*Making a Disaster-Cooking Plan*
By: TooshieGalore
04 October 2015

I listed which methods I would use to prepare food during a disaster and the fuels I have ready access to and am able to store easily. My food preparation capability needs were: boiling water, baking, frying and making ice. My preferred fuels to store and use were: propane, charcoal, wood and solar/electric.

I wanted redundancy, which means that I should have more than one appliance to accomplish a task and the appliances would use different fuels. In the big picture, I also wanted to have the capability of dehydrating and canning for food preservation. I wanted the ability to cook indoors and at least a few items had to be portable in the event of a possible evacuation scenario.

By listing the capabilities and fuels, I was able to put together a list of appliances that as a group, provided redundancy. For instance, consider an appliance like the Volcano grill. It is an all-in-one appliance, doing all things, using all fuels - which meant that if an integral part became inoperative, I would loose all my capability with the loss of one appliance. That's not good.

Making a graph helps me to see my capabilities. It reveals, for example, that I have the capability to boil water, make ice, bake and fry indoors. I have the ability to bake using solar and charcoal. I can fry using propane, wood and charcoal.

Having such a graph assures that I will have each of the capabilities that I desire and a plan for appliance purchases that support my plan. It also assures that I don't waste money purchasing appliances that don't support the plan.

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