Cooking Without Power: What’s Safe, What Isn’t, and What Works
The dangerous part of losing power is not going hungry. It is the cooking.
Every extended outage in Australia produces a run of carbon monoxide poisonings from barbecues brought inside, charcoal used in a garage, and stoves run in a closed room. Carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless, and the early symptoms — headache, nausea, confusion — look exactly like a bad day in a blackout, which is why people go to sleep instead of going outside.
The emergency numbers here are Australian. Elsewhere, call your own — 911 in the United States and Canada, 999 in the United Kingdom, 112 across Europe.
The 10-minute version
- Never burn anything indoors that was not designed and installed for indoor use. No barbecues, no charcoal, no camp stoves, no generators — not in a garage, not on an enclosed balcony, not in a doorway.
- A single butane canister stove and a saucepan covers almost every blackout cooking need for under $40.
- Eat the fridge first, then the freezer, then the pantry. Four hours for a fridge, 24–48 hours for a freezer if the door stays shut.
The carbon monoxide rule
Never use indoors, in a garage, in a shed, in a tent, or on an enclosed balcony:
- Any barbecue — gas or charcoal
- Charcoal or heat beads of any kind, including in a chiminea or pizza oven
- A generator, in any circumstance, including “just inside the garage door with it open.” See generator safety
- Unflued gas heaters in an unventilated room
- Camping stoves not rated for indoor use
Why the mistakes happen: garages and balconies feel like outdoors. They are not. Carbon monoxide accumulates in any space with restricted air movement, and it can reach dangerous concentrations before anyone notices anything.
Symptoms, in order: headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, confusion, drowsiness. If several people in the house have a headache at once — or the pets seem unwell — get everyone outside immediately and call 000. Do not go back in.
A CO alarm costs about $30–60 and is worth having if you use any gas appliance or ever cook near the house in an outage.
What actually works
Butane canister stove — the default
A single-burner stove taking a butane cartridge, the kind sold for camping and used in restaurants for tableside cooking.
- $25–40, cartridges around $3–5 each
- Boils water, cooks a meal, makes coffee
- Compact enough to store with the emergency kit
- Outdoors, or in a genuinely well-ventilated area with fresh air. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions exactly; some are rated for use in ventilated indoor spaces and most are not
- Keep four to six cartridges. Store them somewhere cool and never in a car in summer
Gas barbecue
Most Australian households already own one, which makes it the realistic answer.
- Outdoors only, always
- Check you have a spare full bottle. A blackout is a poor time to discover the bottle is empty
- A side burner turns it into a stove for pots
- A cast iron pan on the grill covers most cooking
Camping gas stove with a larger bottle
More capable, and the same rules apply. Good if you already camp.
Fire pit or wood fire
Slow, requires attention, and depends entirely on fire restrictions — check your local rules, because total fire bans apply to solid fuel fires and often to barbecues too. Genuinely useful for boiling water and heating tinned food where permitted.
Thermos cooking
Underrated. Boil water once, put it in a wide-mouth vacuum flask with couscous, instant noodles, oats or rice, and seal it. Twenty to sixty minutes later it is cooked, using a fraction of the fuel.
Solar and passive
Solar ovens work in Australian conditions and are slow. A black pot in a car on a hot day genuinely heats food. Both are novelties rather than plans, but the car trick is real.
No cooking at all
Frequently the right answer for a short outage. Tinned fish, beans, fruit, crackers, peanut butter, nuts, long-life milk, muesli bars. See food without refrigeration.
Emptying a dead fridge, in order
Food safety, from the actual guidance:
Fridge — about 4 hours with the door kept shut. After that, discard anything perishable that has been above 5°C for more than four hours: meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, eggs, cooked rice and pasta, cut fruit and vegetables, and any leftovers.
Freezer — 24 hours half full, up to 48 hours full, door closed. A full freezer holds cold far longer, so filling gaps with bottles of water before a forecast event genuinely helps.
The rule: food that still contains ice crystals or is at or below 5°C can be refrozen or cooked. Food that has thawed completely and been above 5°C for more than a couple of hours should be discarded.
