What arrangements have you made for cooking should the energy be turned off?

In our holiday home abroad we have unannounced power cuts at least twice a week and similarly lose water supply. Sometimes the two things go simultaneously. Not to plan for these eventualities isn't an option because not planning can be dangerous. We use LED camping lights, torches etc with rechargeable batteries and ensure they're charged and working at the start of each visit. It is possible to light a gas hob with a match and hence to cook and make a hot drink.

I don't advocate the use of candles, they're dangerous especially when being carried, and it's not just the flame but the hot candle wax which can give a nasty burn.

Losing electricity isn't only about not being able to cook but also about keeping power to our fridge/freezer, mobile phones, and toilets that have a macerator (though we don't actually have one). Cooking is the least of our worries andeasily dealt with by having cold food and fruit. More important is the ability to communicate, and to keep mobile phones powered we have power banks always charged. Flasks full of hot water to fill a hot water bottle or too are also useful for when the heating goes off and the room temperature drops.

If we're given notice of power cuts we can all manage perfectly well - I guess many of us did that anyway during the miners' strikes. And as we're fairly cosseted in the UK I can't imagine any power blackouts without notice.

We have a camping stove which we can use during a power cut

I have a couple of portable gas rings that I keep in my beach hut to boil the kettle & make bacon sarnies.

We can light our gas hob with a match (bottled gas) and we have a wood burner with a flat top so we can use that too. I got an enormous stack of wood in two years ago because I could see all these problems coming. And here we are.

Preparation and forethought are useful. We used to camp and use mountain huts in our younger years and had to carry any cooking fuel and food so got used to minimum cook meals. Couscous is a very useful base - soaked in stock and kept warmish in a suitable insulated or plastic mug (about 5 minutes) then added to tinned saucy mackerel.

If you can pre-heat and store (flask) hot water then you could make hot drinks, coddle eggs, take the chill off a small tin/ jar of cooked food, make instant porridge. I got some Bovril powder in a small tub from a large online store- its lovely!

I think we'll be fine as we have a gas hob (the safety cut off is a heat activated bi-metallic strip, so the gas only cuts off if the gas goes out - it can be lit manually, and the knob held in for several seconds to let the gas in until the burner is lit and warm.)
We also have 2 multifuel burners (one for each end of the house) and a small stock of coal and dried wood so should be able to keep us warm and could be used to finish cooking on if already alight.

Our central heating runs on tank gas (refilled by a Calor lorry) and we run out most winters - despite ordering as early as we possibly can. This almost always happens in the worst coldest weather when deliveries of fuel are disrupted. It takes a good few days (despite the old walls) even in freezing weather, for the inside temperature to drop as low as outside so a mere 3 hours without heating for those reliant on electric heating should not be too bad - with extra clothing/ blankets etc, for most healthy people. I hope that is reassuring!

You don’t need to cook food ever, let alone for the length of a power cut. The supermarket is full of food which you just unwrap and eat. Salads, fruit, raw vegetables, bread, cakes, cheese, cooked meats if you eat them, chocolate, hummus, coleslaw, yogurt, tinned stuff etc etc etc
I haven’t used my cooker since July. I do use my microwave but could easily live without it.

I could live on biscuits/bread and cheese, bananas, nuts, cereal topped with fruit and yogurt. Iced coffee is nice too.

Me too!
I would need crisps, though.

Cold house, cold food - some older people might get chilled right through and succumb to hypothermia.

If power cuts are planned it makes sense to keep hot soup, hot drinks in a thermos.

Oh I forgot the crisps MissAdventure good thinking.

One of our "5 a day", NanKate

I'm sure there is a contraption that heats up without gas or electric.

How can that be, or have I made it up?

MissAdventure

I'm sure there is a contraption that heats up without gas or electric.

How can that be, or have I made it up?

Yes, I'm sure it's battery operated and will heat up a cup of water, cup a soup etc.

Ah that might be it.
I watch a lot of alternative living videos, and pretend I'm a nomad.
I've perhaps seen a couple on those videos.

Perhaps I'm imagining it but I'm sure you could buy them from camping shops.
Mind you, we haven't been camping for years

We would be great at this bushcraft lark.

With my looks and your brains, what could possibly go wrong?

Especially if we invite Bear Grylls and Ray Mears along ?

Now you're talking!

I like Ray Mears best btw

And I know how to find water out bush

I'm not just and I don't know anything, so that's that sorted.

Oh I meant fussy.
I'm not!

We'll let Bear and Ray do the foraging.
I'll collect firewood, you can rub two sticks together.

I'll have a go.

You can buy self-heating cans and sachets of food. I thought they existed so looked them up. available on A**n of course. Not cheap, but what is cheap these days?
www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=self+heating+cans+of+food

According to wikipedia - "Self-heating cans have dual chambers, one surrounding the other. In one version, the inner chamber holds the food or drink, and the outer chamber houses chemicals which undergo an exothermic reaction when combined. When the user wants to heat the contents of the can, a ring on the can—when pulled—breaks the barrier which keeps the chemicals in the outer chamber apart from the water. In another type, the chemicals are in the inner chamber and the beverage surrounds it in the outer chamber. To heat the contents of the can, the user pushes on the bottom of the can to break the barrier separating the chemical from the water. This design has the advantages of being more efficient (less heat is lost to the surrounding air) as well as reducing excessive heating of the product's exterior, causing possible discomfort to the user. In either case, after the heat from the reaction has been absorbed by the food, the user can enjoy a hot meal or drink."

So now we know.

And Wired magazine has tested some of them, with the help of Becky Douglas, a nutritionist from Champneys.
www.wired.co.uk/article/camping-cuisine