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Off Grid Cooking Solutions, by V.W.
Three years ago, my husband and I jumped in with both feet and decided to invest in emergency preparedness and survival skills. It’s been quite a journey, and we certainly have learned a lot. My husband’s main interests are in security and heating the home, while mine have been food storage and off grid cooking. We make a good team as we rely on each other’s strengths and abilities. Although we are not yet at the level we hope to be, we are a lot further down the road than where we once were.
I recently taught a small class in emergency preparedness in my community. We live in an area that loses electrical power due to ice storms, high winds, and tornados. After hearing the tale of a neighbor who spent a miserable day and night following a snowstorm without heat or a way to cook, I asked a friend to help me teach a class to demonstrate several different ways to cook and light a home when the power is out.
One of the methods we discussed was thermal cooking. What is thermal cooking? Let me give the example of cooking spaghetti. Sometimes after bringing a pot of water to boil and add the noodles, I turn off the heat, put on a lid, and let the retained heat cook the spaghetti. It only takes about five minutes more to cook the noodles this way than if the stove had been kept on high to boil the noodles. I like to do this in the summer to keep the kitchen cooler when temperatures soar.
The technology is not new. The pioneers practiced a form of thermal cooking called hay-box cooking. They put their Dutch ovens in boxes of hay, and their food cooked while they traveled. The famous author of “Gone With the Wind,” Margaret Mitchell, wrote a book a hundred years ago called “The Fireless Cookbook” which describes earlier forms of this method and how to make your own.
I also searched the Internet and found instructions on how to make different thermal cookers as well as some demonstrations of professionally made products. Although I thought it was a great idea, I decided to first try a do it yourself version of the cooker. It actually worked! I did a few experiments and was encouraged that this could be done so easily.
At our preparedness meeting, my friend brought her Saratoga Jacks thermal cooker to discuss. I had previously told her about Saratoga Jacks, and when she and her husband saw what it could do, they bought one. As her family is large, she chose the larger size, which cooks enough food for 6-10 people. After seeing it in person and hearing of her experiences (and how it fit into emergency preparedness), we ordered the smaller sized unit, which can cook food for 3-5 people. We saw an advantage of a professionally made model, and since I usually request preparedness items for my birthday, we bought one.
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