Cooking when the power is out - recipes and tips?

[kitaye]

If our power goes out we have 2 BBQ grills, one gass and the other charcoal, 2 Coleman stoves, and in the winter our woodstove can be used for cooking. Problem is all I can think to cook is grilled meat and stews. I need some new ideas and tips for cooking without power.

[Deleted]

If you have Coleman stoves, what's the difference between that and your normal stove? I cooked lots of stuff when I was camping, or when the power was out, that wasn't stew. I made fried potatoes with steak strips in it, bacon & eggs, "camp" toast (ick, don't make that unless you're really coooold!), sauteed steak and veggies, french toast, pancakes, etc. etc. etc. If you have to cook something out of a can, of course, you need a manual can-opener!

I haven't actually used the top of my woodstove for cooking yet, but I have a nice deep cast iron pan and I've toyed with the idea of making one of my famous "Persian Stews" on that stove one day. It would take a while, but if I'm snowed in with nothing else to do, I imagine the smell would be fantastic as it simmered all day.

~Lannie

[bbird]

Anything you baked in a oven can be cooked on a propane bbq. You'll have to experiment a bit, but I have even baked cakes and cookies in a bbq. We lived for almost 2 years in a motorhome, so we did lots of bbq'ing, lol. I got really good at cooking homemade pizza in the bbq. Scrambled eggs in the bbq on tin foil. Potato's are another easy thing, and there are many ways to use them to eat.

Remember aluminum foil is your friend. Line your pans, and dishes with it so you don't have to wash them as often.

[kitaye]

The Coleman can't be used inside in winter so I never think about it in all honesty. What is Persian Stew?

I have made baked potatoes on the BBQ but they took hours to cook. Bread is something I need to learn how to do without my oven.

[dlangland]

If you have propane or natural gas, you can get the type of regular kitchen stove that will start with no electricity. I had to special order mine from the appliance store several years ago when the girls and I moved to the country. The gas stoves a person can buy right off the floor of most appliance stores these days have an electronic start feature that requires elecricity to start so will be of no use if the power is out. I was always glad I bought it. It cost no more then the reg. stove. If the power was
out, we could bake and cook, and at least have a hot meal.
Deb