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Randyofpirate |
Survival food Preperation
Aug 3 2012, 10:57 AM EDT
You may have enough food to feed an army for 20 years but if you can't turn it into something edible, it really doesn't amount to squat. I have a subscription to an outdoor magazine and was reading about a cool way to cook fish by a campfire with nothing but a split piece of wood. You take the whole fish after it has been gutted and nail it, tie it, or somehow attach it to the flat side of the split piece of wood that you would want to cook on(ie. hickory, cherry, oak). turn the piece of wood so that the fish is facing the fire with the wood slightly angled back. You will have to experiment with the distance from the fire depending on the heat it is puting out. when one side is cooked, repeat on other side. when that side is done, get fat and happy. stay away from using any kind of evergreen wood as it will taste like kerosene. what are some other ways to cook in a survival situation? Do you find this valuable? |
JunkCollector |
1. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 3 2012, 1:29 PM EDT
Almost anything can be cooked on a stick from a fish, squirrel, rabbit, a chunk of venison, and etc.. I find it's easier to put the stick threw the meat I am cooking, than to fasten it to a wood plank. Also a large cleaned flat top rock works well also, just at the edge of the fire. A tripod to mount a grill, or pot is ideal if available, and they are fairly simple to rig up. Aluminum foil is an oldie but goody and any clean piece of metal will work for a pan or oven. Do you find this valuable? |
Oakspar77777 |
2. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 3 2012, 6:37 PM EDT
There are hundreds if not thousands of ways to cook survival food (by which it seems you mean trail gatherings rather than stockpiled or pack foods). However, JC is right - anytime you can put meat in a pot or pan (whether frying, baking, smoking, steaming, or anything else), you should. It keeps the oils and fats from cooking out and loosing the calories and taste that goes with them. With fish, there really is no wrong answer, as even cutting them into strips and hanging them in sunlight until dry is sufficient to make them both edible and portable. Do you find this valuable? |
TheHobbit81 |
3. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 5 2012, 5:23 AM EDT
This is one issue that I've been giving a LOT of thought lately. My main plan is to Bug In so cooking could potentially be harder. So far I considered the easy ones.* Butane camping stove with reserves of tanks (until they run out) * Retained heat cooking (still need to get it hot enough first and do it for long enough) * Solar Cooker (still researching) * Solar Dehydrator (still researching) But what about the bulk of cooking and heating water INDOORS? I was watching "The Colony" and realized that the old 44 gal drum could work if I; * Removed my existing stove and heat proffer the wall behind it * Make a range hood type arrangement above the drum (take out old fan and run ducts to and out of ceiling) * Already had one cleaned out * Could attach a hotplate above the drum to cook on * Have a fuel source stockpiled Seems like a heap of work and potential trouble. So, if I am Bugged In, what is the best way(s) to cook long term? Do you find this valuable? |
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Oakspar77777 |
4. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 5 2012, 9:14 AM EDT
Butane, alcohol, sterno gel, and white gas (Coleman Fuel) are all popular options, particularly in the short term. If you have a gas stove or grill, those will work as long as you have gas to hook them to. Propane tanks, however, are plentiful. I estimate that 50% of the homes in a subdivision will have at least 1/2 tank sitting on their back deck. Also, if you use gas for heating, you might have a rather large tank. (I have a 250 gal that I hardly use, since I do most of my heating with wood - and I figure I could run my grill off that tank until the grill rusted into nothingness). Fire still works, if you have a chimney to send the smoke through. A small cook fire can be ducted up a gas fireplace chimney with some recycled tin from your current central air system. Small is the key - this is to boil a pot of water, not warm a room. If you can swing a fire outside, like in a sandbox on the deck or out in the yard, you can cook on it or heat rocks to cook with inside. If you just want hot water for showering or washing clothes and dishes, an easy solar system can be set up by snakeing as much garden hose as you can back and forth across your south facing roof. Each 50' section holds just over a gallon of water (1.15gal for .75" inner hose diameter). Make sure you have a secure cut off on the bottom and a means to add water to the top (a bucket or barrel with a spout works well if you have means to get water up there to fill it). Paint it all black for max effect. Solar cookers are very good on hot summer days, and woefully ineffective on many others. Solar dehydration does not require anything more than the rack out of your oven, some bricks to set it on, and a hot surface to set it over (blacktop, your southern roof again, etc). Expect to have to fan it by hand to keep the bugs off as it dries - and THIN strips are much better than thick, as you want it to dry quickly and completely. Do you find this valuable? |
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TheHobbit81 |
5. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 6 2012, 10:20 AM EDT
Thanks for the info Oakspar, my research continues. re: "... south facing roof..." would that be north side down here in Australia?I noticed that the milk-bar at the end of my street has a whole cage of BBQ gas tanks (small, medium & large.) What are my chances of ripping these off when the panic set's in, while everyone else is at the pharmacy, supermarkets and hardware shops? NB: It has one medium padlock, no match for the bolt cutters I'm getting soon. Also just found this for heating water when there is sun: http://tinyurl.com/OnDemandHotWater Do you find this valuable? |
