What is cooking after the earthquake?

Now that we’ve had a couple of good shakers in Southern California, it’s time to think more seriously about survival. According to the scientific types, we are long overdue for an earthquake on the San Andreas fault, and many of the other 221 faults in Southern California.

A major earthquake will mean that we are not likely to see relief workers for days or even weeks, depending on how widespread the damage is. That means we will be responsible for our own food and water, and yes, for doing our own cooking.

Forget the microwave!

Without electricity, the microwave will be useless and if the gas network is compromised, you will be alone unless you have a gas barbecue and enough bottled gas to meet your needs. Without that, we suggest investing in a portable camp stove. They range from $ 25 for a single-burner tabletop model to multi-burner models in the $ 100 range.

The smaller stove and its fuel cans may weigh less, but they will limit the type of cooking you can do. You’ll probably also want specialty pots that snap together to save space, and the utensils (scratch-free?) That go with them.

Commercial kits usually contain a large number of strange items that are never eaten.

Rather than relying on the freeze-dried food or military-style food packets typically found in ready-made survival kits, take stock of what type of dry and canned foods you normally enjoy. Simply purchase additional quantities and rotate your supplies to have the freshest ones on hand.

Also, buy and store extra water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. How much your household needs depends on several factors, including household pets.

The typical recommendation of 1 gallon of water per day (6-8 glasses to drink) may be more than you will actually use, but maybe not.

Once again, your home will have unique requirements for water. In areas like Southern California, for example, where 2/3 of the daily water supply comes from an aqueduct from Northern California (which crosses the San Andreas Fault 32 times!), Residents may face a shortage of supply of water for several weeks. .

Refrigerated food begins to spoil within four hours.

For the first few days, you will take care of food in the fridge and freezer. You (and your neighbors) may be eating quite smartly, if you can cook.

The next ten days or weeks will be the most challenging.

According to FoodSafety.gov, the most important thing is to keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed. If they remain sealed, your refrigerator can keep food cold for about four hours, and a full The freezer can keep food safe for about 48 hours.

You can get more out of your frozen and refrigerated foods by fill empty spaces in your freezer with gallon plastic water bottles. Ice will keep things colder longer and provide another source of drinking water.

Having a survival kit is better than having nothing.

But gathering a real supply of healthy and tasty food, with the ability to heat or cook it, will give you a more secure base to overcome the emergency.