Making your fuel last
- Soak beans overnight. It cuts cooking time by about a quarter, sometimes more.
- Use a pressure cooker. Beans and rice cook in a fraction of the time, using about half the fuel or less.
- Retained-heat cooking. Bring a pot to a boil, then wrap it in blankets or put it in an insulated box (a "haybox") and let it finish cooking on its own. This can cut fuel by half or more.
- Lids on, always. And cook rice and beans in big batches.
Store propane safely
Keep tanks outdoors, upright and in shade, at least 5 feet from doors and windows. Never in the house, garage, basement or shed. Many towns limit how much you can store, so check with your local fire department. Propane itself doesn't go bad, but a tank must be recertified 12 years after it was made.
Have more than one way to cook
- Propane camp stove on 20 lb tanks: your everyday backup.
- Rocket stove: burns sticks and pinecones, so the fuel is free.
- Charcoal grill: store charcoal dry in a sealed bin. Outdoors only.
- Solar oven: slow, but no fuel at all on sunny days.
- Never cook with propane, charcoal or a generator indoors. Carbon monoxide has no smell.
Store it right
Rice, beans and wheat last decades only if you seal them right. My step-by-step guide shows how to fill and seal Mylar bags, how many oxygen absorbers to use, and where to keep it all.