So my stove gave up the bucket while I was gone, and I came home and went ok. Now my first thought was, well they have good sales on right now and I might be able to find a great sale on a new energy star stove, so we will look into that.. my second thought was, farm sales start up in a few months, and they always have newer good qaulity second hand stoves for sale at rock bottom prices, the third thought was one that maybe its time to consider seeing if I can put in propane and make my old but workhorse of a propane stove as the main stove in the kitchen instead of the summer kitchen stove?
All of the above need some thinking and looking into, but I still need to be able to cook and work in my kitchen now.. which brings me to the joy of backuips, and backups of the backups, in fact I think even I was surprised at just how many cooking backups I own, I use them at different times of the year, for different things.
- Toaster Oven- (normally used for baking of smaller items and in summer to help not heat up the house)
- Toaster
- 2 Large Crock Pots-Often used thought the year as regular crock pots but also used alot during canning season to make fruit butters etc.
- Kettle- Typically use the one on the stove but I have a good quality one from Dh’s brother that sits in the cupboard
- Big Deep Frypan-Normally used to work my chocolates(it does one of the best jobs at holding a just melting temp) and it gets a thumbs down at being coated but it does a good job in cooking many things.
- Microwave- I really! don’t use this, its a Dh hubby thing, I don’t like it and I still won’t choose to use it but it is there if truly needed.
- Shuttle Chef-for Finishing and cooking of items
- Blender that will cook soup(from mom, it not only blends but will heat up and make soup for you)
- Waffle Maker
Now I have outside cooking sources but the list above is indoor and in kitchen cooking tools, so while it might take a tiny bit of adjusting to say, I want to make this and then figure out which one of the backups is the best choice for doing so, as you can see from above, I am so not short of ways to prepare a meal, stove or no stove..
The only thing that I can’t figure out is how to can with any of the above, so I use if I want to can, I will have to use the propane stove but I don’t think it would be that easy with the wind chill factor, and canning out in the snow on the deck does not appeal much, so that is the one grump I do have, but the truth is that I can take a small break from canning and take the time to figure out and find the best replacement stove possable.
So if you lost your stove, do you think you could use your backups to successfully run the kitchen for the short term or even for a longer period of time? say a month or two?
Just another Day on the Farm 
Out of necessity … thank you for this. I am very interested to hear how you use your crockpots. It is my go-to cooker for making BBQ pulled pork. Otherwise, it’s not used that much. I even have a brand-new larger one still in the box (bought when it looked like the old-faithful broken handled one had quit .. turned out that the heat dial was getting temperamental).
I really want a thermos cooker but undecided if it is worth the investment although I see it as a great alternative for long cooking and using the oven (and an energy saver).
Just added a Wonder Mill Jr. thinking forward and considering any/all power-less options rather than propane or electricity. Eco Versa is on the list, as is a Volcano II (2 is 1 and 1 is 0).
Many thanks, again. I have read your blog end-to-end and am every greatful.
Hi Brenda
So glad that you enjoy my blog so much and thanks for the kind words! I will share some of the thing I use the crock pots for as I make different meals with it. I hear you about the thermos cooker, I spent a pretty penny on a very high end quality one and I don’t use it near enough to justify that cost at this time, but I found that having it availabe and used once or twice a month to keep in practise really allowed me a peace of mind, knowing that i had that ability to cook with it, its something I “should” step up using it and also should put up more recipes on the blog about it.
I use my second hand teapot haybox more then I use the shuttle chef at this time.
Do give a report back on the wonder mill jr once you have used it a number of times and let me know how what you like about it or what you would improve on if you could.
I do have the ecozoom stove and I have used it a number of times, and really like it, I have a number of winter trials planned for it, we will see if it works as well in the cold as it did for me on my summer/fall tests.
I will most definitely let you know how the grain mill works out. Besides the obvious of grinding grains for breakmaking, I am eager to grind dried beans and use the “flour” in cooking soups, etc. I have a stack of bean books waiting for the testing.
Just “won” bids on eBay for two backup items you might not have considered — hand-powered bread / meat slicers. I have a great electric one for cabbage, onions, potatoes, etc. to prep for blanching and dehydrating. But, if there is no electricity available a mandoline (V-slicer) can be dangerous when doing quantity work. Handcutting things very thin is tedious (and can be dangerous to the digits).
