if shit hit the fan how will you be cooking!?

[bob the builder]

Various cooking methods meths trangia, suit case stove, pierce can stove (going to sell), gas bbq, caravan with double burner (same gas as bbq), fire pit with grill small stock of wood

Most of our food preps can be eaten cold at push but want to cook up freezer food first

[Bosworth]

How likely is infestation? I have a number of sacks of dried food. Quite well sealed so don't want to open needlessly. But need some confidence they are not spoilt.

Ideas for externally validating?

[Nicks19]

Diatomaceous Earth try putting in with your dry foods kills any bugs its what tend to use ?
as for cooking i use our Esse stove cooks really nice.

[grenfell]

FREEZE ANY DRY GOODS ... FOR AT LEAST 72 HOURS TO KILL THE CRITTERS

Do you freeze before or after sealing in mylar? Shouldn't the oxy absorbers kill all the critters? Is freezing a case of belt and braces? Don't get me wrong here - nothing wrong with belt and braces, but I'm curious that there doesn't seem to be a consensus about the details of mylar storage.

Sorry family emergency on Friday so first chance to reply. I freeze all dry goods as soon as I get them home, put inside ziplock bags in the original packaging, freeze for at least 72 hrs then remove and stand to get back to room temperature and then put into final storage box or bag etc. Watched a video where rice had been stored in jar with oxy absorbers for long term and when she got it out to use it was crawling with black insects.... Belt and braces is worth it for the sake if your food. I had a problem a while back with dry cat food that arrived full of nasties and it was a nightmare to get rid if them as they spread like mad through the kitchen cupboards. Worth doing for Sanity's sake.

Yes we do the same and freeze stuff . It largely started after we cleared my parents pantry and found mites in several sealed Tupperware boxes. A bit of research and we found that flour mites and closely related insects don't fly but are pretty much present in all mills and spread largely by laying eggs. The freezing kills the eggs that are invariably found in even brand new flour and other wheat products such as pasta. Also on the internet I found reference to using citric acid or even orange juice at a push to wipe down pantry shelves and other surfaces. Harmless to us but the mites don't like it although to be honest we used hot water and bleach on moms pantry surfaces.

[nickdutch]

Dont forget sprouters and jars for sprouting! Thats a viable addition to your regular nutrition and even more important when you dont have a heat source you want to use all the time

[vassili]

The first thing we did on buying this place was rip out the oil rayburn and eBay it, then fitted a solid fuel one. This year we've ripped out the seventies tiled open fireplace and put in a flat top multi fuel stove "best money ever spent", we generally have about ten tonnes of hard wood logs in, but I'm always picking up pallets on my rounds and chainsaw them down, free heat.

[ForgeCorvus]

i went out to the army surplus shop today and picked up a swedish army triangia stove for £8.50 .

Just the burner or the whole kit?

my thinking is that these can be used with chafing dish fuel , which has no harm full emissions when in use so its safe to use in doors or even in tent .

I'm interested if alcohol gel works as well as liquid alcohols in this kind of burner

also more stable to carry fuel for as its a gel not a liquid so there should be no limit on gthe amount you can store or shelf life to worry about .

Part of the reason I like alky is that its much easier on clean-up if you do have a spill, then the various mineral oil products (petrol, gasoline, paraffin, white gas, Coleman fuel and panelwipe).
If you get gel on stuff, does it just evaporate or what?.... Its one fuel I've never used

whats every ones opinion on them

.
The burners are pretty much the benchmark for alky stoves, the Army kits have a reputation for being either on the heavy end and bombproof (the Stainless Steel ones) or rugged and reliable (the Ali sets). Both are good cheap basic cooksets

[bikerjoe83]

I initially bought a hexi-block cooker but have since added this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Outdoor-Picnic- ... +gas+stove

with compatible gas canisters from Go Outdoors, and this:

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/folding-bbq-p262903

All three take up very little room if I needed to run away with them. I also have a gas cooker so I'd probably be fine with that for a while. I've also picked a good selection of tinned/packet food that can be eaten cold, just in case someone robs me of my cooking gear (stashed separately from my food store).

[Jotnarjager]

I initially bought a hexi-block cooker but have since added this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Outdoor-Picnic- ... +gas+stove

with compatible gas canisters from Go Outdoors, and this:

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/folding-bbq-p262903

All three take up very little room if I needed to run away with them. I also have a gas cooker so I'd probably be fine with that for a while. I've also picked a good selection of tinned/packet food that can be eaten cold, just in case someone robs me of my cooking gear (stashed separately from my food store).

In all seriousness, Hexiburners are garbage. They are all very well in a military operation point of view, but the hexamine will make you ill if you breathe it in for long periods, doesn't burn that long and most importantly runs out rather quick. Its great for a quick solution if you know you're getting new supplies dropped off every few days, but useless in my opinion for even light camping.

The civilian versions are even worse. I think they opted for non-toxic fuel blocks which literally burns itself out before you get a chance to boil some water.

[Wulfshead]

LOL Jotnar,
I seem to remember the nightmare with your Hexi at camp, lucky your buddy was there with his campingas single burner if I remember right

All, in my opinion the campingas single burner cooker is well worth keeping in the home for emergencies but a tad on the large side for a pack.
Not a bad price also and £ shops often do the gas canisters for £1 each.

Wulfshead