Volcano Cookstove

Although I am not a fan of cooking with charcoal, I am a fan of Dutch oven cooking and preparing for emergencies.

A few years ago I remember seeing on television people waiting in long food lines after the San Fernando earthquake hit California. Many of the people in the damage zone spent hours in breakfast lines, then long lines for lunch, then a repeat for dinner. They had to spend many hours a day in food lines because either they had no food reserves or had no means of cooking their stored food. A little preparation can go a long way in preparing for emergencies. Had these good people stored a little food, fuel and invested in a good quality Dutch oven, they would be set for cooking in their back yard instead of relying on Federal troops to supply their family's nutrition.

Good quality Dutch ovens (Lodge, of course) are fun to use, food always tastes great, and they're invaluable in emergencies.

The only problem I see in using Dutch ovens is the large amount of charcoal needed to cook meals. Charcoal is basically unfriendly to trees (what isn't?), because it takes seven pounds of wood to make one pound of charcoal. In many areas of the world trees are being cut down at an alarming rate to make this much needed cooking fuel. A perfect example is Haiti and Dominican Republic. The small island which is host to these two countries has already seen a huge amount of deforestation and still suffers from continuing tree loss. Haiti is 99% deforested, providing little wood-fuel to the populace. D.R. still has forests, but they are depleting rapidly, mostly because charcoal is being made to supply Haiti's needs.

I mention this because the Volcano Cookstove uses charcoal but saves two-thirds of the amount normally needed when cooking with Dutch ovens. Charcoal is safe and easy to store, eliminating the need to store dangerous liquid fuels for emergency cooking. I usually cook in my Sun Oven (yes, even with small Dutch ovens) but when using a larger Dutch oven I choose to save charcoal by using my Volcano Cookstove.

I've found that most good Dutch oven cooks choose Kingsford brand charcoal because of the consistency of the product. If it takes 15 briquettes to cook a chicken once, then it will probably take 15 the next time also. No, I don't own stock in Kingsford, but I have tried other brands and prefer this readily available brand.

I've been told that four twenty pound bags will be enough fuel to cook for a family of four, using a Volcano Cookstove and a Dutch oven, two meals a day for an entire year. Well, I don't know if that is true or not, but I do think you will have to experiment a little on your own to get that kind of efficiency. The point is that the Volcano will provide a safe, fun and practical method of cooking that is great anytime, including emergencies.



If you visit Las Vegas, be sure to stop at Vegas Trailer Supply to see the Volcano Cookstove and the new collapsable stove. We carry many of the Volcano accessories including the special Volcano Seasoning that many customers particularly like. (Last week we delivered 12 bottles of the stuff to one guy!).

You may also want to visit the Volcano Cookstove website for more info and downloads.

Have a safe day cookin' up good eats my friend. Mike