The current hurricane (Florence) thread got me thinking about various topics and one was cooking. We use a thermal pot for various slow cooking menu items (stew, chili, whatever). It’s very efficient; put the stainless steel inner pot on the stove burner (electric/induction/gas) just enough time to get it hot and then into the insulated outer container. Web search for “thermal cooker” — lots of manufacturers, primarily Chinese, some Japanese.

We use ours a lot without a hurricane or EQ. But during an emergency, the efficient use of stove fuel might be a concern. The thermal pots pair nicely with a camp stove using your favorite fuel.

Thermal cooker @ Amazon

It is simple. When the power is out, we are camping out. nothing is-more convenient than a one burner iso-butane backpacker stove, and I also have a two burner camp gas stove, plus a decent supply of fuel for both

This is a natural outcome of my outdoors orientation, but decent camping/outdoor gear is generally very useful when the trappings of civilization fall away.

What do I do when the canisters are exhausted? Time to hunt for firewood or break up the furniture for kindling and cook like the old days....

I can set up a full kitchen with propane, wood or charcoal. The advantages of being a scout master. In addition, we have a plethora of backpacking stoves, including a universal fuel stove.

And then we come to the question of "What's for dinner?"

A lot of people focus on freeze dried food, but while light weight, they require water for preparation. For a situation where I will not be carrying the food on my back, I much prefer canned goods, many of which are essentially MRE capable. After all, potable water is likely to be a critical resource, so dehydrated foods are not so optimum...

While MRE's work, I feel that for the money, I can get more with regular grocery store goods, plus what we can harvest from our garden.

I do have a modest stash of FD items, because you never know.

You start with what is in the fridge, then move to the freezer, then start on non-perishables. Eat what will go bad first.

At last, a valid reason for an ice cream binge.......

When we moved to our new house a couple years ago, we were forced to install an induction type stove.

During the renovation work we had a bedroom converted into the new kitchen, but the main gas lines were on the other side of the building, so it would have been tremendously expensive to bring a gas line to the room.

I didn't like this setup a bit, as an induction stove is useless when the power is out.

I solved the problem, killing two birds with one stone, by purchasing a gas powered barbecue for the porch, a model that has a traditional gas burner on one side, which I could use to cook in case of a power outage. The barbecue and burner are powered by a rather large propane tank, and I could keep using it daily for weeks before the gas runs out. An earthenware pot is good to keep the food warm for a long time.

What really concerns me is the issue of heating if the power goes out. Wa have a modern methane furnace with radiators and a big pellet stove in the living room, but neither would work without electricity, leaving us in the cold. I've been thinking a while about purchasing a gasoline generator to power the pellet stove during blackouts, but I would have to run an extension cord from the generator, set outside on the porch, and the pellet stove on the inside, leaving a door or window cracked open.

Pardon the thread hijack, but can you run your main heating system off the generator? It sounds like it is powered by natural gas (methane=natural gas?) to produce the actual heat source. My furnace is natural gas. The electricity is only for the controls/fans/etc., and uses very little electricity to function, so it runs fine off the generator and keeps the house warm. Based on the exact installation and local codes, you may want/need to install a separate electrical box or switch to allow you to connect the heating system into the generator.

[Hijack continued:]

Check the manual for your pellet stove. They draw very little power, and some are now designed with the ability to operate on 12VDC for exactly the reasons you mention.

That's very interesting -- I had heard of a traditional "haybox" for that purpose, but had no idea they were available commercially.

Given the cooking pots, insulation and other materials in a modern home, do you think an efficient version could be improvised? When the thawing meat in a freezer needs to be cooked, for example?