Have You ever Heated Dinner with a Candle?

@OneOfMany (12150)
United States
April 18, 2016 8:44pm CST
A few times when hurricanes would knock out my power I would cook a can of baked beans with a candle since everything else I had used electricity to work. Candles aren't much use for heat in those situations though, which I found out after Sandy came through and left me in the cold. I was able to tolerate two days of sitting in the house of 45 degrees with loads of blankets, but as soon as the roads were clear I got out of there. I understand that the power came back later that night, but still, I just couldn't take it in the cold room any more. However, a nice hot can of baked beans was actually pretty good in that condition. It makes you appreciate electricity.
10 people like this
9 responses
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
19 Apr 16
We lived through roughly a week of no electricity during the big ice storm in the late 90s. We took all the meat from our freezer, and stored it outside in a friend's shed. We cooked over a fondue burner (not a candle!) and were able to cook meat, canned beans, soups and stews, etc. We also made lots of tea and coffee!
2 people like this
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
19 Apr 16
We had to go a whole week after a big hurricane and lost all power but we were lucky as we had an RV so we did all the cooking out in the driveway in it.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
19 Apr 16
One of the problems with having no electricity with me is that my water supply is well water. So if the power goes, there goes my water too! I can only hold out for as long as my drinking supplies last. Fortunately where I live now there are no problems. I can always visit parents or relatives.
2 people like this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
20 Apr 16
@OneOfMany I wondered if someone here might have such a problem! I'm thinking that it would be a very good idea to have some sort of backup generator to operate the pump for the well - or at least to have an option to operate the pump manually....
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
19 Apr 16
stuff like that makes me want to have matches and wood, or a camping stove, or something!
2 people like this
• Centralia, Missouri
20 Apr 16
@OneOfMany on that treehouse show on nat geo I think it was, I saw him put in a tiny high effecience wood burning stove, I want one of those, think they make some odd window inserts too for smoke
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
19 Apr 16
I had a burn barrel outside. But it was wet and even colder outside, so it wasn't helpful.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
20 Apr 16
@Jessicalynnt Tiny, high-efficiency wood burning stoves would be pretty awesome.
1 person likes this
@youless (112091)
• Guangzhou, China
19 Apr 16
Here in some expensive restaurants, they will use candles to keep some dishes warm. They use it this way as it looks like much more elegant. As the dishes are already hot, but after some time, they will be cool down. And having the candles under the dishes will keep them warm.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
19 Apr 16
Yes, candles are good for keeping things warm and they use that here as well in some places. Trying to cook one of those dinners with it might be difficult!
2 people like this
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
19 Apr 16
Never experienced a hurricane but if we lost power we would probablyuse the barbecue.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
19 Apr 16
My barbecue is electric, so no good there for me!
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
20 Apr 16
@OneOfMany I guess not. Maybe you should just get a small propane one like I use to take to the race track. They are big enough for a few things and great to have handy in case of power failures.
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
19 Apr 16
My daughter cooked a whole thanksgiving dinner on a barbeque due to a bad storm a few years ago. It is amazing what one can do when things happen.
2 people like this
@norcal (4890)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
19 Apr 16
I have a propane stove, and a propane heater. The electricity goes out a lot around here.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
19 Apr 16
Where I live now I have natural gas, so if the power goes out I can use the stove (I wouldn't trust my ability to regulate the oven well enough). Unfortunately the furnace is controlled by electric, so even if the fuel is there it doesn't run. I want to get a backup battery system so I'm not left in the cold. I could do the generator path, but I want a solar system eventually.
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
20 Apr 16
@ramapo17 I considered it last winter when my power went off, but fortunately this year my power stayed on the whole time. Last year I lit the burner on my gas range and was able to stay warmer with that. It didn't heat a room, but it is fire, so I could keep my hands warm and such. I had to open all my water faucets because it was below zero outside. Even a propane heater wouldn't provide enough heat for where the pipes tend to get frozen. Eventually I want to live in a place where even if there's no power I can still access my water and it stays relatively warm compared to the outside. I have been designing a home like that for a while. I just need the funds to build it!
2 people like this
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
20 Apr 16
@OneOfMany We got a propane heater years ago when we lived in the mountains in case of emergencies. There are all sizes. If you get a small one keep all the doors closed to the other rooms so the room you are in gets warm. If it gets to hot just open a door to another room.
1 person likes this
@Yar_Joey (3271)
• Philippines
20 Apr 16
I did not yet tried that heating food with candle.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
20 Apr 16
If you don't need to, that's probably the best.
2 people like this
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
22 Apr 16
no never
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
22 Apr 16
Well it's good to avoid it when you can. I hope it never comes to that again for me. Of course, now that I have a gas stove I don't need to worry about that!
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
19 Apr 16
I remember "Sandy" very well. I am a Jersey girl and power was out a few days at my dads. The roads looked like it was a war zone. We were lucky as we had a generator so we didn't have to cook over candles.
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
20 Apr 16
@OneOfMany What area were you living during Sandy? Down the shore? I was in the Pocono Mountains and we had a lot of days without electricity.
@Poppylicious (11133)
19 Apr 16
'Cooking with Candles' sounds like a good idea for a recipe book!
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
19 Apr 16
Now you know what your next big writing success will be!
1 person likes this