During our harsh winter weather, I look for projects that increase our preparedness, but that can be accomplished in the warmth of my garage; preferably with a minimum of cost. This winter, my wife and I were reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of our preparations. We were inspired by the SurvivalBlog articles that have implored us all to examine and test our preps. We considered how we would do our cooking in a grid-down situation during summer, when cooking on our inside wood stove would be impractical. We already have (a few) gas-fueled camp stoves; but what about that day when no gas is available, and the wood you fell and chop is your primary source of heat?
Under such conditions, I always thought I would simply use an open fire, since I’ve done that many times camping. However, open fires are very inefficient for cooking. One uses more wood (which I believe would be in shorter supply in a grid-down situation) and more smoke is produced (which helps other –perhaps unwelcome–people know when and where dinner is about to be served). So we began searching for ways to build a small, efficient wood stove that was durable enough to be kept outside.
We browsed online line to see how people cook food in rural, undeveloped countries with limited wood supplies. We saw fascinating examples of permanent, mortar-based cooking stoves, where people use simple materials to create very efficient stoves that cook with a small amount of wood. Newer versions of this type of stove are sometimes called “rocket stoves” because they can produce a lot of heat in a confined space, with minimal fuel. They also produce a minimum of smoke. There are many ways to make or purchase such rocket stoves. Most of the ones I’ve seen would be perfect for a bug-out situation. But we were looking for something stout for a homestead situation; something that could be left under four feet of snow in the winter if need be. So our search continued.Continue reading“A DIY Masonry Outdoor Cook Stove, by K.R.”
