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In The Event of a Power Failure: How You Can Still Cook in an Emergency

A power failure due to natural events, crises or technical faults is also possible with us at any time. We will show you how you can cook without electricity and what you need to do it.

In the event of a power failure: cook like in the old days

We can no longer imagine everyday life without electricity. But our ancestors lived like this and cooked with fire. You can still do that today: find a spot outdoors with sufficient distance from combustibles and the forest.

Pay attention to a suitable, non-combustible surface, preferably earth or sand. Dig a small hollow for the fireplace or place a ring of stones. Alternatively, use a fire bowl. You can place a grill grate over the embers and put a pot on top. Put out every fire again, for example with sand.

However, making a campfire requires wood and a little practice. Because of the risk of fire, open fire is also prohibited in many places, especially during dry periods. It is generally not possible in residential areas. Maybe you have a charcoal grill at home, the modern version of the campfire. Not only can you roast vegetables, meat or fish on the grill, you can also heat your kettle or soup.

camping stove

The easiest way to cook without electricity is with a camping stove. Various models are commercially available: one-flame cartridge cooker, two and three-flame larger devices. There are also various accessories such as stands for pots and pans and even attachments that you can use to bake. As a rule, these stoves burn with gas cartridges, which you can get at any hardware store. Gasoline stoves are also occasionally offered. There are also special Esbit pocket stoves with solid fuel tablets. These mini stoves are particularly light and therefore suitable for outdoor tours. Because of their size, they are more likely to be emergency cookers, but they are useful for a cup of coffee or a ready-made soup.

You can cook a real meal with the classic one-flame gas cartridge cooker. We recommend dishes that you can prepare in just one pot, such as soups and stews. Gas stoves hardly smell and do not smoke or soot. Nevertheless, the manufacturers recommend using them only outdoors for safety reasons. You should make sure that the stove is stable and cannot tip over. Always turn off the gas immediately after use.

Cooking with solar energy is also an alternative. You can buy solar cookers, portable folding grills, or solar ovens. They are equipped with a reflective material that catches the sun’s rays, focuses them and thus generates heat. Solar ovens are particularly environmentally friendly and you don’t have to buy any fuel. However, they only work outdoors and in sunshine. The cooking time is longer than other ovens. You must therefore plan your time well in order to have enough sun.

indoor solutions

Fire bowl, grill and gas cooker are suitable for cooking outside. And inside? You can also prepare your food with a fondue set or table grill. This works wonderfully in the apartment. You can use fuel paste as a heat source. It consists of denatured alcohol (ethanol) and a thickener. In gastronomy, it is often used to keep food warm. It gets very hot and is also suitable for cooking.

If you don’t have a fondue set, you can build your own construction: place the grill grate from your oven over some bricks. You can also use flower pots, tin cans or preserving jars (no plastic!) as a substructure. Put your pot on it. Place the container with the fuel paste underneath on a fireproof, heat-resistant surface, such as a porcelain plate. Your construction must be stable and must never be left unattended.

If you don’t have fuel paste, you can also heat it up with tea lights if necessary. You can boil water, but it takes a long time and you need a lot of tea lights. The best ones with a longer burn time. Proper cooking with tea lights is tedious.

Prepare accessories, food and fire extinguisher

Cooking without electricity is not that difficult. Stock up on the necessary accessories and suitable food. Also don’t forget that you will always need matches or a lighter (except for the solar oven). Almost all methods presented here cook with flame. So pay attention to your safety and fire protection. Don’t leave your cooking area unattended. You should always have an extinguishing option (fire extinguisher, extinguishing spray, fire blanket…) at hand.

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Food

For Your Pantry: 8 Foods That Have an Extremely Long Shelf Life in an Emergency

Stocking up on groceries is hardly necessary these days. We can get almost anything our hearts desire in supermarkets and discounters almost anytime. But some situations call for emergency supplies. Which foods do you choose when you want to stock up? The most suitable are those that last as long as possible. 8 foods in particular are almost non-perishable and should be found in your stash.

Various reasons: why and when you should buy supplies

Many consider whether it really makes sense to buy supplies. There are many reasons that speak in favor of this: First of all, it is of course quite practical to have some basic groceries in stock in the house. This way you don’t have to make your way to the supermarket every day and you save time and stress at best.

The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance also advises having a supply of food at home for unexpected emergencies. After all, environmental disasters or the like can never be ruled out: depending on where you live, you could be affected by floods, avalanches, heavy snowfall, storms or even forest fires. In such situations, for your own protection, it may not even be possible to leave the house for a few days.

In addition, it can happen at any time that you get sick and don’t feel fit enough to leave your apartment to go shopping. This can take not only one but also several days. In an emergency, you can certainly ask your neighbors or friends for help; However, if you can manage with your own supplies for a while, this is usually more practical, since contact persons do not always have time.

These 8 foods are virtually non-perishable

Emergency supplies can consist of different foods. These eight non-perishable foods should not be missing:
Rice: If the rice is kept airtight and dry, it will not spoil for years. Products such as bulgur, quinoa, couscous or buckwheat behave in a similar way.
Honey: Pure honey never goes bad by itself. The prerequisite is that it is stored cool and dry and tightly closed. If the honey crystallizes, it can be made liquid again by heating it briefly in the oven.
Sugar: Even pure sugar is non-perishable. To prevent clumping, however, it should be stored dry and airtight.
Cornstarch: If you seal the cornstarch airtight, it won’t expire either. So you can use them forever to thicken sauces, soups or the like.
White wine vinegar: Distilled white wine vinegar is also one of the non-perishable foods. If it is tightly closed and stored in a cool and dark place, you can use it for years to make dressings, sauces, etc.
Maple syrup: If you like it sweet, you should definitely buy maple syrup in advance. If it is frozen, it will keep forever.
Schnapps: It is a well-known fact that high-proof alcohol does not spoil. It can also be kept indefinitely.
Salt: Salt can crumble or stick together when it comes into contact with liquid. However, if you keep it dry and airtight, it will not spoil.

