Preparedness for when

nuatha

Frugalsod wrote: »

I do not expect to be that far from civilisation. I could find a great location at the end of someones garden. There is the possibility I might not even get off Tromso island, and will be within walking distance of the town centre and airport.

I'd assumed from earlier posts that you would be in wilderness. Even that close to civilisation I'd want a second stove fuel option if I was planning to live off dehydrated foods. (And you'll easily get below where propane will be of any use). (And I'd probably be using parafin as my main cooking fuel if wood wasn't a realistic option)

mardatha wrote: »

Cottage Economy I find the power stuff impossible to get into my head too. I went into detail on this because we get frequent power cuts here, and the f/f is the only thing I haven't got covered. In the end I had to accept that the only thing to do was rely on it less in winter. I got so many helpful suggestions but all of them involved either a lot of money, or a lot of work + a man who was a) interested and b) able to do it LOL - and mine def isnt!
If I had a family at home I would learn all about canning bottling and preserving, and do that instead. But there are only the two of us so I think we can just do without bulging freezers.
You can get solar freezers which I liked the idea of, but they cost about £900 so out of the question.

My solution would be to decant the freezers into Maxcold cool boxes, I did this with a freezer failure and four days later everything was still frozen, more recently I tested them with ice cubes and bottles of frozen water, after 6 days the temperature in the coolbox was -10, the average air temp over the 6 days was 11C (unfortunately that's the point where life got in the way and prevented me from checking temps over the next few days)
Maxcolds aren't cheap but have no running costs. (though they are bulky)

Frugalsod wrote: »

Now that is a stupid idea. Who thought that would be sensible? They should be shot! To have solar generating capacity shut down because of a power cut. I suspect it was the power companies who thought that the customers would simply disconnect themselves and get free electricity.

Because the system is a feed-in system, there is no local storage, so you need a mains connection to provide electricity when the sun isn't around. I think its a stupid idea, you think it was a stupid idea, unfortunately the people in charge of it disagree (and may well have good reasons for doing so)

nuatha

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

In the debate on freezers and particularly meat in freezers that would rot if the power was out for long periods can I throw into the debate the idea that canned meat is a worthwhile consideration rather than frozen? I know there is a lot of predjudice on canned foods in this day and age but things like corned beef are very versatile and can be used for many dishes that would normally be made with minced beef. I made a shepherds pie with corned beef on Sunday and it was really tasty and I also make hash, pies, pasties with corned beef and have even used it in a hot pot, all work well. Stewed steak is the other very versatile canned product I'm never without. If you have fresh veg and fruit in your diet along with the canned foods you'll stay healthy and your canned foods will last well on the shelf and all the worry over the power supply will not be a factor in your lives, Lyn xxx.

As always Lyn, good advice.
My long term food supplies are cans, jars and dehydrated. The freezers are convenience and in a shtf scenario would the freezer food would be used first or abandoned. The majority of my freezer stash is raw, which allows me the option of cooking it and refreezing if power returns or in the case of veg/fruit canning it (I don't currently have access to a pressure canner, so canning meat is not an option)

Anyhow, if you'd bought a number of tins of corned beef a few years ago, you'd have had a very good return on your investment

[Deleted User]

I'm saying canned food but in Mr.T in the world foods section there is usually a good selection of foods from Poland and they stock a jar of wonderfullness that is KIELBASA, it's a spicy sausage under a layer of pure white pork lard and the product is super in anything you can make with mince , I even use it for pasta sauce. They often have it on special offer at £1.99 a jar and it's well worth having in store. They also have a jar of beans with bacon FASOLA which is beautiful too and if you like beetroot, there is an instant BORTSCH soup which comes in at 49p a packet. All good things to have in reserve for a powerless day, Lyn xxx.

RAS

nuatha wrote: »

Because the system is a feed-in system, there is no local storage, so you need a mains connection to provide electricity when the sun isn't around. I think its a stupid idea, you think it was a stupid idea, unfortunately the people in charge of it disagree (and may well have good reasons for doing so)

Imagine you are a electrical engineer repairing broken power lines.

