Cooking without Electricity: Cook with a Kelly Kettle

This is the ninth post in the series Cooking without Electricity. As you've seen in past posts, I try to look for methods of cooking that don't cost a lot money and that are available to anyone on a moment's notice should the electricity go out unexpectedly.  Today's post covers cooking with a Kelly Kettle. Unfortunately, I don't know of any way you could make it yourself.

I purchased my Kelly Kettle (and the two support pieces) to help augment my ability to cook when we go camping.  However, it has turned out to be a great helper right here at home. It is now a valuable piece of equipment I will depend on if the electricity ever goes out.

Let's start with a review of what I purchased. 

I purchased the basic Kelly Kettle with a Kelly Kettle Cook Set and a Kelly Kettle Pot Support.  I purchased it on sale from Emergency Essentials.  They now have a video on their page showing a demonstration on how to use it. 

Full disclosure, I don't get any form of compensation from Emergency Essentials, I am just a satisfied customer.  I have been ordering from them for over three years.

The innovation behind the Kelly Kettle is it will quickly boil water with very little fuel.  The kettle holds 1 1/2 litters (it is made in Ireland) and will boil water in just a few minutes.  It works great for heating water which can be used for either cooking or purification for drinking, if needed.

I must say I really like the Kelly Kettle cook set.  It has two different pots with a removable handle and a grill to use on the base of the Kelly Kettle. Here is a picture of the cook set with the Kelly Kettle base.

Today, I used the Kelly Kettle to boil water and heat a can of beans for dinner.  I used the pot support to cook the beans at the same time I boiled the water.  The first thing to do is get the beans.

When I first opened the cook set, I thought the pans were quite small.  However, as you can see here, the pot held the entire can of beans and I think it would have held another one if it were needed.

Next, I set up the base of the kettle on my back patio.  Since this requires starting a fire, I placed the pot on my cement block, with a cookie sheet underneath it.  I used Fired Up! as the fire starter. I also added a few pieces of wood.  I pulled these pieces off of some of the wood in my wood pile.  Notice, it isn't much.  For safety sake, be sure to follow all instructions enclosed with the Kelly Kettle.

I lit the fire and placed the kettle on top of it.  (Of course, I filled the kettle with water first.)
Then I placed the pot support on top of the kettle and added my pot of beans.

I tried to get a picture of the flames in the base of the pot, but unfortunately, you can't see them. I can say that I got boiling water in about 5 to 6 minutes and hot baked beans in about 7 minutes.  I had more than enough fuel.  In fact, I think I had too much.  I could have emptied the water into another container and boiled some more without adding any more fuel.  In addition, the water stayed hot for quite some time.  I went back to check on the water after we finished dinner and it was still quite hot.

The primary advantages of the kettle are that it heats quickly and it won't use much fuel.  That can come in very handy.  Additional advantages are that it is light weight and easy to carry when camping. Although it is great for camping, it works just as well in the back yard!  If you would like to see a more detailed demonstration on its use, click on the Emergency Essentials link above.


If you liked this post, you may also like other posts in the Cooking without Electricity series:

• Cook With Alternative Fuels
• Cook Your Food in a Steam Pit
• Cook Your Food in a Hot Box
• Cook with a Number 10 Can Stove
• Using Non-Electric Appliances
• Make Some Campfire Charcoal
• Make a Dakota Fire Hole to Cook In
• Cook Your Food in a Cardboard Box
• Cook Your Food in a Sun Oven