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Cooking in a power outage

This little propane grill and a canister of propane cost about $25 and are widely available. The backyard (or, in this case, back porch) cooking option is a handy alternative in a power outage.
Gary Davis/KPLU
This little propane grill and a canister of propane cost about $25 and are widely available. The backyard (or, in this case, back porch) cooking option is a handy alternative in a power outage.

A lot of folks around these parts lately have become experts at cooking during a power outage. A listener asked Nancy and Dick to offer their own tips on making do when the juice shuts off.  

This week's Food for Thought makes sure your covered when the lights go out. 

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-942531.mp3

Listen to Nancy and Dick's advice by clicking on the audio 'play' arrow above

Among their handy tips:

  • Keep ground coffee ready to go 
  • Pick up a butane burner to keep handy for outdoor cooking (take any open flame cooking outside, please!)
  • An extra bag of charcoal and a cast iron Dutch oven will also work outdoors, as will an outdoor propane BBQ available at many drug and grocery stores
  • Use the frozen leftovers from your freezer (Nancy says a quick dive into the freezer won't spoil your goods)
  • Keep a big ice cooler handy for your frozen goods if the outage lasts multiple days
  • A head lamp or baseball cap with an LED light make it easier to see if you're cooking in the dark

We close another year of KPLU's Food for Thought with just a few ideas to help you prepare for whatever comes in 2011. Happy New Year!
Viet World Kitchen's How to Cook and Eat Well in a Power Outage

Dick Stein joined KNKX in January 1992. He retired in 2020 after three decades on air. During his storied radio career, he hosted the morning jazz show, co-hosted and produced "Food for Thought" with Nancy Leson and wrote and directed the Jimmy Jazzoid live radio musical comedies and 100 episodes of Jazz Kitchen.
Nancy Leson is an award-winning food writer, radio personality, cooking instructor and public speaker who learned much of what she knows about food during her first career: waiting tables. Seattle readers know her as the mouth that scored — for the better part of two decades — as restaurant critic and food columnist for the Seattle Times. These days, when she’s not chatting about recipes or interviewing makers and shakers in the food world for KNKX, she helps end hunger, one loaf at a time, as the Edmonds hub coordinator for the Community Loaves project. Find her @nancyleson and at nancyleson.com.