Hurricane Cooking

[robyn]

OK - I admit it - I'm a JAP. Two days without power and I'm on a plane out of here. Still - I think I ought to be able to cope for a day or two. We have a BBQ - and we did manage ok for a little over 24 hours this weekend. Except for coffee (I have a grill pot which is more suited to baked beans than boiling water).

I'm not the only one. Newspaper articles said people without power were lining up at Starbucks and other places with power to get coffee (even though they didn't have cream or half and half or anything like that). So I'm not alone. Any tips on making coffee when you lose power? Or any other helpful hints when your only cooking source for everything is your BBQ? Fingers crossed that no one needs these hints. Robyn

[FistFullaRoux]

Go to a thrift shop and get an old fashioned stovetop percolator. The things are bullet proof, and you can pick one up for less than 5 bucks at most second hand places. Try the local hardware store or eBay if you want a new one. Some grocery stores will have them as well. They shouldn't be more than about $20 new.

Admittedly, it won't be the greatest coffee you ever had, but in a pinch, it will do just fine. If only enough to wake you up enough to drive down to Starbucks.

They worked for the cowboys, they'll work for you.

Or, if you are really hardcore about it, you can get a voltage inverter which will allow you to plug up an AC powered device in your car. Not sure how much current your coffe maker pulls, but have the info handy if you go to pick one up. Radio Shack has them, and they can now even be found at WalMart. These will run about $75 to $100, but will run other electrical devices. Comes in handy if you don't have the car charger for your cell phone, for example Just be sure not to try to pull more amperage than the inverter can handle. Most will not handle air conditioners, refrigerators, or freezers.

[Mayhaw Man]

Robyn,

I am kind of going on the assumption that you can make hot water, as you can make it on the grill if you have to. We usually use Sterno on a small chafing dish stand (I am guessing that you have a chafing dish ) to heat water and you can cook on it if you have to. I've been living in Hurricane land for along time.

Then, go to Target, Amazon, or any decent coffee shop (Starbuck's is a choice obviously) and get one of these French Press coffee rigs. they are fool proof, make great coffee, and have NO learning curve. I use one every day pretty much because it makes a great cup, but it will work just fine for your purposes I think.

You can read about them here as well

Brooks

[robyn]

Apart from coffee - figured anyone reading this thread would be interested in the hurricanes themselves. This is a great graphic which shows both projected storm course and wind speeds. It's a few hours slow in updating compared to the NHC stuff - but it gives you a good idea what you might be in for. Back to coffee discussion tomorrow. Robyn

[suzilightning]

robyn, i agree with brooks the best way on how to make coffee now(that i am a bit more sophisticated and you can buy a french press) but grew up many, many years ago with the fistfullofroux method. we had an indistructible stove top perk. fill to the interior line with fresh water we had drawn before we lost power. for each "cup" - 6oz we dumped in 1Tbsp plus one for the pot. did i mention my mom and grandfather liked their coffee strong? put it on and let it basically come to a boil, take it off heat and put in two washed and crushed egg shells and let sit for about 10 minutes. pour but once you start to see any grounds stop. we used to do this over coals back in the 50s and 60s. course we used to feed and keep this coffee in all the nymo(new york mohawk power), lilco(long island lighting company), coned(consolidated edison),mid hudson(mid-hudson electric) and central hudson power crews who came down to long island to help restore power(my pop ran the local power and light company then).

hope you weather this storm well. been there (recently with floyd and the flood of 2000) and realize it is emotionally a strain. keep well.

edited to say it is wild that i love these storms - by the time i was 2 weeks old (born 8/30/1954) i had lived through 2 major hurricanes that hit the tip of long island. we were in the early part of a cycle of storms that ran up the east coast of the united states and hit long island until 1964 and esther. at that time we didn't have all the sophisticated ways of forecasting we have now. course even less than the 1938 hurricane that hit the east end....

Edited September 10, 2004 by suzilightning (log)

[Carrot Top]

I've used suzilightling's coffeepot water and eggwhite method while living on a boat, in the past...once saw it referred to as the 'Maine Brew Method' as in the State of Maine...(no idea why, my family is from there and the coffee is not usually that rawly prepared!)

It is useful, too, to have instant coffee available, just to get some caffeine in your system without having to think or work at anything too hard early in the morning when there is no electricity....