Markthegenius |
6. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 6 2012, 11:14 AM EDT
Personally, I have mess tins and pots and pans to cook from. They provide me with the abililty to boil and fry, but as has been said already on this thread, there are countless ways to cook various types of food. The main universal obstacle to most people then would be to light the fire. I can do that without any tools, but tools i have so I don't think cooking will be a problem at all. However, looking after my food supply and getting my food may very well be a problem, given millions of starving people roaming the country..... Do you find this valuable? |
shadowmancer |
7. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 7 2012, 10:09 AM EDT
you can clay bake fresh caught fish. Gut the fish and wrap it in clay chuck in a fire and voila clean baked fish :DDo you find this valuable? |
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Oakspar77777 |
8. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 7 2012, 5:18 PM EDT
"Thanks for the info Oakspar, my research continues. re: "... south facing roof..." would that be north side down here in Australia?Yes, north face for you guys down under - always amazes me that people can live down there without falling off the bottom of the planet. To think that - when you poop - the scat falls up. It depends on the length and nature of the panic. Being an island nation and on the bum-end of the planet, you will likely have more warning than those of us up north. If so, there is a god chance the cage would be quickly purchased out in expectation of trouble. If, however, it hits quick. most of the panic led shoppers won't be bring bolt cutters to get to the gas - but it would be a risk. I wouldn't worry about them too much though. Either they will still be there later for good scavanging, or else they will be out and about. Considering how few people have enough food on hand to go through even one tank of gas, most of that will still be around after mom and dad have finished eating the children. However, you always run the risk of the tanks being lined up empty with bullet holes through them where some assclown with a high powered rifle thought they would blow up when shot. Do you find this valuable? |
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TheHobbit81 |
9. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 7 2012, 7:47 PM EDT
"Yes, north face for you guys down under - always amazes me that people can live down there without falling off the bottom of the planet. To think that - when you poop - the scat falls up.HA HA. Funny Oakspar! If all our scat falls up then it must be heading your way. We have to constantly have to concentrate so that we don't fall off. http://i.imgur.com/21CkD.jpg I'd best invest in an extra tank, added to my existing one I'd then at least have two. Looking for an indoor cooker that will run off the tank. I just don't think it will be safe to cook outside in suburbia once the SHTF because, like you say Oakspar, "... few people have enough food on hand..." and these people will try and take what they don't have. P.S. Bum end of the world and our dollar is still worth more than yours (assuming your American). ;) 1 Australian dollar = 1.0555 U.S. dollars Do you find this valuable? |
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Oakspar77777 |
10. RE: Survival food Preparation
Aug 7 2012, 8:30 PM EDT
Not to much pride in our dollar up here lately, that's for sure.A second tank is a great idea, if nothing else, because it means you never have to make a run to the store halfway through a grill full of meat. Look for a range top meant for an RV to find a smaller way to bring it indoors. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
Zee-Man |
11. Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 7 2012, 8:58 PM EDT
"A small cook fire can be ducted up a gas fireplace chimney with some recycled tin from your current central air system. Small is the key - this is to boil a pot of water, not warm a room.Gas Fireplace is a rather broad term. There are a few categories that will be found. If one has a conventional gas fireplace then it will have type B vent to remove exhaust products. B Vent is allowed to be withing 1 inch of combustibles and only expected to withstand about 450 F. Even a "small" wood fire can achieve up to 1000 F in the flue over a long enough period. So add short to small. For an exigent situation you could get away with this. But don't expect it to be a long term solution. A gas fireplace depends on a certain amount of BTU to provide enough buoyancy to establish and maintain draft. In addition there needs to be a particular ratio between the cross sectional area of the air intake and the the and the flue. Gas fireplaces have glass fronts on them with the air intake being part of the burner system. That 3 or 4 inch flue is adequate for that. The 18K to 40K BTU the burner makes provides the buoyancy. The draft hood maintains a certain amount of pressure. Take the glass front off and all of that changes. Do you find this valuable? |
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Zee-Man |
12. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 7 2012, 9:13 PM EDT
One pound of oak has about 14K BTU and requires 35 pounds of air for complete combustion (that's about 400 cu ft.). For solid fuels like wood a 1:10 ratio opening to flue is fairly typical (the ratio varies from 1:8 to 1:16 depending on flue shape). Removing the glass front from a gas fireplace would leave you with a ratio of 1:24 (based on the Napoleon 3016). Plan on opening a window or 2 and using that as your chimney.More and more gas fireplaces are direct vent. The most common installation for these is "through the wall". Having no appreciable vertical rise in the venting one can not rely on draft at all. As a matter of fact, with the glass front off, this category of gas fireplace will not vent at all since the system relies on expansion of gasses and balanced pressure to vent instead. The fireboxes in gas fireplaces are not designed to bear the kind of heat had from a wood fire. While the BTUs in wood are lower than gas, in order get sufficient heat for work (cooking, etc) we are going to be having 1400 to 2500 F concentrated in places where it was never intended to be (ie close to combustible materials). Do you find this valuable? |
