Plan to cook without the stove

When the power's out, the electric stove is out too, and so is the microwave. A no-power cooking plan isn't just 'buy a camp stove' — it's matching the method to your home, knowing the safety rules, and having the foods that work with it. An apartment can't safely run a propane camp stove inside; a house with a patio can. The plan fits the setting. This page covers how to choose a no-power cooking method that won't put your household at risk, what foods to stock for it, and the safety rules that keep a cold dinner from becoming a dangerous one.

Match the method to your home

If you live in an apartment or anywhere without outdoor space, your no-power cooking options are limited by ventilation and fire safety. A butane canister camp stove used on a balcony with good airflow may be acceptable; the same stove in a small kitchen with closed windows is a carbon-monoxide and fire risk. A thermos for hot water and shelf-stable foods that need no cooking is the safest apartment plan — instant oats, soups, ready-to-eat meals. Know your building's rules and your ventilation before you decide.

If you have a patio, yard, or balcony, a camp stove (propane or butane) used outdoors is a reasonable no-power cooking method. A charcoal or propane grill works too, but always outside, never on a balcony that isn't rated for it, and never indoors. A portable butane burner is the most common choice for a small household. The CDC and CPSC are explicit: these are outdoor-only appliances.

The honest alternative is not cooking. Shelf-stable foods that require no heat — nut butter and bread, canned soups eaten cold, granola, jerky, crackers and cheese — are a legitimate plan for a short outage. The 'prep' is having them. Cooking during an outage is optional; eating isn't. For a two-day power loss, a no-cook plan is safer and easier than a camp-stove plan.

If you have a gas range with electronic ignition, it may still light with a match — but check your stove's manual, and never use the oven to heat the room. The plan is to cook, not to heat the home with a kitchen appliance. The two are different and only one is safe. An oven is not a space heater, and treating it as one is a CO risk.

Consider the fuel you'll use and store it safely. Butane and propane canisters go in a cool, dry spot away from heat and out of reach of kids. Don't stock a year of fuel if your plan is for two days of cooking — fuel degrades, canisters rust, and a stockpile you never use is a storage problem. Match the fuel to the planned duration.

Stock the fuel and the foods

If you plan to cook, stock the fuel: butane canisters or propane cylinders, in the quantity for your planned duration, stored safely away from heat and out of reach of kids. Rotate them — fuel can degrade or the canister can rust. A stove with a full fuel canister that you've never tested is a bad surprise in the dark. Test it once a year.

Stock foods that fit the method. A camp stove heats a pot of water or a pan; plan around boiling water for instant meals, heating canned soup, or cooking simple one-pot dishes. Foods that need an oven, long simmering, or precise temperature are the wrong choice for a camp stove. Instant rice, pasta that cooks fast, canned chili — these are the workable foods.

Don't forget the manual tools: a manual can opener, matches or a lighter, and a pot that fits your stove. An electric can opener is useless without power. Keep the cooking kit together so it's grab-and-go, not scattered through the kitchen. The kit is what makes the plan usable in the dark with wet hands.

Plan meals, not just ingredients. A can of beans and a can of rice are ingredients; a can of chili and a can of corn are a meal. Build your emergency food around meals you can assemble from the shelf with one pot and one heat source. The food page covers this in more depth — the cooking page is about the method; the food page is about what goes in the pot.

Water for cooking is part of the plan. If your plan includes instant oatmeal, soup, or pasta, you need water to boil for it — and that water comes out of your stored supply. Account for cooking water in your water plan, not just drinking water. A cooking plan that assumes the tap works is a plan that fails when the tap is off.

Know the safety rules

The non-negotiable rules: never use a camp stove, grill, or charcoal indoors or in a garage — carbon monoxide. Never use one in a tent or enclosed space. Let it cool before storing. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby, not across the house. These rules exist because people die breaking them every year during outages. The CDC reports CO poisoning spikes after every major power outage, mostly from indoor grill and stove use.

For a balcony, check what your building allows and the airflow. A butane stove on a tiny enclosed balcony with the windows closed is a CO risk; the same stove on an open balcony with airflow is generally fine. When in doubt, don't. A cold meal in a safe apartment beats a hot meal in a CO-filled one. Read your lease and your local fire code before you plan.

Keep a fire extinguisher rated for kitchen use (a K or ABC class) within reach of your cooking setup, not across the house. Know the PASS method: Pull the pin, Aim at the base, Squeeze, Sweep. If you've never used one, the instinct under stress is to aim at the flames; you aim at the base. The fire-safety page covers extinguishers in detail.

Plan for the grease fire. A grease fire in a pan gets a lid slid on, not water and not an extinguisher if you can help it. Water on a grease fire spreads it. Keep a lid that fits your pan nearby. If a fire is bigger than a trash can or spreading, it's a get-out-and-call-911 fire, not a fight-it-yourself fire. Know the line before you're standing in front of it.

The honest summary: the cooking plan is about the method, the fuel, and the safety — in that order. The method fits your home; the fuel is stocked and rotated; the safety rules keep the method from becoming a disaster. A no-cook fallback is the safety net. Don't make the cooking plan the riskiest part of your prep when the power is out.

This is planning guidance, not emergency advice. In an emergency, call 911. See a mistake? Report it.

Keep planning the basics