Preparing Deseret, one blogger at a time
Did you know you can bake, broil, grill, roast, sauté, fry, stir fry and even pressure cook with the Power of the Sun – NO FUEL REQUIRED! It’s so easy and fun that solar cooking isn’t just for emergencies anymore.
Continue reading “Cooking with Sunlight – Solar Cooking Demo”
In my mind, I can hear the sound of an 80’s song, but I am not an egyptian. No, but I do like a Wok. Most commonly associated with Chinese cooking, the wok actually has variants found from India to Japan. Billions of people have relied on this simple pan as their main cooking pot for good reasons. The wok represents one of the most efficient means to utilize a fires heat and cook in a variety of ways. This is why we thought it to be a good test at our recent stove party.
In short, a woks shape allows it to provide the best surface area to connect with your heat source, and concentrate it for efficient cooking. Depending on what food you use, you could boil, saute, stir fry, and more. So for our test, I grabbed some of the cheapest stew meat, and frozen veggies to test a stir fry. This cooking method is good in a preparedness sense in that it allows you to take smaller pieces of whatever proteins and vegetables you can get your hands on, and quickly cook them with some flavor for a group. This can be really important in an extended emergency when food fatigue has set in, or if you just are trying to get the most out fo your food budget today.
Continue reading “Wok Like A Prepper With A Volcano or a Rocket”
Two years ago, I wrote about emergency home heat. In the article, I compared various options, mentioned my desire for both short-term, convenient and long-term, sustainable solutions, and decided on propane and wood, respectively.
Since then, I have moved, built a new home, and done even more research. While my conclusions have not changed generally, my overall plan has. For the most part, I no longer see the need for two solutions. In my mind, there is now a single, universal solution that is the most efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. Continue reading “Sustainable home heat”
A few weeks ago, several of our authors met up on a Saturday to test out some stoves we were given to review. Jayce will be posting some information and pictures on those soon. The subject of this post was an unexpected surprise to me. At our meet up were the owners of Saratoga Jacks, a local company that imports and sells high quality thermal cookers.
After the break you’ll find a complete unboxing and review of the 7 liter Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker as well as an introduction to thermal cookers and why they matter to preppers.
Continue reading “Review – Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker”
Last weekend several of the UtahPreppers got together with some friends to begin doing some hands on tests to start preparing for winter. Recently several of us have acquired new stoves and we wanted to give a conduct some tests to compare how well they worked. For our first meet up we wanted to test a few stoves and other devices with the group. While we learned a lot we realized that we’ve got some more comprehensive tests to run through before we can highlight each of them adequately. But before we move along with the individual tests, we wanted to thank some of the people that helped make this first stove test so much fun and informative. Continue reading “Group Stove Test: First Thoughts”
Here at UtahPreppers we try to keep an eye on prepping topics, trends and products from all over the country and often the world. Even though we try to keep a global focus we still like finding and supporting local businesses that fit into the prepping niche. We recently met up with a Bluffdale company to take a look at some of their innovative solar products.
The following is from one of our readers who has organized another group buy on Volcano Stoves. See here for my review, or here for a similar group buy we did two years ago.
I’ve contacted the Volcano Grills company and they have agreed to a group buy on the Volcano Collapsible Propane regularly $149.95 with 20 orders we can each receive a 20% discount on this amazing product. The group price will be $120.15. The deadline for this buy is April 15th (See details below). This is a great product; see the review post to make sure it’s something you want. Some of the stove’s highlights: it uses three types of fuel – propane, charcoal or wood. It is built to work with a regular 12″ dutch oven and collapses to 5″ for easy storage. The stove is also very efficient, it only needs 12 briquettes to cook one meal.
Now a bit of the background story on me and the stove. I’ve been gathering the necessary preparations for my own family and my thoughts have turned to cooking stoves and fuel. After doing a bit of research on this website I found Connor’s review of the Volcano Stove. After reading that I’m now fully convinced of the design and efficiency of this product and must have it.
I made several calls to a few local retailers and found the product to be out of stock nearly everywhere. Following Connor’s example, I decided to call Volcano Grill company and they are very friendly and willing to offer a group buy discount. The people at Volcano Grill tell me the recent popularity of this item has caused shortages everywhere. Most places are backordered 6 weeks and the places like Costco may not receive delivery even as late as this fall. I’m excited to receive a discount and share this with as many as possible.
So thank you Volcano Grill and Connor for helping out. Here are the details on the group buy.
Please spread the word to your community and groups. Ask any questions below in the comments section. Thanks.
For several months I’ve been exploring different options for generating electricity in a TEOTWAWKI scenario. My initial search revolved mainly around gasoline generators, and I decided that I would get a Honda EU2000i. This is a great unit that can also be converted to accept not only gasoline, but propane and natural gas as well. This makes it a versatile unit worth considering if you have a source for any of these three fuels.
However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was not a good option for my needs. I ultimately decided not to buy the generator for a couple reasons. First, generators are loud. If you are in a crap-hit-the-fan scenario and are using your generator, then you are likely the only one in the area making that much noise. You will stand out and attract unwanted attention very easily. Second, the usefulness of this generator is directly dependent upon the source fuel. When your supply runs out, then the generator becomes a heavy paperweight. You could barter for additional fuel, sure—but in a dire emergency, the general supply of oil-based fuels will likely quickly deplete. Prompted by Wade’s post, I had been considering acquiring a propane tank for long-term emergency use. But even still, the usefulness of this item has a hard limit that acts as a barrier for utility.
Continue reading “Electricity During an Emergency: Solar Power Generation”
This is the fourth installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series. The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here. The third post, and the first post on the list review is here. This post will pick up where we previously left off in reviewing the categories on the Master List. Continue reading “Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 2”
This is the third installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series. The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here.
In this post we’ll be discussing the items in the different categories on the Master List. If you haven’t seen the list yet, you can access it here.
As we go through these categories, keep in mind that your 72 hour kit will be more like packing for an extended hiking trip whereas your Evacuation Kit will be more like packing for an extended camping trip. Also keep in mind that redundancy and the ability to shed your larger kits and still be able to survive with your smaller kits is critically important. You may find yourself in a scenario where you have bugged out with your Evacuation Kit, but for whatever reason you have to ditch most of it and go on foot. Your G.O.O.D bag had better be able to support you while your on foot. Potentially, you could have to drop supplies all the way down to your EDC and be able to survive off the items in your pockets. Redundancy across your kits is paramount. Continue reading “Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 1”
