Survival kitchenware

My problem is that I like to cook. Specifically, I cook with Revere ware pots and pans. They have a copper bottom that helps them heat quickly and evenly on a gas or electric stove.

The trouble is, they are practically useless on a campfire or grill, because the handle isn't made to be heated, and the soot that collects from a direct fire is heck to clean off---basically takes a steel wool pad.

My solution has been to camp with cast iron. It's rugged, and you don't even need soap to clean it. It heats fast and even as well. The trouble is the weight. A cast iron skillet, even my little omelette skillet, makes a decent murder weapon. My brother dropped a dutch oven on his toe and it broke the toenail off and it never grew back right.


There are some other options, but they have huge problems:

-aluminum campware
My old boyscout messkit is pure aluminum. Of course, Alzheimer's has been definitely linked to exposure to aluminum cookware . . . and, um . . . something else . . . but I forget what it is . . . .

- teflon
Linked with impotence in males. thanks a lot Dupont.



Also, what about coffee?

We lost power in a snowstorm earlier in the winter, and were without power for more than a day. I got out my old percolator coffee pot. I put it on the coals in the fireplace. I made the worse soup of ground up bits that produced what was either the weakest coffee or else the strongest tea I've ever tasted. it sucked.

So what do you do for coffee in a "red dawn" or other situation? I've seen a little single cup, espresso maker that looked suitable for campfires. It was italian, and I've never met someone who used it. That would be excellent, tho.


Any ideas?
.

WRT coffee, get yourself a french press.

en.wikipedia.org...

All you need then is hot water to make coffee. Put the hot water in a thermal carafe, and you can make coffee all day from just a few minutes fire. You can also make tea in a french press.

WRT cookware, just about all of them have some kind of adverse effect. You can buy stainless steel with metal handles that would work.

Example:

www.gifts.com...:724137:419&sid=vsmopd:stainless+steel+pots+%26+pans+11+pieces&r id=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dstainless%2Bsteel%2Bpots%2Band%2Bpans%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8

You can even use an oven bag inside the pot to keep cleaning to a minimum in a survival situation where water might be in short supply.

WRT fire - get a solar oven. You don't need to collect firewood, it doesn't give off smoke that marauders can smell from miles away, and it works great.

www.sunoven.com...

In the case of a sun oven, you need dark colored cookware. Grannyware - cheap at WalMart - works great. The oven bags are handy in this case, too.

Thanks for the ideas. I have a french press. Good idea. I've never really liked its coffee that much, but it beats the percolator that basically burns the grounds. thanks.

Personally, most of my plans involve surviving "in place" rather than bugging out. I have a home and a family, and a lot of supplies and neighbors I trust.

But a lot of posters here are big advocates of leaving society and roughing it in a national park along with all the other survivalists. I wondered what their plans were.

When I was younger, and camped out, my brothers and I were poor enough that we couldn't afford specialized gear; we just lugged cast iron up the side of a mountain to cook with. On the other hand, we were always more focused on fishing than on covering as many miles as possible before sundown.

The solar oven is another great idea. Thanks for that, too. My plans here involve propane grills and wood fireplaces and grills, so cooking is less of an issue. But I've thought before about the telltale odor of firewood, the smoke, and the heat signature after sundown.

thanks again.

.

(edit to add: )

The solar oven could also help with my ideas about distilling drinking water makes a lot more sense than a much more primitive solar still . . .

[edit on 7-2-2008 by dr_strangecraft]

I have purchased a while back stainless cookware for camping, of course it costs a little more but you don't have to worry about the aluminum factor. Yes i have heard that to about Aluminum toxicity and Altiemers, not only cookware but baking powders also contain aluminum (unless they are aluminum free baking powder). I don't have a canteen because most are aluminum, I use a lexan water bottles to carry with me.

Cast iron is great over a camp fire, but like you said, they aren't light.

dropped my dutch oven in a pit john, didn't really want it back.