[slbunge]

put it on and let it basically come to a boil, take it off heat and put in two washed and crushed egg shells and let sit for about 10 minutes. pour but once you start to see any grounds stop.

←

Interesting. When we go car camping we often boil coffee over the campfire in a bit enameled coffee pot. Our trick for settling the grounds is a cup of cold water added as you move the pot from the boil.

Might try the eggshell trick next summer.

[Susan in FL]

Robyn, I guess it depends on how good you want your coffee to be, but during Frances we enjoyed the coffee we made ahead. We stored it in thermos containers, and of course it wasn't hard to keep it warm, because without power, the air is so damn hot!

Small amounts of things that needed some heating indoors (during the time we were without power, it was impossible to go outside and use our grill) we used Sterno and part of the "Cooking Stone" set-up that we have. Photo is in this thread. Sorry, I don't know how to take you to a certain post within a thread, so here's the picture of our little safe-to-cook-a-little-bit-indoors makeshift stove.

Unfortunately, this has become our slogan for the past month... Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. I wish us all well!

[suzilightning]

Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

susan and robyn batten the hatches and we'll think about you.

susan - got about 3" of rain from frances here. but are you secretly a red sox fan(note the quote - sounds like me every year )

[Marlene]

If you can make hot water, on the bbq, or a coleman stove or something, get thyself a French Press and some ground coffee if you can

wonderful.

[FL Heat]

Heh. We had a friend come over when Frances took his power out and use the side burner on our grill to heat up water for his coffee jones. He used instant coffee. . .I don't drink coffee, so I have no idea how that tastes (but it sure doesn't LOOK good. . .), and then used sweetened condensed milk to sweeten & cream-ify the strange-looking liquid.

Thankfully, it looks like we'll have a generator for Ivan.

Diana

[babka]

15 people in a 2-bedroom apartment without a coffeepot. A very ugly morning averted when somebody took over the kitchen to make his grandmother's coffee. He boiled water, dumped in ground coffee, and let it sit until the grounds dropped on their own.

good? probably not, though it was manna on that and every subsequent day.

[MGLloyd]

I have had the same dilemma but complicated by the fact that I don't have ground coffee on hand. I roast my own green beans and then grind them right before brewing. I often use a french press so I had the brewing method taken care of. But all my grinders are electric.

The idea I had for 'grinding' the roasted beans was to put the beans into a ziplock bag, and then use a rolling pin on the bag repeatedly. After a few minutes, I was able to crush the beans into small enough particles to make a pretty decent coarse 'grind', just perfect for the french press.

[robyn]

Go to a thrift shop and get an old fashioned stovetop percolator. The things are bullet proof, and you can pick one up for less than 5 bucks at most second hand places. Try the local hardware store or eBay if you want a new one. Some grocery stores will have them as well. They shouldn't be more than about $20 new.

Admittedly, it won't be the greatest coffee you ever had, but in a pinch, it will do just fine. If only enough to wake you up enough to drive down to Starbucks.

They worked for the cowboys, they'll work for you.

Or, if you are really hardcore about it, you can get a voltage inverter which will allow you to plug up an AC powered device in your car. Not sure how much current your coffe maker pulls, but have the info handy if you go to pick one up. Radio Shack has them, and they can now even be found at WalMart. These will run about $75 to $100, but will run other electrical devices. Comes in handy if you don't have the car charger for your cell phone, for example  Just be sure not to try to pull more amperage than the inverter can handle. Most will not handle air conditioners, refrigerators, or freezers.

←

Those stovetop percolators are usually sold in camping stores/sections of stores here. They're totally sold out - and some salespeople said they don't expect to get them for months! Sounds like an item to buy as a holiday present - maybe online. Hurricane season ends 11/30 - and demand should ease up by then. You can use it as a percolator - or to boil water to use in some other coffee making device.

I'm familiar with inverters - but concerned about using them. First we'd have to undo all the hurricane do-dads on the garage doors (we have a series of metal bars and bolts and pins that lock the garage doors and prevent them from blowing in). Then move the car out of the garage (don't want to kill ourselves). And one of our cars has a nasty habit of choking if we only drive it a few yards. So we'd have to waste gas to get a cup of coffee. I really love my coffee but you don't want to waste gas after a storm. Overall - I like the percolator idea a lot better. Robyn

[robyn]

Robyn,

I am kind of going on the assumption that you can make hot water, as you can make it on the grill if you have to. We usually use Sterno on a small chafing dish stand (I am guessing that you have a chafing dish ) to heat water and you can cook on it if you have to. I've been living in Hurricane land for along time.