Eat in this order:
- Fridge perishables — meat, dairy, leftovers — on day one
- Freezer contents as they thaw, cooked thoroughly
- Pantry and tinned food last, because it keeps indefinitely
When in doubt, throw it out. The saying “if in doubt, throw it out” exists because you cannot smell or taste most food-borne pathogens. A ruined dinner is cheaper than gastroenteritis during a blackout with no hot water.
Do not open the doors to check. Every opening costs hours.
Water
- Boiling requires fuel, so budget for it. Three minutes at a rolling boil where a boil-water notice applies
- Purification tablets are far more fuel-efficient than boiling
- Store water in advance. Two litres per person per day. See water storage at home
- Hot water systems hold 100–300 litres of drinkable water, accessible at the drain valve. Worth knowing about
Thresholds
| Situation | The rule |
|---|---|
| Any barbecue, charcoal, or generator | Outdoors only. Never garage, shed, tent or enclosed balcony |
| Multiple people with headaches at once | Everyone outside now. 000. Do not go back in |
| Camp stove indoors | Only if the manufacturer explicitly rates it, with real ventilation |
| Fridge without power | 4 hours. Then discard perishables |
| Freezer without power | 24 hours half full, 48 hours full, door shut |
| Food with ice crystals still present | Safe to cook or refreeze |
| Thawed and warm for hours | Discard. Do not smell-test it |
| Boil-water notice | Rolling boil 3 minutes, or purification tablets |
| Total fire ban | No solid fuel fires. Check barbecue rules too |
What it costs
| Tier | Spend | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Keeping doors shut, eating in the right order, using the barbecue you already own |
| Essential | ~$35–60 | Butane stove and six cartridges. Solves the problem outright |
| Solid | ~$30–60 | A carbon monoxide alarm. Cheap insurance against the one thing that actually kills people |
| Better | ~$60–120 | A wide-mouth vacuum flask for thermos cooking, a cast iron pan, a spare gas bottle |
| Ongoing | ~$20–40 | A week of no-cook food rotated through the pantry |
The drill: the blackout kitchen
- Buy a butane stove and six cartridges. Store with the kit, not in the car.
- Check the spare gas bottle is full. Today, not in January.
- Fill freezer gaps with water bottles — free ice, and it extends your cold hold considerably.
- Put a CO alarm in the house if you use any gas appliance.
- Write the eat-order on the fridge list: fridge, freezer, pantry.
- Keep a week of no-cook food you actually like.
- Practise once. Cook a meal on the camp stove in the yard, so the first attempt is not in the dark with hungry children.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a barbecue indoors during a blackout?
No, and this is the most dangerous mistake made during outages. Barbecues, charcoal, camp stoves and generators produce carbon monoxide — colourless, odourless and lethal — and garages, sheds, tents and enclosed balconies all count as indoors.
What are the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning?
Headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, confusion and drowsiness, in roughly that order. Several people in a household developing headaches simultaneously is a strong warning sign: get everyone outside and call 000 without going back in.
How long does food last in a fridge without power?
About four hours with the door kept closed. After that, discard perishables — meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, eggs, cooked rice and pasta, and leftovers. A freezer holds around 24 hours half full and up to 48 hours full.
Can I refreeze food that thawed in a blackout?
If it still contains ice crystals or has stayed at or below 5°C, yes — it can be refrozen or cooked. Food that has thawed completely and been warm for more than a couple of hours should be thrown out rather than smell-tested.
What is the cheapest way to cook without power?
A single-burner butane camping stove, around $25 to $40 with cartridges at a few dollars each, used outdoors. Thermos cooking — boiling water once and sealing it with couscous, oats or noodles in a vacuum flask — stretches that fuel considerably further.
How much water do I need if I have to boil it?
Budget two litres per person per day for drinking, plus fuel to bring it to a rolling boil for three minutes where a boil-water notice applies. Purification tablets achieve the same result using no fuel at all.
This article is general information, researched from the sources listed below and not reviewed by a professional in the relevant field. Check the sources, and get advice or training suited to your situation. Read our full disclaimer.