The blue enamel ware works well. I've used it for years for camping. It's lightweight and durable plus a breeze to cleanup. It heats up a little too quickly if you cook directly over the fire but it works great over indirect heat. I've learned to carry one of those thick aluminum griddles and just put the blue enamelware on top of it. It acts like hot plate.

Seriously, Doc, if TSHTF do you think any of us will live long enough to suffer from Alzheimer's ?

reply to post by crgintx


That Alzheimer's comment is a good point, but if you can help it I would say stay away from aluminum and your body.

Then again, if TS does HTF, making coffee probably won't be a priority. But if you can pulled it off...

Well that is what I get for sleeping in this morning, I too was going to mention the enamelware.

I have seen the french press and wasn't sure how well it would work as it seemed to just be steeping coffee ground and would result in a coffee tasting tea by my reckoning.

Coffee in Sit X will become interesting. Unless we have international commerse that will allow for bartering you will have to grow your own eventually. This means greenhouse or indoor growing for much of the US. Grandpa had a couple trees indoors and once a year they produced enough beans to make one cup of coffee.

The beans were a dark reddish in color and roughly the size of a small lima bean and waxy in texture. You have to place them on a cookie sheet and dry roast them in the oven (not sure temperature) and be careful not to burn them. We gave them a coarse "ground" via hammer. From there it was pan coffee for preperation by light simmer in water and strained into a mug with a small metal sieve. As for the taste, it sure wasn't Maxwell House but lightyears ahead of Folger's Crystals.

Two shrub sized trees grown indoors was one cup of coffee per year. I would say buy some large sacks of beans, educate yourself on roasting by experimentation, and consider pan coffee preperation from coarse ground. Percolated coffee works best by not using ADC fine ground...there is some age showing there, remembering when cans were labeled ADC for the fine ground used by Automatic Drip Coffeemakers. They do make paper filters which is a disk with hole in the center for percolator to cut down on the amount of grounds passed through to the coffee.

The keys to percolator use is cold, cold water and time as it will cycle coffee through the system a few times for best flavor. Low, slow heat works best such as suspended over coals or low fire. If the interal basket is too loose fitting and allows too many grounds to slip through use an external filter like a screen sieve or the old paper cone trick. The local Wal-Mart camp percolators are best used for shelf decoration in my opinion as their holes in the loose baskets are made by either a flathead screwdriver or the "better" model with a 10 penny nail. Not too many enjoy eating grounds and those will leave them floating in your cup.

We have traded in our canteens and Stainless GI cup sets for the more modern water bottle packs, and small stainless cups. I carry an antique three cup aluminum boiler coffee pot, in my pack. Not many people know it but aluminum has been delinked to alz.

The one thing we won't dump even thought the weight is up is our WWII stainless mess kits. The bottom being a frying pan with folding handle and the top a two sectioned tray. Although weight is up, over aluminum, it is heavy duty gear and provides a hard clamshell case for easy to damage soft items in the pack. Might be some on ebay for cheap. Its a good choice. Half a copper scrubber in each is the way.

Don't buy any with dents or rust, there are still good ones out there.

cgi.ebay.com... wItem

Some years back quite a few of us used to gather in the desert for camping and riding dirt bikes.

Probably the best coffee I ever drank was brewed at these Fall through Spring campouts.
Like you'd think about the Dez, when summer came we stayed home.

Anyhoo, coffee was simple.
A gallon of water in a blue enamel one gallon coffee pot.
The correct quantity of coffee sewn into a clean white sock.
Coffee brand didn't seem to make much difference.

The coffee pot full of water was placed near the campfire the night before.
The coffee laden sock was nearby.
As was a couple of hot pads.

Rule was, first person up, stirred up the coals of the previous nights campfire, tossed the coffee sock into the coffeepot and placed the coffee pot on the coals.

When it boiled over, the coffee was done.
The coffeepot would get moved off the coals and set to one side where it would stay hot for the late-risers.

Most times a cup of cold water was poured into the coffeepot to help settle the grounds.
And always, someone would comment on the ground settling powers of eggshells, but we always used water.

