Five: Use your most perishable foods first. Meats in the refrigerator will go bad before vegetables or frozen foods. These things should be the first foods you cook. Cooked meats stay good longer than raw meats. It is also good to remember to keep you refrigerator closed as much as possible. Think before you open. Get what you need as quickly as possible and close the door.
Six: Practice barbecue safety as though it were a religion. If the power is out, if you are trapped at home, if basic services are not available, you may not be able to get proper treatment for burns and other injuries. This is not the time to do something stupid that would normally win you a costly trip to the emergency room. While you don't ever want to get burned or injured while cooking out, when the power has failed you particularly don't want to put your life in the hands of what might be an already exhausted medical system. Think first, grill later.
Seven: While gas grills are easier to use and generally more convenient, charcoal grills do have the advantage of retaining heat from smoldering coals for several hours depending on the conditions. Wind will be your worse enemy. This gives you the ability to use your charcoal grill to keep foods warm for several hours. You can grill up lunch while you grill dinner. Wrap the foods you'll want to eat later tightly in aluminum foil and set them around the sides of your charcoal grill. Replace the lid and close down the vents. This will keep the fire warm, but not hot for several hours. You may also open up the vents, add more coals and quickly be back to grilling.
The basic rules are to keep you head. Think about what you need to do and take it very carefully. Conserve fuel and heat so you will be able to grill your way through most any disaster. But don’t let your house fire become the next disaster. Be safe, be careful and eat well. Also remember those around you who might not be so luck as to have a backyard grill. They might not have the equipment, but they might have some good steaks in the refrigerator that you’ll just have to get cooked up quickly.