Once upon a time I had a German bread slicer that I used to slice cucumbers and onions for bread and butter pickles. Somewhere along the line of too many moves it got “lost.”
Now I have two very inexpensive “antique” hand slicers. Never know when the electric one would have necessiated a non-electric one and that become none (malfunctioning or blade is beyond sharpening).
Another backup item I can highly recommend. I never could find a new one here in US.
Also discovered that there is such a thing as a Spam slicer. Comes from Hawaii, no less, and can be used to slice tofu, tomatoes, eggs, etc., as well. Who knew?
Should have said Ecozoom Versa.
One thing I have that isn’t on your list and might solve your canning issues is a portable 1 or 2 tabletop burner. We have a 2 burner coil since my favorite canning pot doesn’t work on our new induction stove. It’s handy for crafting stuff since you can just plug it in wherever you need it.
On canning day, I could be running with 7 burners total if I dragged the one element induction portable back from the cottage too.
I assume that fixing the stove isn’t going to work. In a frugal mind-frame, that would be the first option in my mind.
Hi Steph
I have a second propane four burner stove for my summer kitchen as a second canning stove, its just that its been put away for winter, as typically I only need one stove in the winter time for use. I do have two colmans propane camping stoves, which also can work for cooking but they are outdoor use only per their instructions.
I have never seen a portable one or two tabletop burner locally, where did you get yours at? and what was the price range? and it fits and holds the big pressure canners? Interesting idea for sure.
I have a single portable butane burner- the type they use for cooking demos. It’s my back up for canning when it’s too hot to heat up the kitchen and we use it for camping too. It’s very light, and It takes small canisters of butane which are surprisingly readily available ( we discovered this on a camping trip when we ran out of fuel- turns out many convenience stores carry them). It’s also my own back up cooking source that isn’t electric.
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Indoor-Living/Small-Appliances/Kitchen/Countertop-Cooking/Hot-Plates/HOTPLATE-TABLE-DBL-1440W-BETTY/_/N-2pqfZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I3834331?Ntt=hotplate
It was $33. In trying to find it on their website I discovered “hotplate” is the keyword that works 🙂
Thanks so much for the link!
When we first moved into our house last spring, it had no stove. We managed to do everything we needed with a toaster oven, crock pot, microwave, and coffee pot for the first 3 months until we found a good deal on a new stove. We also used cast iron outside over a fire pit. Not an ideal situation for all types of cooking, but not to hard to pull off for a short time!
Hi Raven
Agreed, it can be made to work but I wish just a touch that it was happening at any time of the year besides the hard part of winter, but on the other hand, it means I can give my different outside cooking choices a good cold weather testing..
So where you thrilled to get your stove after the three months or did you find it a bit amazing at how well the other ones worked for you?
If the stove died, we’d have issues. I’ve slowly gotten rid of *everything* else. No microwave, no electric kettle. I could still warm up things with candles and the fondue pot. 🙂 Oh, and I guess we still have the toaster.
Hi Doomer
That is a good point, by reducing all the extra’s it does mean that if the one remaining tool fails, that there would be no real backups avilable at that time..I guess it does help to know that having a working stove comes with the apartment, and so if it breaks, you should ideally have a new one within a very reasonable time frame to replace it.
Does the stove come with the apartment or is it yours personally?
Backup stove died? Funny you should mention that: it must be “in season” right now… Our (gently used when we bought it 20+ years ago) Panasonic Genius II convection/microwave oven finally gave up the ghost just before Christmas and to replace new would cost somewhere around two grand:P **RIP Combo-Oven – you will be sorely missed. **
Okay, so if the gas stove died (I’d be very sad: LOVE how fast and infinitely responsive it is): Barbeque in winter? Nope, only for splattery stuff like steak or chops. Same for the Coleman stove: you lose too much heat to make it worthwhile cooking outside.
So that leaves either the slowcookers (large and small), the replacement microwave (no convection, bummer): or, if it’s super cold out and I’ve really got it cookin’ (; ), the top of the wood-burning insert could double as a (very narrow) cooking surface in a pinch.