Perhaps it was the location and maybe it was the very low temperatures you'd experience in the Dez in winter, but it was still the best coffee I ever drank.

We called it Cowboy Coffee and I still have a one gallon blue enamel coffeepot....

How about using a Mongolian Fire Pot or hot pot. They work great for cooking with fire, have been in use for centuries, and are easy to use. The pot stays clean and free from soot.

Another modern option is the Foul Weather Kettle which is basically a hollow-center chimney surrounded by a double-wall boiler as seen here. Garrett Wade (also a great place to get quality hand tools)
A great way to efficiently heat any liquid with fire.

As for solar, YES!!! this is a great way to go as it leaves no signature. They are in use around the globe and are actually very low tech. You can build your own quite easily, or buy one pre-made. Many varieties and styles. Me, I like a big parabolic mirror with a pot at the focus point. Boiling water in just a few minutes. Here is a link for more info on solar cooking. The Solar Cooking Archive

[edit on 11/2/08 by Terapin]

What about instant coffee, they still make it and you don't need any filters to worry about the grounds. Just boil some water.

In a sitx even bad coffee will be better than no coffee.

I have used a little of everything to nothing. For me I have a small 6 inch cast iron skillet that goes most everywhere I go. Yes it is heavy but you just can't beat the cooking ability.
For my family a cast iron dutch oven is the worlds best slow cooker. Not necessarily good for bugging out though.
If weight is truly an issue as it can be learn to make and use a wok. Billions of Asians can't be wrong. It is the only cookpot I know of that you can vary the cooking temp in. They can be made from scrap, are lightweight and cook well.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Originally posted by Nyorai


Then again, if TS does HTF, making coffee probably won't be a priority..

Speak for yourself!

My solutuion is to look for big bushel bags of beans. I could roast 'em myself, and probably be in the coffee business for at least a few months.

Something to ponder though. Definitely.

I have tried coffee alternatives such as chickory, I'll pass. Tea on the other hand is my preference. Many plants can be used for tea. Regular tea can be grown in a wide variety of climates as well, unlike coffee. Herbal tea can be found anywhere there are plants. Many have medicinal values.

reply to post by dr_strangecraft


Someone, such as yourself, who thinks of coffee as a food group, might be interested in checking out toddycafe.com and their cold brew system for coffee concentrate. With a little ingenuity you don't even have to purchase their equipment ... just use their directions on how to. The liquid could probably be vacuum packed and it'd sure beat carrying around bushels of coffee beans.

I love the cast iron. - Within my home.

I 'oil' down my frying pan on a regular basis.

It serves many purposes.

I can cook on this utensil, and use it (afterwards?) as a weapon. Lord knows it is a heavy instument. Doesn't bother me at all.

~Ducky~

All you need then is hot water to make coffee. Put the hot water in a thermal carafe, and you can make coffee all day from just a few minutes fire. You can also make tea in a french press. you have need more visit at www.bazaark.com...

Look up reviews on google for RADA cutlery.

Made in USA, hollow-ground surgical steel blades, cast aluminum handles and a lifetime warranty. VERY affordable.

I have some and am extremely impressed with them.

My light weight blue enamel 1 qt sauce pan, There is a cheap lightweight stainless steel stew pot I want to buy here in the next couple of weeks. Tin foil and lots of it. You can cook just about anything by wrapping it in tin foil and sticking it in some hot coals. I'm not worried about any harm coming from it, in fact there are quite allot of things I'll probably want to forget by that point.

take coffee pour directly into water...let it start to boil lightly...take 1 egg or 2 if they are small and crack them open into the water with the lightly boiling coffee. Take coffee off of heat source after about 2-3 minutes with the eggs in it and let stand for a couple of minutes for the grounds to all settle. Pour out slowly and enjoy. The eggs catch alot of the coffee grounds and if you pour it out into your cup slowly once it has set for a minute or 2 you have all the grounds in the bottom of the pot.
I have enjoyed coffee for many years like this in the woods hunting and ice fishing.