One end goes to the grid and is dead because it has been switched off. The other end - has some lucky sods who have a big PV display, thumping out loads of power.

Given that the main grid cables in the SW cannot cope with any more local wind or solar power generation, that could be a fair number of volts/Kw.

I agree that it is bonkers that wind and PV installations are put up with no switch to localise the power use when the grid shuts down but understand why engineers do not want PV and wind generated power coursing through their veins.

Frugalsod

nuatha wrote: »

I'd assumed from earlier posts that you would be in wilderness. Even that close to civilisation I'd want a second stove fuel option if I was planning to live off dehydrated foods. (And you'll easily get below where propane will be of any use). (And I'd probably be using parafin as my main cooking fuel if wood wasn't a realistic option)

I will look into it. I am planning on a reconnaissance trip in the summer and will probably not do anything until I feel sure that I could cope. I think a jet boil system might be a good emergency back up, though I will look into local supplies on my summer trip. It is all more than a year away so no panic yet. It would also be prudent to take a number of different ways to start the fires, such as lighters, waterproof matches and fire strikers. In addition I will take way more fire starters than I need and will be making and testing my own before I go as well.

As for the dehydrated foods I will do a trial at home for several weeks to see how I cope and any additional things that I need to consider. Overall I think I have most things at a useable stage. As a back up there is always the credit card and booking myself into a hotel.

RAS

If you are doing a reccy, I recommend finding the ferry terminal and taking a local ferry out to some of the islands (rather than the Hurtigruten) Much cheaper and much more fun (also the southward Hurtigruten ship docks at midnight so you see less). Head north up the main street, when the road splits at the raddison, take the left hand turn down to the quay and the ferry point is a couple of hundred yards.

You can check out the huts as well.

Frugalsod

Thanks for that. My initial visit will probably be on the island and if I can I will stay with a local and try and find out about the cabins and local fuel supplies etc the sorts of things that would take me ages to accumulate that I could be told over a week. It would be sensible for me to find the local supermarkets so if I plan to stay close I can buy food if necessary. It might be several trips before I go really deep off the beaten trail.

RAS

I was accomodated (work) so did no supermarket shopping.

A couple of general tips for Norway.

if you need to eat out do so at lunch-time - cafes and stores do reasonably priced workers lunches - often 3 course fixed price with a drink. In Sweden it is the Dagensratt and I think the Norwegian word was similar.

If you drink alcohol buy a bottle of duty free spirits and decant into empty pop or mineral water bottles on arrival. It is cheaper to buy a litre and just decant 500ml and leave the rest for the chamber maid than to buy booze when you eat out or in a bar.

As a rule lattol (light beer) is cheaper to buy in the supermarket than branded soft drinks are to buy anywhere. Fruit juice (usually orange) can be a better bet than soft drinks.

[Deleted User]

Have just ordered from Ama*on 'Libbys - The Art of Cooking with Canned Foods' by Sonia Allison which has cost me 99p plus postage. There are 7 more copies, all used and in good sondition, I'll let you know what it's like when it arrives here, Lyn xxx.

Butterfly_Brain

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

In the debate on freezers and particularly meat in freezers that would rot if the power was out for long periods can I throw into the debate the idea that canned meat is a worthwhile consideration rather than frozen? I know there is a lot of predjudice on canned foods in this day and age but things like corned beef are very versatile and can be used for many dishes that would normally be made with minced beef. I made a shepherds pie with corned beef on Sunday and it was really tasty and I also make hash, pies, pasties with corned beef and have even used it in a hot pot, all work well. Stewed steak is the other very versatile canned product I'm never without. If you have fresh veg and fruit in your diet along with the canned foods you'll stay healthy and your canned foods will last well on the shelf and all the worry over the power supply will not be a factor in your lives, Lyn xxx.

I have lots of corned beef, stewed steak, mince, chicken in white sauce, chicken roll, sliced beef, and ham. We love tinned ham drizzled with honey and roasted in the oven and I also use it in risottos, with pasta in a Chinese sauce and pies. I have been experimenting with canned meals for over a year and I now know what my family likes and what they don't like from the store cupboard