When you think prepping, having food on hand comes easily to mind. Good, because that’s hugely important. Something that’s easier to overlook is how prepping of that food will change in emergency situations. Is your kitchen set up with the food prep equipment you’ll need?
Food prep over fires
Much of modern cookware wouldn’t do well over a fire or on a propane grill. Those are two of the most common cooking plans, so that’s a problem. One of the most common issues is the handle. When you cook over a fire, it’s harder to keep a pot’s handle away from the heat. The plastics that sheath handles in many kitchens would transform into abstract ‘art’ under those conditions. How are your handles?
One solid answer is cast iron cookware. Toss the whole thing in a fire or pile hot coals on it; cast iron is Meant for that kind of treatment. It’s also not usually washed with water, which is a big deal when you’re hauling that water a long way.
See the rim on the lid of the Dutch oven? That’s a big deal for slow cooking with coals. Also, season the cast iron ahead of time.
There are lots of solutions to this problem; the main thing is to assure your current equipment is suitable instead of being surprised.
Food prep for storage
Speaking of surprised …what brought this topic to mind in the first place? Why, I had my first good crop from my young cherry tree! I had enough to freeze a few bags. It took about ten seconds of pitting cherries by hand to realize that some kitchen gadgets Are worth their money. I immediately asked Salty, shopper extraordinaire, to get me a cherry pitter.
That’s one benefit of trying your prep plans out early. It was a two day interval to get an efficient answer …now. If the Stuff had already Hit the Fan, I’d probably Still be pitting those things.
I’m not a big fan of specialty kitchen gadgets. Unless, it turns out, I need to pit a bunch of cherries; and then I *love* this gadget.
Canning equipment goes in this category as well. Fire-safe pressure canners and all the associated equipment, plus plenty of jars and lids, make for much better-fed families when there’s no refrigeration.
The biggest hole in food prep equipment
So what’s the biggest problem in food prep equipment I’ve run into so far with my prepping experiments? The biggest problem was a really big stock pot with a good lid. Now I have two. (One is my canner; one is just a garden variety big ole pot.)
These 21 qt stock pot/water bath canners are a good size, to my eye.
Why was the big pot the big problem? First, because many people don’t have one. They used to be very common kitchen items in my Mom’s generation, but I notice they aren’t even among the common cookware offerings in stores any more.
The second issue is utility. Need to cook for a crowd because your relatives showed up needing shelter? Is it time to can some of those tomatoes? A big stock pot can be used for water bath canning, for high acid foods like tomatoes and pickled items. Are you ready to turn a live chicken into dinner? In case you’ve never done that, the first step after decapitating the bird is dipping it whole into boiling water, then cooler water. This loosens the feathers for plucking. Maybe you need to boil some cloth or baby bottles for sanitation…the list goes on.
Last but not least, there’s the fact that when you need a really big pot, a suitable substitution is hard to find.
Where do you get this uncommon food prep equipment?
Ok, I’m not a shopping pro, but I do know a couple of places you can go to fill these needs. My favorites are old rural stores; such as the ones in my neck of the woods usually run by Mennonites. Mennonites often have large families and are masters of canning and other home food production. Their stores are excellently well stocked with suitable gear.
Of course, there’s always online shopping if you don’t have access to these excellent stores.
I encourage you to think through exactly How you mean to prepare your food and do your canning. If possible try it out. That will help you see where your holes are while getting the equipment is still easy.
Spice not food related but you mentioned scalding a chicken to help pluck it. I’ve found when you use a pot for that or making lye soap you never quite get that flavor out of it. So an extra 21 quart pot or three is really nice. I’ve ruined a nice campfire stew cooking it in a Chicken Plucking Pot. Oddly nasty taste.
Often I can find incomplete Canning Sets (IE 21 quart pots+) at yard sales or thrift stores.
Also given your article about Hot Outside? There was a good reason they built Summer Kitchens and did canning OUTSIDE. Can you even think about sleeping in a no power home after a day of woodstove cooking in August?
Cast Iron rocks, If you see some really cruddy cast iron at a yard sale or thrift store Unless warped or cracked BUY IT cheap. Then putting it into a hot fire or using the oven cleaning cycle of your oven will make it ready for seasoning and use.
Also don’t ignore sturdy steel handled cookware, avoid non stick finishes and aluminum (melts in serious fireplace cooking). Often you can get good outdoor cooking gear from thrift stores.
Food That’s for dinner…
Thanks for the tips, Michael. I’ve not had that problem with chicken plucking pots, but our pot was enameled. Maybe that helped. Having bought all my cast iron as you recommend (the old stuff from the flea markets is made of heavier, nicer stuff than most new items) I can add that the burn-off then season trick is great for everything but rust. A little surface rust on the outside can be buffed off with steel wool; but more than that and I gave it a pass. If the cooking surface isn’t smooth, you never get the no-stick effect despite seasoning.
Good article about the Gadgets we want, but sometimes don’t need. BUT Want is a big issue, because Want usually makes life a LOT easier.
I will admit I have not just one, but 2 Cherry Pitters HAHAHAHA What can I say….
Ok the issue of Cast Iron, I am a HUGE fan of Cast, I have dozens and dozens of pieces, Some inherited, some I bought, some I found at Garage Sales and some at second hand stores.
I’m not one to slam a company, usually, but here goes. Lodge Cast Iron is not worth the money by any means, it’s very rough, has casting-seams, and is wayyyyy to thick for what it should be.
Yes I have bought a few pieces from them, first thing one needs to do is get a grinder and attack the Casting Seams on the handles and lip/edges, than start grinding the insides, both sides and bottom, I start with 20 grit and finish up with 120 or 160 after a good hour on a 12 inch skillet. Next you need to run it through the Dishwasher to get all the grinding powder out of the pours, than hand wash with Dawn Soap and supper heat it on the over at 500 deg. once that process is done, one will need to “cure” it totally from scratch. EVEN with all that done it will take a few months of use to “get it right” for serious cooking.
Rant over on Lodge Cast Iron, one hint, if you have an option, but a different brand.
Ok, lastly I do love cooking and Living the Lifestyle, meaning I like to “old school” ways, I hardly ever use a “mixer” and never a Bread Machine”. I very often set a cast iron pot of soup or beans on the Wood Stove in winter and let it cook for days while eating bowl after bowl from it. Sour Dough Bread is baked in a 14” Cast Iron Dutch Oven set directly on a Camp Fire and so on….
I do believe we as a country have lost the Old Ways of food, what a shame.
I love cooking and baking in cast iron because… well… it’s just a fantastic tool to work with… holds heat like no other, keeps things even, a well seasoned skillet properly used beats any “space age” or “digital age” coating. A cast iron skillet lasts generations, literally.
Spice enameled works well to prevent off flavors from one use to another until it chips or scratches. Mine always do. Often the yard sale or thrift store ones are already chipped but serviceable. Plain steel pots will transfer odd flavors from chicken feather scalding and soap making so I mark mine for intended use.
I’ve had luck buying old crusty cast iron. But your right deep rust pitting is a no go. I’ve wasted more than a day or two trying to sand down the pits.