Other foods that can be kept for a very long time and are therefore ideal for stocking up include pasta, long-life milk, canned fruit and vegetables, flour, baking powder, sunflower oil and olive oil, as well as cornflakes, crispbread and pre-baked rolls. This way you can put together a diverse supply of long-lasting food.

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Emergency Supplies: You Can Get by with These Foods for 10 Days

Quarantine, power outage or worries about the political situation: Many are considering stocking up on emergency food in case of an emergency. The Ministry of Agriculture has created a corresponding shopping list with recommended foods – we have looked at them.

An emergency supply can feed you for a few days if new groceries can’t be delivered or you can’t leave the house.

However, panic and excessive hamster purchases are not appropriate. Since the first lockdown, we have known that the food supply is working well. According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), however, it is still advisable to stock up on emergencies, regardless of the threat posed by the corona virus.

Apocalyptic scenarios are not understood as emergencies. A widespread power failure lasting several days can mean that supermarkets can no longer be supplied and the water supply is impaired.

But other unforeseen events such as natural disasters or epidemics can also mean that we suddenly no longer have access to fresh food. For these cases, the Federal Ministry has published a supply table with food that could feed a person for around ten days.

Emergency supplies: shopping list for cereals and potatoes

The list only includes products that do not need to be cooled, as it should also be valid in the event of a power failure. Therefore, frozen foods are not recommended. The ministry assumes a daily calorie intake of 2200 kilocalories per person. In addition to the “normal” table, which contains fish and meat, there is also a vegetarian shopping list. A vegan version does not yet exist.

In the cereals and potatoes category, the Ministry recommends the following foods for an emergency supply per person:

710g wholemeal bread
180g rusks
710g crispbread
280g pasta (raw)
180g rice (raw)
540g oats or other cereal flakes
710g potatoes (raw, without skin)

Emergency supplies: fruit and vegetables

With regard to fruit and vegetables, the ministry recommends using canned goods for the most part. Because they have a long sell-by date. Your shopping list should include:

570g green beans
640g peas/carrots
500g red cabbage
500g sauerkraut
290g of asparagus
290g corn
290g mushrooms
290g pickled cucumbers
290g beetroot
400g cherries
180g pears
180g apricots
250g tangerines
250g pineapple

The quantities always refer to the drained weight. Of course, canned food and well-travelled tropical fruits like pineapples are not exactly sustainable. The BMEL is primarily concerned with the list of shelf life and sufficient calorie intake. In order to improve the ecological balance of these foods, you could boil, pickle or ferment the fruit and vegetables yourself and use them to create a crisis supply.

Some dried fruit, nuts and fresh products are also on the BMEL’s emergency stock list. These are:

360g fresh onions
140g raisins
250g prunes
100g hazelnuts
710g fresh fruit (e.g. apples, bananas, pears, oranges)

Milk, eggs, substitutes, and fats on the shopping list

In the standard table, the Ministry recommends, among other things, canned tuna, sardines in oil, herring, corned beef, bockwurst or veal liver sausage. We think: Even in a temporary crisis situation, such food does not have to be. Tuna is heavily overfished, and canned sausage and meat products usually come from industrial factory farming.

The calories that the products are supposed to provide can also be consumed in other ways – without having to accept animal suffering. These products have been replaced by vegetarian alternatives in the vegetarian emergency stock list. The following foods can be found in this category:

200g tofu
150g vegetarian patties
230g vegetarian sausages
250g vegetarian spread
200g vegetarian salami
265g eggs (weight without shell)
Regarding dairy products, fats and oils, these products are on the list:

2l UHT milk (3.5 percent fat)
500g hard cheese
180g fat spread or butter
180g margarine
150ml cooking oil
To further reduce animal products, you can replace the UHT milk with oat milk or another plant-based drink. Make sure that it is a plant-based milk that does not need to be refrigerated, lasts as long as possible and has around 50 to 60 kilocalories per 100 milliliters.

Beverages and other items in emergency stock

For a 10-day emergency supply you need 20 liters of mineral water. This includes both the recommended drinking quantity of 1.5 liters per day and water for cooking pasta, rice and the like at 500 milliliters per day. For people over the age of 65, it is advisable to have even more water available, as they should drink around two liters of water a day.

In addition to mineral water, the following products are on the list in this category:

140ml lemon juice
180g coffee powder or instant coffee
90 grams of black tea
In addition, there is a table with other foods that are listed without a specific quantity. This includes:

sugar
sweetener
honey
jam
chocolate
iodized salt
ready meals
Dried potato products (e.g. mashed potatoes powder)
flour
cocoa powder
hard cookies
Pretzel Sticks

Create your individual emergency supply

The Ministry points out that this shopping list is only an example and must be adapted to individual needs such as allergies, intolerances and diets. Some foods are definitely not necessary for most people, such as artificial sweeteners or canned asparagus.

If you want to create a completely vegan emergency supply, you can rely more on legumes, which are not yet included in the ministry’s list. Lentils, chickpeas, beans and the like also provide you with important nutrients that keep you full for a long time. You can use both dried and canned products.

You can get dry groceries in bulk shops and thus avoid packaging waste. You can also reduce packaging in large containers and often save money at the same time.

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