I admittedly lack knowledge and experience in this department. Encompassing the entire process from raw ingredients to final products, what five devices or cooking methods are on the top of your list? Again, lets assume you have purified water and your raw food stores intact. With the small amount of experience and research thus far, my list is as follows: Wonder Mill hand grain and flour mill for processing, dutch oven cooking over an open fire, solar cooker, cooking on top of your indoor woodstove, and a small propane stove when creating a fire isn't on your list of things to do. Anyone else want to play?

There's these new highly efficient induction counter top cooking plates that might be efficient enough to run off a small genny or solar.

I see the box stores have them for less than $100 and I've been toying with evaluating one.


Another option to your question is a kerosene cook stove, as have been evaluated and discussed here very recently.

Kero is almost the PERFECT fuel -easy to store with tons of BTU's per gallon- and is still used by zillions around the world to cook.

cast iron and fire

Just did a quick search. Those look very interesting. Please make sure to report back if you end up buying one.

Don't forget the use of a small pressure cooker used in conjunction with one. Maybe the ultimate in efficiency for the present, if the pot is insulated on the outside.

Foolish question, but how feasible is using a pressure cooker without power/canned fuel source. Can it be done on top of a wood stove or over an open fire with ease?

Hey, if whatever get's it up to temp, why not???  

propane stove, crockpot, microwave (both solar powered) wood stove, and this candle cooker

Yep, crock pot is a good one...

I've also cooked rice and pea soup in a vacuum bottle and the results are eatable but not the best.

Yep, thermos cooking, maybe the MOST efficient...

Place certain items in the coals of my wood-stove after it has burned down (one of my favorite ways to make a baked potato on the easy)
Dutch Oven over open fire or hot coals
Liquid fueled coleman cook-stove
Alcohol fueled Trangia stove
Whatever I can come up with to fill the need at hand

Those are all listed in the order of most common use in my household, most common on top (I use the top one almost on a weekly basis in the winter)

I've only ever used the Trangia stoves during a power outage when dinner was partially cooked and I didn't want to fire the coleman stove in the house. They worked to finish dinner off, and I keep them because of their convenience, but they aren't may favorite because they are an "on or off" type burner.

Grate over fire. Then cook just like you do on your stove. Frying pans, pots,

Wood smoker.

LP Grill (this was all we needed for the week after the del-recho a few years back)
Campchef Stove/oven combo
Coleman Stove
Charcoal Grill
Tripod/open fire

1) Coleman camp stove.....try to keep this ready to go at all times, with fuel on hand
2) small back-packing propane canister stove for simple small one pot items
3) Camp fire or fire pit method, with cast iron skillets or dutch ovens
4) Top of fireplace insert forms a good heating surface for just about anything that can be cooked in a pan or skillet
5) small military style fuel tabs in a metal box frame that will heat a can

The coleman stove works best for me, can cook just about anything I might normally cook with this. The fuel is getting harder to find though.

Lots of folks have a propane bar-b-que or a charcoal grill on their porch, so that can do some things.  For those who think they are a one trick wonder you can use a dutch oven on one or wrap stuff in aluminum foil and what not.



Hot water is generally all that you need for thermos cooking, lots of folks have methods for making a cup of hot coffee so just make some hot water to start things cooking and then you can make your coffee.



Sterno stoves or esbit are probably here and there for some folks, I like this for a vehicle kit because they are self contained and good for some uses depending on what you are storing.  



Coleman 2 burners became a bit of a hobby for me in the past and now that it is cold they are something I need to dig out and fix up a couple more and use em outside for amusement here and there.



I have a 3 burner propane stove top out of some camper built into an old kitchen drawer to hold it all together and it is probably one of the better items I have around.  Clean enough for inside use but it goes car camping as well.  



I like propane tanks as well, so it has more than a bit of fuel stored.



If I was running a kerosene tower heater I could easily see having a pot of water or a percolater coffee pot on it for hot water cooking, back to the thermos concept and if you run some searches for insulated pots you will find out they are basically just a nice big thermos of sorts that keep the water hot for a longer period of time and let you do more cooking.