Then, go to Target, Amazon, or any decent coffee shop (Starbuck's is a choice obviously) and get one of these French Press coffee rigs. they are fool proof, make great coffee, and have NO learning curve. I use one every day pretty much because it makes a great cup, but it will work just fine for your purposes I think.

You can read about them here as well

Brooks

←

Actually I don't have a chafing dish (never had a need for one - I've been looking at them recently because I have a lot of people coming for Thanksgiving this year). My biggest concern has been the most efficient way to boil water (I can of course boil water on the grill - but I don't want to use a half tank of propane to do it).

The combination of the percolator to boil water and french press sounds like a good solution. Robyn

[robyn]

robyn, i agree with brooks the best way on how to  make coffee now(that i am a bit more sophisticated and you can buy a french press) but grew up many, many years ago with the fistfullofroux method.  we had an indistructible stove top perk.  fill to the interior line with fresh water we had drawn before we lost power.  for each "cup" - 6oz we dumped in 1Tbsp plus one for the pot. did i mention my mom and grandfather liked their coffee strong? put it on and let it basically come to a boil, take it off heat and put in two washed and crushed egg shells and let sit for about 10 minutes. pour but once you start to see any grounds stop.  we used to do this over coals back in the 50s and 60s.  course we used to feed and keep this coffee in all the nymo(new york mohawk power), lilco(long island lighting company), coned(consolidated edison),mid hudson(mid-hudson electric) and central hudson power crews who came down to long island to help restore power(my pop ran the local power and light company then). 

hope you weather this storm well.  been there (recently with floyd and the flood of 2000) and realize it is emotionally a strain.  keep well.

edited to say it is wild that i love these storms - by the time i was 2 weeks old (born 8/30/1954) i had lived through 2 major hurricanes that hit the tip of long island.  we were in the early part of a cycle of storms that ran up the east coast of  the united states and hit long island until 1964 and esther.  at that time we didn't have all the sophisticated ways of forecasting we have now.  course even less than the 1938 hurricane that hit the east end....

←

What purpose do the eggshells serve? Just curious - because I think the last thing on my mind before/during/after a hurricane would be washing and crushing egg shells .

I think hurricanes are possibly fun when they're not very big and you're a kid and you get off from school. I recall a couple like that from my youth. The first I remember enduring as an adult was Agnes when I lived in Philadelphia. Caused a lot of flooding. And after we moved to Florida - we wound up evacuating for many major storms - but only got smashed once - by Andrew. I think that as the population has grown in the coastal areas of the southeast - and politicians have gotten more nervous about casualties - the evacuations have become a total PITA. On the other hand - the only thing worse than evacuating for nothing is evacuating and coming home to find your house/neighborhood destroyed. And evacuation certainly beats the possibility of serious personal injury or death. Robyn

[robyn]

I've used suzilightling's coffeepot water and eggwhite method while living on a boat, in the past...once saw it referred to as the 'Maine Brew Method' as in the State of Maine...(no idea why, my family is from there and the coffee is not usually that rawly prepared!)

It is useful, too, to have instant coffee available, just to get some caffeine in your system without having to think or work at anything too hard early in the morning when there is no electricity....

←

I do have instant coffee on hand. Better than nothing. Robyn

[robyn]

Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. 

susan and robyn batten the hatches and we'll think about you. 

susan - got about 3" of rain from frances here.  but are you secretly a red sox fan(note the quote - sounds like me every year )

←

The east coast of Florida is looking ok tonight. At best a little messy. Bigger problems for the panhandle and folks inland who will flood if there's much more rain. Thanks for your thoughts. Robyn

[robyn]

Heh.  We had a friend come over when Frances took his power out and use the side burner on our grill to heat up water for his coffee jones.  He used instant coffee. . .I don't drink coffee, so I have no idea how that tastes (but it sure doesn't LOOK good. . .), and then used sweetened condensed milk to sweeten & cream-ify the strange-looking liquid.

Thankfully, it looks like we'll have a generator for Ivan.

