Food — Supplies & Cooking Without Power
Basic principle: rotating supplies
Buy what you eat anyway → use the oldest first, put new items at the back (first in, first out). Goal: 10 days self-sufficient (recommendation in Germany by the federal civil-protection office BBK), better 2–4 weeks. Your country's recommendation is available from the official civil-protection authority shown in the region box at the top.
Supplies per person for 10 days (approx. 2,200 kcal/day, based on the BBK list)
| Category | Amount | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Cereal products | 3.5 kg | Rice, pasta, oats, bread/crispbread, flour |
| Vegetables/pulses | 4 kg | Tins: beans, peas, sweetcorn, tomatoes; dried lentils |
| Fruit/nuts | 2.5 kg | Tinned fruit, dried fruit, nuts |
| Dairy products | 2.6 kg | UHT milk, hard cheese, milk powder |
| Fish/meat/eggs | 1.5 kg | Tins: tuna, sausage; dried eggs optional |
| Fats | 0.4 kg | Oil, butter/lard (tinned) |
| Other | as needed | Sugar, honey, salt, coffee/tea, chocolate, stock |
Plus: special needs (baby food, allergies, pet food).
For your household: multiply all amounts by the number of people (e.g. ×2 for 2 adults) — and for pets, store food for 14+ days (dry food keeps longest; don't forget bowls/litter). The supplies calculator (VORRAT.html) works it out for your household.
Shelf life without refrigeration — rules of thumb
- Tinned food: years beyond the best-before date, as long as the tin is undamaged. Throw away bulging/swollen tins!
- Honey, salt, sugar, white rice, vinegar: practically unlimited
- Oil: rancid = you can smell it → do not use any more
- Best-before date = minimum shelf life, not an expiry date. Check in this order: look → smell → taste
Fridge failure: order of consumption
- Day 1: fresh food from the fridge (meat, fish, dairy products)
- Days 1–2: thawing food from the freezer (cook thawed meat thoroughly, do NOT refreeze)
- After that: tinned food and dry supplies - Freezer full + closed: keeps ~48 h, half full ~24 h - Rule of thumb for meat/fish: > 2 h above 7 °C = risk; if in doubt, throw it out
Cooking without power
- Camping stove (gas cartridge): ONLY with ventilation (window tilted open), NEVER in closed rooms without fresh air → carbon monoxide hazard. Supply: ~1 cartridge (230 g) per person per week if used sparingly
- Barbecue/charcoal: NEVER indoors — not even in the garage. Deadly carbon monoxide.
- Tealight heater cannot cook anything — only gives mild warmth
- Methylated-spirit/solid-fuel (Esbit-type) stove: outdoors or at an open window
- Saving energy: only as much water as needed, lid on, let pasta steep in the hot water after bringing it to the boil (cooking with residual heat)
Basic recipes from your supplies
- Rice and bean pan: rice + kidney beans (tinned) + sweetcorn + stock + oil → a complete meal
- Porridge: oats + UHT milk/water + dried fruit + honey — can even be soaked cold
- Lentil stew: red lentils (only 10 min. cooking time!) + tinned tomatoes + stock
- Pan bread: flour + water + salt + baking powder → fry in the pan, replaces bread