Cooking over a fire has always worked for me

I have a plenty of extra propane tanks for low profile cooking or heating but if OPSEC is not an issue I will be using one of my fire pits or my smoker.

I keep several bags of charcoal stored for the Dutch ovens. It is more efficient and much easier then wood fires. I can light a pile of 15 - 20 briquettes and have enough cooking time for most anything.

Propane is my go to fuel. $20 for a full tank (swapping out an empty). A Coleman stove and lantern will run off of it for a long time. I keep 3 full tanks at all times and feel I could get by for several months if I was frugal with it.

My third choice would be regular old wood. And fortunately I have almost a lifetimes supply.

An additional item to have is heavy duty tinfoil. Just about anything can be put in foil pouches and cooked on almost any heat source. Including your vehicles engine, wood stove, or the evenings campfire. (Plus when I talk about the alien mind control towers it  makes me look very professional haha)

for hurricane power outages, like Georgiagun, propane is my standby... I too have 3 bulk tanks and 1# adapter and a bulk fuel line....a propane camp stove and multifuel (unleaded gasoline) single burner for back up...  

if I were to recommend a set, it would be the reverse of what I have....  a multifuel ( Coleman and unleaded gasoline) camp stove with a propane adapter for use with 1
# bottles

Propane gas grill





Brinkmann 2 burner camping grill





Swedish alcohol stove





Esbit stove





Charcoal grill





Plus, when we remodeled the kitchen we put in 2 stoves, 1 electric and 1 gas stove. During the few times our power was out we just lit the gas stove with a match.







 

Sun Oven
Propane stove 2 burner
Gasoline Stove 2 burner
white gas stove 2 burner
Franklin stove with pot hangers, grill, flat top for pots and kettles.
open fire place with grill for cooking over coals.
Big S/S Propane grill
Charcoal Grill by Webber.


and a small smokehouse and a mud/brick oven on the list of things to do..

CHEF

i have a reflector oven, it will work with any heat source, fireplace, wood stove, open fire , and will bake like an oven, you can make cookies in front of your fire place if you  want to. there are you tube videos on how to make them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKWpcFuMvVU

cooking in a reflector oven:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWUe69oRiqE

alex

Electric stove

Charcoal grill, Coleman dual-fuel 3 burner stove and a 2 burner as well. Both of which my dad bought in the mid-1960s.

I cook chicken on Saturday and Beans on Sunday every week in my homemade solar over (weather permitting--which MOST weekends it does).  350⁰F, so I am not restricted to just those two things.

New England here.
The wood stove is going strong for about 4 or 5 months with a month on each end of partial use . I do a fair amount of cooking on it as is
My kitchen stove is a old school pilot light equipped propane job so until the tank is empty it is business as usual at my house

I keep both a gas grill and a charcoal Weber that see lots of use so they are also a option.

In a long term situation I have a coleman stove packed away somewhere that would get pulled uot

Propane grill with extra tank
Two burner propane camp stove
Single burner propane stove
Backpack stove
camp fire

Charcoal grill
Propane grill
Thermos cooking (hot water from where ever)
pop can alcohol stove
open fire with a grate or cast iron
dutch oven
solar cooker (havent had good luck with this one)

Don't have one and stumbled across this little pressure cooker a couple weeks ago.

NIRLEP SAKHI PRESSURE COOKER




Nirlep Sakhi Induction Compatible Pressure Cooker 2 Ltrs ...


This and a table top induction stove top might make a very efficient way to cook with some sort of electricity, solar or genny.

I picked up one of these at a sale 1400 watts on ac, I was thinking of using it with a solar panel and 12-16v dc, remove the plastic parts and insulate it.
I haven't done anything with it because I wanted to put a pressure switch on it to regulate the temperature and haven't figured out how (and it's not that pressing).
and then insulate it well, it could be a viable solar cooker for low light/cold areas.
eta pic

Easiest?   The telephone of course for Chinese takeout or pizza delivery.

I have a propane kitchen stove so no real issue there but the backups would be the coleman fuel 2 burner, coleman dual fuel single burner, the charcoal bbq cooker or the ole fire pit out back.  

