Preparing for the storm - Cooking with no electricity. --- By: Delbert Grady

 

One of the things that really worked out well whenever we have lost electricity is cooking
with a small gas stove. This sounds really basic but I have had neighbors that were eating
cold sandwiches for days because they did not prepare. It is not very expensive to have an
extra propane tank on hand. One for the grill and / or heat and the other for cooking. We
have a BBQ Grill that we purchased 15 years ago and we have taken good care of it. The
only problem is that it does not have a side burner like the new ones. I did some research
and found a two burner propane stove for about $50 that does the job. My wife even uses
it on occasion for frying fish outside to keep the house from getting that fish smell.
We keep it outside and under a cover just in case we need it. It has made life easy on more
than a couple occasions. Something we also have is a small butane stove. If you live in a big
city these can be found in the oriental grocery stores and sometimes in a hardware store.
These things really work well. The only problem is that they use a can of butane for fuel. I
order mine from Ebay or Amazon and store them in the closet. Just don’t wait until the last
minute to get fuel. It is surprising how much you can cook on one of these things. Ours
even came with a hard plastic carrying case. The whole thing is smaller and lighter than
most laptop computers. Don’t forget when you know a storm is coming have plenty of gas
for the generator and propane ready to go. It only takes a few minutes to get ready. The
ability to heat up a can of corn, beans, or soup can really make things seem normal. Oh, and don’t forget a manual can opener.


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