Outdoor Cooking

[Mortblanc]

When was the last time you prepared a meal outdoors?

I am not talking about on the grill or BBQ, I am talking about going outside, gathering a few twigs, building a fire and preparing an entire meal over what was once called a "campfire".

No, heating baked beans is not meal prep!

I was discussing various methods on another forum that does not normally touch on survival topics and the need to cook outdoors after a weather disaster came up. In that company I discovered that most did not know how to lay a fire, much less cook on one. Some did not even know you could cook over a fire! Some others thought it was illegal!

For millions of years man cooked over open flames, right up to the mid 1800s 100% of the cooking was done on the hearth. Now one can be born, grow up, live and die and never lay sticks on the ground and sit them alight.

We discuss politics and New World Order crap and how the sheeple are clueless and be well prepped and all, but I am finding now that I can not do some of the tasks I once considered retinue, due to physical limitations.

While it might be said that it is like riding a bike, in some instances it is a "use it or loose it" skill set.

Some of those activities have been part of my prep plan and I now have to revise and change the way I make those plans.

Cooking on an open fire is not my first choice of food prep, it is not even second, but it might wind up being the default method, and while it was once something I did every weekend, all weekend long, it has been some time since I did and tonight I discovered that my knees suddenly protest at the up and down thing and bending over the fire is an irritation to my back that I could once tolerate but now can not.

I have a thing called a brazier, but I am now going to need to put some legs on it. I may also have to build myself an off the ground fire box for large prep meals.

Getting old sucks!

[bigpaul]

I have several methods of non electric cooking once the power grid collapses, open fire cooking is one of them but not the only one.
I was brought up with open fires in the home and one of my chores was to clean the ashes out of the grate from the day before and relay a new fire . most people under 50 these days have never seen an open fire much less lay and light one.

[bigpaul]

if you listen to some of the complaints from the North of England in the recent storm you could wonder how some people have survived for so long without learning how to prepare for such events.

[Straight Shooter]

BP has already posted my intended post ....to the letter ......but I would add we bought a mobile fire pit hung from a steel tripod from Aldi’s months ago ...I did post about it ! .......we have used it several times this year with our Dutch oven ....on caravan trips it’s turned some heads ....don’t know why ? ....well I do really using a fire steel can freak people out as they tilt their heads sideways .....” do you need a lighter mate I have plenty “ some even watch while I prep the veggies and meat on a chopping board set on my lap ......they are amazed by everything coming out of just one bag ....even the little stack of herbs and seasonings ......I did have one guy say “lost something mate “ ......no pal just picking some wild garlic ! .........outdoors cooking is the best way and always tastes better than any other method imo .....we do not do enough of it ! But when we do it’s always special ....as BP has already said for most people even the basics of starting / making fire has been lost to the Xbox .....my grandsons however can do both .....make fire and Xbox ....but mostly Xbox !

[Mortblanc]

Yes, I was reading on Sky News where the shadow government was calling for government investigation and prosecution of power company management for not having power back on to 3,000 homes.

Do they actually think the utilities are creating these storms just so they can torture residents?

I too must admit that some of my most memorable "stupid statements" have been on news reports after snowstorms where power outages followed.

Hopeless helplessness, complete entitlement mentality and total dependence on TPTB for the most basic self care needs.

And then they turn to idiots for their advice. One of the news presenters quoting from "survivorman".

It is not just in your country boys, it is all over the "developed world".

It reminds me of a movie called "The Outlaw Josey Wales" where the
Indian Stand Watti made the statement "We were called the civilized tribes. They called us civilized because we were easy to sneak up on."

Old man Powel recognized it back in the Boar War. Civilized people are easy to sneak up on. They fail to learn basic "survival skills" or any skills of self care once they can push a button and turn on a light bulb.

then when the light bulb refuses to work it is the government's responsibility to come to the rescue, IMMIDIATELY!!!

I watch a lot of "bushcraft" videos and it always amazes me that the "presenters" are so clumsy and unskilled with their tools, and they are the presenters! There is not a hint of any muscle memory gained from years of tool use. They are trying to teach adults skills that we once taught our 10 year old sons and daughters. And you can tell that they just learned the skill themselves and are amazed at their accomplishments.

It sometimes terrifies me to watch them handle knives, and I laugh at the "information and advice" they present as the ### fundamentals and features to look for in a "survival knife" and act as if it were the law and if your preferences differed you would die instantly when you walked into the outdoors.

It HAS to have a full tang! It HAS to have a 6.5mm thick blade! It HAS to be exactly ??? long! The blade HAS to be made from super-duper 12L22 steel! Nothing else will do and you are putting you life at risk with anything else.

What a load of crap!

[bigpaul]

it seems modern generations have lost the ability to look after themselves, urban lifestyles seem to program people to rely on govt and state to such an extent that they cannot think for themselves and when anything bad happens like a storm or a pandemic like do two things, panic and blame the govt .

[Straight Shooter]

Yes BP I totally agree ......I get told over and over again how the modern women no longer have the (time) to cook real food from scratch ...and hold down a Part time job ....they would rather boil up some pasta throw a jar of sauce and chop up some precooked sausage and call that dinner ....or go get a Big Mac n fries with a no washing up bonus thrown in ......it’s easy to figure out why kids are so fat when they spend most of their time devouring rubbish .....well none of that happens in our house ! .....we make most our crap from scratch ! All three of our daughters were shown how from the age of six by their grandparents and wild child .....and were tested ....if they failed I had to beat them with a 2 x 4 timber until they passed out .....ok I made that up ! ....dad was always impressed and loved what they made .....the brown sick bag was just a silly prank !

[bigpaul]

thats why most people seem to exist on ready meals and take away's, very few people cook from scratch using fresh ingredients, trouble with that is all processed food is full of additives and chemicals, and they seem to put Palm Oil -which is carcinogenic-in everything.

[Pete Grey]

(5 December 2021, 23:11)Mortblanc Wrote: When was the last time you prepared a meal outdoors?

I am not talking about on the grill or BBQ, I am talking about going outside, gathering a few twigs, building a fire and preparing an entire meal over what was once called a "campfire".

No, heating baked beans is not meal prep!

I was discussing various methods on another forum that does not normally touch on survival topics and the need to cook outdoors after a weather disaster came up. In that company I discovered that most did not know how to lay a fire, much less cook on one. Some did not even know you could cook over a fire! Some others thought it was illegal!

For millions of years man cooked over open flames, right up to the mid 1800s 100% of the cooking was done on the hearth. Now one can be born, grow up, live and die and never lay sticks on the ground and set them alight.

I did fortunately learn the basics in Scouts sixty odd years ago and I’m ashamed to say I’ve not cooked on a campfire since.

As preppers we carry wind proof matches, lighters, a fire steel, cotton wool and vaseline tinder in BOB’s and GHB’s but do not practice.

I know how to lay a star fire, a fire between two parallel logs or dig a fire pit, and hang a billy from a tripod or cook in the embers, and its been a long time since I skinned a rabbit or even plucked and dressed a chicken.

[CharlesHarris]

God help them if they had to catch their own dinner alive and the only choices on the menu were monkey, jungle fowl or snake... I was lucky because I was able to coax the scrawny rubber chicken into range before the monkey got the piece of John Wayne cracker I had secreted in my flight suit.