Diana

←

What part of Florida do you live in? All but the largest commercial sized residential generators are unsatisfactory solutions unless you're dealing with a relatively short power outage (unlikely unless you basically have a tropical storm) or can endure sleeping in 95+ degree heat. After over 30 years in Florida - I can say that the best hurricane survival skill I've developed is making evacuation reservations - and the second best is knowing when to leave ahead of the hordes. By the way - the first sounds easy - but it isn't. You don't want to evacuate into a problem area. Ivan looks particularly troublesome for people who might have to evacuate - because so many areas are still suffering from the effects of Charley and Frances. Robyn

[FL Heat]

We're in St Pete, and in a non-evacuation zone. The generator we've got stashed now kept a house running over in Melbourne--the fridge, the freezer, and several fans. The fridge & the freezer are our main concerns, as we've got friends up a ways inland that we can go to for sleeping if we really needed to. . .and luckily, we have one of those older houses that manages to stay fairly cool. Uncomfortably sticky and much warmer than we'd like, but a lot cooler than some others.

Doesn't look like Ivan will be too much trouble for us personally, but after Charley's big turn, I'm not letting the plywood come down just yet. . .

Diana

[snowangel]

If you can stand to drink cold (or room temp) coffee, which I can, have you thought about a Toddy?

I keep one at home and at The Cabin, just in case we run out of gas in the big LP tank. (We can only get LP refills late summer/fall when the road is not wet and not snowcovered). While I much prefer freshly ground beans, I always keep a couple of packets of vaccuum packed grounds up there just in case. This mother, without her am cuppa, is not a mother, she's a witch, as my kids have informed me .

[Dignan]

We're in St Pete, and in a non-evacuation zone.  The generator we've got stashed now kept a house running over in Melbourne--the fridge, the freezer, and several fans.  The fridge & the freezer are our main concerns, as we've got friends up a ways inland that we can go to for sleeping if we really needed to. . .and luckily, we have one of those older houses that manages to stay fairly cool.  Uncomfortably sticky and much warmer than we'd like, but a lot cooler than some others.

Doesn't look like Ivan will be too much trouble for us personally, but after Charley's big turn, I'm not letting the plywood come down just yet. . .

Diana

←

Good luck! I've got people there too, some who took water over Labor Day and don't need anymore. But your gen should be adequate for keeping food stuffs for a few days. The heat is one thing, but enduring it just takes us closer to our forebearers, so think of it as some low level karma as you sweat it out.

[robyn]

If you can stand to drink cold (or room temp) coffee, which I can, have you thought about a Toddy?

I keep one at home and at The Cabin, just in case we run out of gas in the big LP tank.  (We can only get LP refills late summer/fall when the road is not wet and not snowcovered).  While I much prefer freshly ground beans, I always keep a couple of packets of vaccuum packed grounds up there just in case.  This mother, without her am cuppa, is not a mother, she's a witch, as my kids have informed me  .

←

Cold coffee - yuck . I can't even take the traditional summer iced coffee here. Minneapolis - can't imagine a place that has less in common with Florida climate-wise. We've been up there from time to time to visit friends in Minneapolis - and get some health care stuff in Rochester - but only May-September (which I think is a very beautiful time of year there). Robyn

[robyn]

Good luck!  I've got people there too, some who took water over Labor Day and don't need anymore.  But your gen should be adequate for keeping food stuffs for a few days.  The heat is one thing, but enduring it just takes us closer to our forebearers, so think of it as some low level karma as you sweat it out.

←

Perhaps I'm just an old fart. After coming home after Andrew (4 days later - just to take a peek) - the smell of the rotten stuff in the fridge/freezer was enough that I simply don't keep a lot in those places during hurricane season these days.

As for the lack of electricity/AC - I can't take it for more than a day or two in August. As a practical matter - our place in Miami was without power for almost a month after Andrew (we stayed in a hotel with power) - friends further south went for almost 6 months (they either got commercial whole house generators or left). Today - there are tens of thousands of people here in north Florida who've been without power for a week. I suppose there are some people who can take it - or enjoy it. I'm simply not one of them. Robyn

[Mild Bill]

I'm in Tampa and was without power for a few days a week or so ago...

I bought a really nice Coleman propane burner stove for like $30.00 at Walmart...

We made coffee, I heated up my Beef and Barley soup/stew that I made the night before...

We had a great cross breeze thru the house so I wasn't worried about Monoxide...

We lived baby!