For a quick no fuss meal I can cut up meat and stick it on shishkabob skewers and grill over a very small fire just like the beduoins did.

Back in my service day we used to cook cans of soup, dinty moore, or raviolis on the vehicle exhausts.

Hell in a pinch I think you could easily throw a steak on a stone, season it and hit it with a propane plumbers torch. Seriously.

My regular LPG kitchen stove. The woodstove top. A handful of 1930's to 1960's Coleman stoves set up to run on coleman fuel, gasoline, or propane tanks (including adapter for my 100 lb tanks. Lots of cast iron cookware (evens out heat from any source). Eggbeater (hand cranked). Also have handcranked meat grinder.

Salt.   Smoke.   Fire.    Cast Iron.    

(( there are many things we can eat raw but our body is just not used to or we just choose not to eat it raw ))

We cook almost all meals at home and do/did a lot of campfire cooking. Would like to get a good smoker in propane.  Years ago we were at a cowboy shoot and the youth members had a lunch table set up and were keeping brats hot using a crock pot plugged into an inverter clamped to a truck battery. Just thought of that.

We have and use the following:

Propane grill with burner

Camp Chef Stove/oven - used this one in the house a lot during two ~ three day power outages. Play with it often and have a set of mini-oven pans/cookie sheets. Cooked a Turkey breast in it a few years ago to say I can cook a Thanksgiving meal in it.

RV stove/oven- damn good oven- have not used it for an emergency yet, but cooked in the field with it and cooked in the garage with it. Accurate oven control for pizza, biscuits and pie! Made corn bread and cooked beans on it; cultural/family staple/heritage, kind of thing.

Coleman Stove- have two, one white gas, one gasoline, and a propane conversion for either.

Charcoal Grill Weber -pretty good supply of charcoal on hand- Lowes & Walmart double bag charcoal sales on Memorial and Labor days.

Fire pit with grate- used to campfire cook a lot when the kids were little. Practiced at home and ate good for weekend trips. Dutch oven roasts with taters and carrots. Sausage, eggs, hashbrowns with biscuits. We smelled the campsite up at a state park years ago with cinnamon rolls and a camper from a nearby site wondered over with a tray of something and asked to use our microwave!? Told him we didn't have one and were using a dutch oven in the fire. He looked pissed and split w/o a word.  

Cast iron: skillets, camp dutch oven, indoor dutch oven, tiny 1 gallon kettle, corn muffin pan, waffle iron, pie irons, & a griddle.  
We have a pretty good supply of propane on hand and lots of wood available.


Practice outdoor/campfire cooking, make some mistakes, & make some good food.  It's a lot like learning to drive a standard shift car.  A little hard at first, but then no problem for the rest of your life. Aluminum foil is not just for hats; get some.  Cooking spray makes life simpler. Start with warming convenience foods then progress to cooking raw ingredients.

Good cast iron for over a fire/coals.  The only real issue I have with the campfire cooking style is it is a lot of effort to maintain (fuel wise)
Charcoal or propane is much more convenient, but not quite as simple to fuel long term.
Solar powered stuff is a great idea, but I haven't bought anything for it, yet.  
Esbit/fuel tab stoves are great for heating water and emergencies.

So...
Cast iron dutch oven and skillet
charcoal grill
propane grill/stove
fuel tab "stove"

So many options

propane grill with burner
charcoal grill
multiple white gas and propane stoves
electric hot plate and crock pots powered by inverters and battery
above ground fire pit
in ground fire pit
cooking on top of kerosene heater if necessary

Charcoal smoker/ grill
LP Gas grill
wood stove
LP Turkey Frier
Propane Coleman Camp Stove
Indoor and outdoor propane stove in camper
Starting plans for an outdoor wood oven to be made this coming spring/ summer.

I'm a backpacker, so I've got a sack full of old stoves in excellent mechanical condition:
alcohol
white gas
propane
wood fired

I don't really count Esbit.

Propane could be an extremely convenient and clean option for home cooking.  White gas should only be run in an area with LOTS of ventilation. Alcohol stoves (Trangia 27 or 25 especially) are pretty friendly for cooking at home, if fuel hoggy.

