing today. This post will explore 3 different methods for cooking during a power outage. Being prepared for a blackout could potentially save your life. So, let’s not waste any time.

How to Cook During Power Outage?

If you’re lucky enough to have a gas cooking range when the electricity goes out, you’ll still be able to cook on the stove top.  If your oven or burners have electronic ignitions, however, your they won’t ignite automatically.  Simply light your burners with a lighter and you’ll be good to go.

The sad truth is if you are in North America, you probably won’t have a gas range in your household. That’s because in many places here having a gas range in your house isn’t allowed. So, what do you do? Here are a few possible solutions.

Solution #1: Emulate a Gas Range

The simplest solution is getting yourself a little propane camp stove. This is a similar mechanism to having a gas range. But note that in many of the canisters warn against using them indoors. These propane canisters are really easy to get. They are generally available at your local hardware or variety stores and are surprisingly not that expensive.

To use it, simply make sure it’s off, connect the burner attachments, and give it a light. That’s it! After that you’d be ready to cook. The hardest part of using Propane devices is safely storing your propane. If you do not have a good place to store propane, maybe the second solution would be a better alternative for you.

Solution #2: The Alcohol Stove

If you’re in a situation where you’re concerned about being able to get fuel, then an alcohol stove may be a good option for you.

The stove itself is essentially the bottom of a pop can with small holes pierced in around the circumference of the top. You can find many DIY tutorials online as it happens to be very easy to make. However, if you are press for time, or not in the mood to do it yourself, you may be able to find people selling them online. Al you need to use this stove is some high percentage alcohol and something to start your fire.

To use the alcohol stove, sit it on a cast iron skillet. This helps in the case of an alcohol spill. Have an empty can close by to snuff the fire when you’re done using it. Try to have some baking soda handy so that in the event of an accident you can put out the fire quickly. To use it, simply pour a bit of alcohol into the can, light it and watch it transform into a burner.

Alcohol stoves are great for heating water, soup, and other liquid based cooking. When you are finished cooking, simply cover it with an empty can. The loss of oxygen will put out the flame. As you may have already figured out, it’s best to run this stove using alcohol with a very high alcohol content. Many people with this stove lean toward 95% rubbing alcohol.

When storing your alcohol, you can opt to leave it in your medicine cabinet, or even sealing the alcohol bottle in a Ziploc bag.

Solution #3: Grab Yourself a Wood Pallet Smoker or Grill

The Wood Pellet Smoker utilizes wood pellets, which makes temperature and flavor control easier when smoking, grilling, or roasting. The ease of use has made this smoker-grill popular all around the globe.

A wood pellet has the shape of a pill that looks like ¼-inch thick wood. These pellets are used in a controlled manner to maintain the desired temperature in a Wood Pellet Smoker-Grill. Wood pellets come in different varieties, such as hickory, apple, mesquite, cherry, and more. Different varieties provide different flavors and levels of smokiness to the prepared food. The smoky flavors blend with the food in the smoker-grill and create a unique taste and texture.

Each Wood Pellet Smoker-Grill contains a storage hopper. This storage hopper is the place where you add all of the wood pellets. The equipment takes care of the transfer of wood pellets from the storage hopper to the burning area in the correct quantity.

Thus, you get a perfect temperature for the type of cooking approach you are following. The rate of pellet burning increases when you are grilling, and it decreases when you set the smoker-grill at a low temperature. This helps to smoke your food for a long time with a consistent heat.

It only takes about 10–20 minutes to heat and get the smoker-grill ready for cooking. The preheating process usually takes about 15 minutes. This makes cooking efficient and easy for everyone. You can pick any time and work on some delicious recipes.

How to Buy a Pellet Grill

Modern designs of Wood Pellet Smoker-Grills contain electronic functionality. Advanced design allows smoker-grills to manage temperature control and pellets on its own. The wood pellets are transferred to the burning area according to the cooking setting you provide. With one push of a button, you can allow the smoker-grill to take care of the temperature consistency and the flavors of the food inside.

When you opt to buy a Pellet Grill there are a few things you have to consider. Including:

Selecting Smoker Model & Type:

You will need to select the type of smoker you want to use. The vertical water smokers then to be on the cheaper end of the market and tend to work well even during warm weather. However, they won’t be able to maintain their core temperature during cold weather. The cabinet style electric smokers are shaped like a small fridge. Most of these cabinet smokers also have a temperature gauge that will enable you to control the core temperature. When you are making use of an electric smoker to cook, it is incredibly important that you can control the temperature.

Selecting Your Wood:

You will need to purchase the necessary wood chips. You can find these at a local grocery or a hardware store. These days, you can even order the necessary wood chips online/ you can add any additional flavor adding agents like cherry, apple, plum or maple to the container of wood chips. For smoking food for about 3-5 hours, you will need around 950 ml or 4 cups of wood chips.

Understand Cooking Temperatures:

Whenever you are making use of an electric smoker, you should always make sure that you are cooking at an ideal temperature. You will need to monitor the internal temperature of the smoker. However, most of the smokers available these days come with a temperature gauge. This simplifies your work. Some electric smokers also have a dial for adjusting the smokers. So, make sure that you have adjusted the temperature depending on the recipe.

Final Thoughts

Being prepared for the aftermath of a natural disaster can save your life. Never take it for granted that the electricity we enjoy daily will always be there. Study the work- arounds, and run practice drills over a weekend so your whole family will become aware.

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