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Zee-Man |
13. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 7 2012, 9:24 PM EDT
Now if by "gas fireplace" we are actually talking about a fireplace with gas logs in it then forget about all the above drawbacks - PROVIDED - the gas logs are vented. (There probably isn't even a functioning flue if they are vent free) Even a factory built fireplace can be reverted to wood burning with little effort. Assuming you have the tools (pipe wrench, etc nothing special) find the appliance shut off valve (a valve on the hard pipe that isolates the fireplace from the rest of the gas pipe system, not the valve in the fireplace) Close the valve and begin taking the pipe apart at the fireplace.If the log set is for propane and the take is truly empty, then one needn't break the line all the way back to the shut off valve. (Propane tanks may seem empty at low temperatures but actually have fuel in them still). Natural gas systems will likely have pressure in them for quite some time after the SHTF. Ideally you would remove pipe all the way from the fireplace to the shut off valve, then install a nipple and a cap at the valve for best safety. Do you find this valuable? |
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Zee-Man |
14. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 7 2012, 9:41 PM EDT
Realistically, if you do not have a wood burning fireplace and you are bugging in the plan on either getting one installed (price tag can approach and even exceed US$10K for a factory built system, $25 to 30K for masonry) or just build your fires out doors.Fireplaces are way more complex than smoke goes up. To find a certified chimney / hearth professional close to you, begin at Chimney Safety Institute of America http://www.csia.org and National Fireplace Institute http://www.nficertified.org A good brick mason is a fair start, but frankly, don't rely on one solely. You might get something that only works some of the time. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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TheHobbit81 |
15. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 8 2012, 5:44 AM EDT
Great post Zee-Man, thanks for all the info. That has put the breaks on some of my plans then, back tot he drawing board as they say.What about removing my kitchen stove and replacing it with a 44 gal drum and trying to use existing ventilation to extract fumes/ smoke? Perhaps if I can run the fan some other way? Do you find this valuable? |
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shadowmancer |
16. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 8 2012, 5:46 AM EDT
| Post edited: Aug 8 2012, 6:31 AM EDT
Hey hobbit what about this idea get an old cast iron pot belly stove and run its exaust straight up or dependign on the wall material right out the wall then straight up? If memory serves they are self contained units with simple metal pipes but honestly Zee Man would probably know more than I do. LOL I'll level with you I was watching an old western while I read this post. The film was at a scene in an old rail station and I saw the pot belly stove with what I assume was a coffee pot on it and I started thinking lol.
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TheHobbit81 |
17. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 8 2012, 7:56 AM EDT
Good one Shadow, had not considered that one. I'll price some from Bunnings (our main hardware place in Australia) next time I'm there.I'm in a rental property atm but will have own home in a few years. In a rental come Survival Time, "Eff it" I'll make what ever modifications to the house that I need to survive. I had the idea of pulling apart the washing machine for three things; 1) The drum can be used as a fire pit (Cooking as well) 2) The barrel for holding/ heating water 3) The pump for pumping water from place to place Zee-Man has always got great ideas and information. He should have his own show. Actually you can find some of his vids on YouTube to check out. Do you find this valuable? |
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Zee-Man |
18. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 8 2012, 8:09 AM EDT
"Great post Zee-Man, thanks for all the info. That has put the breaks on some of my plans then, back tot he drawing board as they say.Consider that the clearance for the drum (I assume you intend to use it as a wood stove or fire pit) would need 36" clearance to combustibles. There are acceptable systems for reducing that clearance, to as little as 12". Using the exhaust hood could work. Creosote accumulation would still be a problem. The fan itself may not be rated for the heat. The exhaust termination would need to be considered also. There are certain dangers involved with that much heat exiting the building close to combustibles. For a short term solution this is plausible. As a long term solution one should look to a different appliance. Wood stoves that are useable for cooking are available. A typical masonry chimney used for an oil fired house heater, and in some cases a gas fired one, is capable of venting such. The problem with advance prep here is that you can not (by code) have them both in the same flue. Do you find this valuable? |
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shadowmancer |
19. RE: Gas Fireplaces for Cooking
Aug 8 2012, 10:35 AM EDT
| Post edited: Aug 8 2012, 10:55 AM EDT
there are portable woodstoves, I use one when I hunt. I like to cook with a flame lol that and it is easier to gather wood then to haul all over hells half acre a bunch of fuel around.\frontier stove. Do you find this valuable? |