We could cook on our woodstove, but it hit 80F today...

If people want to cook inexpensively and cleanly, in their backyard, with found fuels, google a "rocket stove".  Rocket stoves are where it's at, for inexpensive, mostly clean, long term survival cooking.

with the power out, I have a variety of cooking methods available.   '

two burner propane stove
two burner Coleman fuel stove
various camping/hiking single burner isobutane stoves
wood burning camping/hiking stove
my fire pit/outdoor cooking area in the back yard.  With this method, I have full use of my cast iron Dutch Ovens, kettles, griddles, grills.
Solar oven

I have a wood stove and a Coleman stove. I think these have a lot of potential . They are popular in the far east

Bean hole Baker?  Please enlighten us

Nothing original:
Buried propane tank feeds: a) The range in the house and the burners work even without power & b) Gas grill on the deck
Charcoal grill/smoker on the deck.  I buy charcoal every Memorial Day and Labor Day (always on sale)
Wood stove in the basement (I have to admit I've never cooked on it) heats water pretty good though
Coleman stoves (2)
Stove / burners in the camper
Burner in the garage that is the burner for my home brew set up.
We have multiple pressure cookers (a his, hers, and ours) too

Home-made thermal cooker I made. I bring the pot to a boil, then drop it in the insulated box and let it cook for a few hours. Saves fuel and time spent over a hot fire.

I've got a natural gas range that works when the power is out, cast iron cookware/ dutch oven/etc for use with fire/fireplace. Coleman dual fuel double burner camp stove, MSR Whisperlight, a charcoal grill and a blowtorch.

If the shtf for reals the only guaranteed methods of cooking over the long term will be solar and fire. You might want to add those items/abilities to your arsenal as fuels and even propane will be gone in an overall relatively short period of time. If you are just preparing for a 2-3 day storm outage or small scale disaster it doesn't really matter much tbh, you can survive short term like that on foods that don't even need to be cooked.

These butane burners are CHEAP but they work.  Super easy to store, fuel is easy to store (size of a spray paint can)

Easy to use and no liquid fuel to spill.  Great option, especially for apartment dwellers with limited space.  Fuel was

expensive to ship is about the only negative.

Any of the various rockets stoves, whether using fuel and burner,  bricks/cinder blocks, or a coffee can and sticks, is faster and uses less fuel than an open fire. An open fire might be nice for winter heating outdoors but any other time it uses too much fuel and is more difficult to maintain a 'not too hot' temperature for cooking.

That being said there are some great Dutch Oven recipes that call for putting coals on the lid and letting the dutch oven sit in some coals for awhile.
I like to line a dutch oven with foil, spoon in a can of pie filling (strawberry or apple), dump in a box of yellow cake mix, and pour a sprite in. Stir two or three times, set the dutch oven in some coals off to the side of a fire, pour some coals on top of the lid and let sit for a while. You need a lid with a ridge around the outside so the coals/ash doesn't get into the mix when you remove the lid. I've been on some sh##ty camping trips where everyone remembers that dutch oven cake!

If using a pan or pot, most situations would be easier to use a rocket stove. I made one in the backyard using a few cinder blocks and we use that in the summer to prevent overheating the house.

We've tried using the wood stove in the winter but it has a glass front and its too hot to stand in front of for long.


"Society does not want free men. They talk freedom, democracy, anything they want. But they don't want free men. Society wants conditioned men…men who march in step."

JC

We converted our electric glass top oven/stove to all gas.  It's fucking awesome.  I wish I did it years ago the stove part is totally mechanical with the exception of the ignition.  So with nothing more than a match or lighter we can use the stove like nothing happened.  The oven requires power but only actually pulls a few dozen watts to run a couple of valves and the computer.  You could power it off a very small generator or small inverter setup easily.  So unless the gas supply runs out which I've never heard of here we are cooking more or less like normal.  Aside from that we have an assortment of various camp type stoves.  As a last resort if we are eating get our freeze dried food I would boil water with my whisperlight international burning kerosene which we have a shit load of on hand for backup heating.