Cooking (32)
Charcoal.
Never use a charcoal burning device indoors. When charcoal burns it is a voracious
consumer of oxygen and will quickly deplete the oxygen supply in your little
“home within a home.” Furthermore, as it burns it produces vast amounts of
carbon monoxide which is a deadly poison. If you make the mistake of trying
to heat your home by burning charcoal it could prove fatal to your entire family.
Never burn charcoal indoors.
To conserve your cooking fuel storage needs, always do your emergency
cooking in the most efficient manner possible.
1. Don’t boil more water than you need, extinguish the fire as soon as you finished,
2. plan your meals ahead of time to consolidate as much cooking as possible,
3. during the winter cook on top of your heating unit while heating your home, and 4.
cook in a pressure cooker or other fuel efficient container as much as possible.
5. Keep enough fuel to provide outdoor cooking for at least 7-10 days.
It is even possible to cook without using fuel at all.
For example, to cook dry beans you can place them inside a pressure cooker
with the proper amount of water and other ingredients needed and place it on your
heat source until it comes up to pressure. Then turn off the heat, remove the pressure
cooker and place inside a large box filled with newspapers, blankets, or other insulating materials.
Leave it for two and a half hours and then open it, your meal will be done, having cooked
for two and a half hours with no heat. If you don’t have a large box in which to place the pressure cooker,
simply wrap it in several blankets and place it in the corner.
Sterno fuel:
A jellied petroleum product, is an excellent source of fuel for inclusion in your backpack as
part of your 72 hour kit. Sterno is very lightweight and easily ignited with a match or a spark
from flint and steel but is not explosive. It is also safe for use indoors.
Coleman fuel
(white gas), when used with a Coleman stove is another excellent and convenient fuel for cooking outside.
It is not as portable nor as lightweight as Sterno, but produces a much greater BTU value. Like Sterno,
Coleman fuel has a tendency to evaporate even when the container is tightly sealed so it is not a
good fuel for long-term storage. Unlike Sterno, however, it is highly volatile; it will explode
under the right conditions and should therefore never be stored in the home.
Because of its highly flammable nature great care should always be exercised when
lighting stoves and lanterns that use Coleman fuel. Many serious burns have been
caused by carelessness with this product. Always store Coleman fuel in the garage or shed, out of doors.
Many families have camp stoves which burn Coleman Fuel or white gasoline.
These stoves are fairly easy to use and produce a great amount of heat.
However, they, like charcoal, produce vast amounts of carbon monoxide.
NEVER use a Coleman stove indoors!
Propane:
Propane is another excellent fuel for cooking indoor use. Like kerosene,
it produces carbon dioxide as it burns and is therefore not poisonous.
It does consume oxygen so be sure to crack a window when burning propane.
Propane stores indefinitely, having no known shelf life. Propane stoves and
small portable heaters are very economical, simple to use, and come the
closest to approximating the type of convenience most of us are accustomed to using on a daily basis.
The storage of propane is governed by strict local laws.
In this area you may store up to 1 gallon inside a building and up to
60 gallons stored outside. lf you store more than these amounts,
you will need a special permit from the fire marshal.
Four 100 lbs bottles will last a year for heat only.
If you plan to use for cooking you should double that.