Looking at the big picture? Not so great. But the stove is fairly new and the gas works without hydro: )
Sounds like you have a good number of backups as well, sorry to hear about your going as well, must just be the right time to have it happen.
Hmmm, interesting to think about. I have the regular back-ups previously mentioned like the microwave, crockpots, toaster, etc. I guess my first thing to go to would be dad’s counter top convection oven, I bought it for him so he would quit using his very old and very dangerous gas oven. If it were a no hydro situation I would use the barbeque, and if all else failed I could heat things on the gas heat stove in the livingroom. I’ve never tried it, but it runs off our own gas well so it blasts all winter and gets pretty darn toasty.
On a side note, if you go the gas route if you get a new stove, check and make sure the oven will still light when the power is out. I forgot to check when I bought mine and the stupid thing won’t light without electricity. I’ve kicked myself a couple of times over that.
Hi Daisy, I know this may sound dumb, but do you happen to know how to test for a “no electricity” start up? (Praying that ours won’t need it):
Hi Deb, your best bet is to contact the company that made it and ask them. I thought about it, and I am in no way qualified to tell anyone how to do anything with gas stoves and I would hate to have something happen because of something I said on the internet. Let the professionals tell you what to do and whether it is safe to run it even if it does light. Sorry!
Hi Daisy
Do many folks in your area have their own gas well? Interesting about checking the stove etc, I would think you are right that you could cook off your gas heat stove..
We have more redundant cooking equipment than anything else around here. Guess we like to eat and eat home-cooked food!
If you go into replacement mode, consider a propane unit. They are very reliable and provide very good, even heat. My only word of warning would be that you get the type of stove/oven that does not use the electric ignition switch because in a grid-down scenario, you would need to manually light the stove burners but usually the oven cannot be manually lit. Propane definitely heats better and more cheaply than electricity, and the cooking process is easier to regulate.
We have most of the items you named but not the eco zoom or a toaster oven. We also have a single electric burner that can be used inside or outdoors — I don’t believe it would be sturdy enough for a full kettle to can jars of food with but for a small batch of water canning (say 3-4 half pints in a small soup pot), it would work.
We also have an antique wood burning oven (recently purchased and not yet attached but if we were SOL for 30 days, that oven would be rigged into service fast!) We also have the regular wood stove, a Coleman kerosene 2 burner unit (camping style), a cast iron tripod to use in a fire ring, 2 outdoor grills, 2 crock pots (diff. sizes), microwave (I’d have to plug it in, though), thermos, a warming unit, and a volcano-stove for the grills. And we have our RV with a full kitchen and propane stove so heck, we could shack-up in the RV and/or drive somewhere. Or camp-in. lol
Hi Lynn
I had thought about it in terms of replacement, but my big concern is that I would have to remodel my kitchen to make it work for the propane stove, I would have to move the stove to the other side of the kitchen/dining room to have the tank outside on that wall, there is just no way to get it on the wall that has the space for the stove currently.
Well Duh! I have the full propane stove and oven in the RV, I might have to shovel a snow path to get out there and it would be on the cold side but its a possablity, and at least it would keep me out of the wind and snow, I don’t know how I forgot that one, I guess because I was looking at what I have in the kitchen, without going outside to cook.
I have a number of outdoor cooking set ups but in this winter weather and wind, it would be bit unpleasent to do the cooking that way, plus I like to add the extra heat from the cooking into the house if at all possable.
I can’t wait to get a proper wood cook stove for the house, instead of my little cast iron stove for heating, I could cook a pot or two on it if truly required in a push come shove..
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who isn’t a fan of microwaves! I only use them to reheat, never cook. I think they make food turn mushy.
Similar to Thermos cooking, is the Wonder Oven. You make it yourself, it’s cheap. You just have to have the pot boiling before you put it in the ‘oven’, which can be done with a couple of candles in a coffee can with holes punched or cut in it for adequate air flow. I love it in the summer because you don’t have to heat up the house with the oven. I can’t say enough about wood cookstoves, the possibility exists that any fuel/power/heat provided by others could be unavailable or unaffordable.
Pam,
I agree about the wood. What if you put in a propane stove and then you can’t get/ afford to get more propane. At least with wood if you live in an area where trees grow you’ll be covered.
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