Stone Age cooking involves methods that go back to the days when humanity lived in a primitive manner. Humans didn’t have the simple luxuries to make life easier that we have today.
We’re so used to modern cooking methods using appliances and cookware to make food, that most people would have no idea how to cook properly without any of those man-made tools.
But what if disaster were to strike? In a survival situation, there could be an indefinite period where modern appliances and tools would be useless. Things like ovens and microwaves require power, and power outages are likely in an emergency event.
Even other modern cooking methods that don’t require electricity often require some other form of modern or pre-made fuel. Some appliances run on gas or propane and rely on things like matches to heat up and cook food.
Even things like pots and pans could be too bulky and heavy to carry with you. Your survival bag needs to be light so that you can be agile. They’d also make a lot of noise rustling around in your bag, constantly clinking together in situations where you might need to stay quiet.
These primitive stone-age cooking methods use nothing but natural materials. Knowing how to cook with only what you find in nature is an extremely important skill for all survival preppers to know. These methods can keep you and your group fed in the most extreme conditions.
Cooking Over a Fire
There are multiple ways to cook over a fire. These methods are all great options for cooking with only natural materials. However, for any method that involves fire, you also have to be educated on how to start a fire in the wild.
There are many primitive methods of starting fires, so try a few and see what’s easiest. It’s good to know multiple methods in case you ever can’t find the materials for your favorite one.
Also, make sure you know how to start fires outdoors in a safe manner. You don’t want to end up injured or starting wildfires from acting recklessly, so do extensive research and learn how to try fire-starting methods safely.
Roasting
The first direct-fire cooking method is roasting. You’ve probably seen this cooking method before, usually with a whole pig being rotated over a fire. Roasting is a method where you put your ingredients on a long stick and slowly cook them over the flames and hot coals.
Usually, this method is done by building two triangles out of pieces of wood that cross at the top with cordage, leaving a divot for the stick with the ingredients to sit on. This stick is rotated throughout the cooking process so that the heat will be distributed evenly.
Grilling
Another method of cooking with fire is grilling on hot stones. This method is very simple and doesn’t take a high skill level in building. The basic idea of grilling on hot stones is to build a fire, build up smaller rocks around it, and place a large, flat rock on top of it, the other rocks creating a little space between the rock and the flame to let the fire continue to burn.
Some people opt to put the rock next to their fire instead of directly on top of it. Either method will work. When the stone gets hot enough, you can then cook your food on it in a similar fashion to a modern stove or grill.
You can move or flip your food using natural materials, too. For example, you may find a stick with prongs on it that you could use as a spatula. You could also use two twigs like chopsticks to grab your food and turn it over.
You need to be vigilant about the type of rock you’re using to cook. Generally, most rocks will work fine. However, some certain types of rocks would combust if they were placed on or right next to a fire.
Make sure you learn about the rock types in your area and their heat resistance levels, and make sure you know which ones to avoid. Another method of primitive cooking is pit cooking.
Pit Cooking
Pit cooking is where you dig a hole into the ground and start a fire in it, and place a cooking method over it. Some people like to put rocks on the fire and cook on them, and some people like to roast their food over the pit’s heat. This method is ideal for windy weather because it’d be easier to contain to prevent anything accidentally catching on fire or burning.
Cooking with Indirect Heat
One way people primitively cook with indirect heat is by steaming the food wrapped in a covering. One option is using plant leaves, which not only hold the food entity but also add flavor. Examples include banana leaves or corn husks, both capable of sustaining heat for an extended period without compromising their structure. Another alternative is crafting culinary parcels with bark extracted from sturdy trees such as birch or cedar. In coastal regions, seaweed can also be harvested and utilized as heat-tolerant wrapping material to steam foods such as fish and shellfish.
Additionally, animal skins or hides cleaned properly might be used as cookware as they can be heat resistant and keep the flavors in the food. However, note that the level of heat and the duration the hides are exposed to heat should be controlled to prevent it from hardening and cracking.
You can wrap up your food in any of these materials and use them on many different heat sources. They’d be useful when cooking on a hot stone or in a pit cooker. You can also use these in earth ovens.
Earth ovens are manmade ovens that are built using things like stone or clay, usually in a dome shape to trap in heat. These ovens can be built over pits or completely above ground.
Using this method, some people build the fires on the same layer as the dome, sticking their wrapped food into the hot coals. Some prefer to have a separate pit for the fire and lay stones or bricks over the flame to cook on that instead.
Food Preservation Methods
Survival techniques dating back to the Stone Age included a multitude of methods for food preservation. The main methods of food preservation were: drying (dehydrating), smoking, salting, and fermentation. These are primarily based on the principles of removing moisture content and hindering bacterial growth in their day-to-day food resources.
Dehydrating
Dehydrating is one method you can use for food that requires no materials. Dehydrating food gets rid of the moisture, allowing it to not go bad as quickly. This method can make your food last months to even a year.
One way you can dehydrate food is by letting it dry out in the sun. This will be the fastest method. The hot rays of the sun will heat up the food, making moisture evaporate. This leads to dehydration.
Another way you can dehydrate food is by letting it air dry. This method doesn’t require the sun or any heat at all, and can be done indoors. This method wouldn’t work well in humid climates, because the air needs to be dry in order to dry food.
Dehydrated foods can be eaten as is, but can also be rehydrated. You can rehydrate the dehydrated food by adding clean water to the food and cooking it over a heat source. This will return the food to its normal state and may make it more enjoyable to eat.
Smoking
Another method of food preservation is to smoke your food. You can smoke the game that you catch on a smoking rack over hot coals. There are many different smoking rack builds, but pretty much anything that will hold your game over the smoke source will do.
When smoking meat for preservation, it needs to be dry. Meat with moisture in it will spoil quickly. Your ideal texture for smoked meat for preservation purposes should be like a jerky consistency.
Since smoking is a heat source, it’ll dry out the meat in a similar way that sun drying would. This will help the moisture evaporate while also giving the smoked food a pleasant flavor. These foods can last multiple days longer than your average cut of cooked meat, making it good for survival situations.
Salting and fermentation are methods that you can use at home to preserve food but would not lend themselves to a SHTF situation.
These many cooking and food preservation methods are simply necessities during a survival emergency. To ensure you have a full understanding of these Stone Age methods, practice them yourself at home.
Make sure you avoid practicing with modern tools – this defeats the purpose of the methods. Also make sure you practice these very safely, especially because you’ll be dealing with fires and hot surfaces.
It’s also extremely important that the materials you use and the food you eat are both clean. Use clean, hot water to disinfect your materials. If boiling your materials is an option, that’d be even safer. Don’t eat any meat or produce that looks or smells like it’s off or not fresh. When in doubt, throw it out,