Meal options for off-the-grid

I'm a bit disappointed that there are so few options for my sim when cooking off-the-grid. My plan was for my sim to grow and harvest the crops needed for cooking, and also catch all the fish for his meals. He did initially use the campfire from Outdoor Retreat to cook his catch. But now that he's saved up enough, I'm having trouble deciding how to set up his cooking area. These are the only options I found, and was wondering if I missed anything?

Wood-burning Stove - I ended up selling this after I found out he can only cook grilled cheese sandwiches and some other dish that doesn't use fresh ingredients. Are there other options for the stove that I missed?
Vintage Refrigerator - he can use any fruits or tomatoes to make fruit or garden salad. It's also handy to have for keeping left-over meals so I think I'll hang on to this
Sulani BBQ searer - he can use fish, taro, pineapples, herbs as ingredients to cook from this item, so this is definitely a keeper. Although, I'm thinking if I play-off grid in another world, this item wouldn't really fit in a place like Windenberg or Strangerville?
Kava Bowl - uses harvests from the kava shrub, but this is really more for social stuff
Cooler from Outdoor Retreat - with a fridge available, I don't think this is needed
Campfire from Outdoor Retreat - he did start out with this, but it's very frustrating! Half the time he catches on fire, and the fire also ends up burning both his meal and his seat. Also, I could have sworn I've used this in the past without needing a seat, but it seems now he can't roast fish without a seat by the fire??
Regular grills/BBQ - I don't think there are options to use fresh ingredients, and there's no option to make single-serve meals

So I think that's it. I haven't found out yet if there are other dishes that uses the coconut? I also had my sim try out the fish stew and poke bowl from a food vendor. Can these dishes be learned and prepared at home?

I look forward to any tips/suggestions. Thanks!

tips

12 Replies

atreya33
Legend
6 years ago
The meal options are indeed disappointing.

The option I did not see on your list is the cauldron from realm of magic. It is supposed to work off grid and has a limited option to cook meals as well.
crocobaura
Legend
6 years ago
Regarding the wood burning stove, I think it should be able to cook all food options? Does your sim have enough cooking skill, if not maybe there will be more options once he skills up?
mariefoxprice83
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
I've got a couple of households living off the grid at the moment. The food restrictions are annoying.
mikamakimon
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
"Atreya33;c-17469089" wrote:
The meal options are indeed disappointing.

The option I did not see on your list is the cauldron from realm of magic. It is supposed to work off grid and has a limited option to cook meals as well.

I don't have this pack yet, but that's good to know! I'll definitely keep that in mind when I get the pack. Thanks so much!
mikamakimon
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
"crocobaura;c-17469128" wrote:
Regarding the wood burning stove, I think it should be able to cook all food options? Does your sim have enough cooking skill, if not maybe there will be more options once he skills up?

It didn't even occur to me that it could be his cooking level so I checked back in the game. He is nearly level 8 now. I repurchased the wood-burning stove, just as a trial, and the options are still pretty much the same. When clicking on the stove, the only options to cook are grilled cheese sandwich and toast and eggs. The fridge did give one extra option. Aside from the fruit and vegetable salad, there is now the lumpia dish available, but that's it. I don't know why the other dishes can't be made. It just doesn't make sense, to be honest. That aside, I am having fun with the off-the-grid feature. Thanks!
DaWaterRat
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
"mikamakimon;c-17469239" wrote:
"crocobaura;c-17469128" wrote:
Regarding the wood burning stove, I think it should be able to cook all food options? Does your sim have enough cooking skill, if not maybe there will be more options once he skills up?

It didn't even occur to me that it could be his cooking level so I checked back in the game. He is nearly level 8 now. I repurchased the wood-burning stove, just as a trial, and the options are still pretty much the same. When clicking on the stove, the only options to cook are grilled cheese sandwich and toast and eggs. The fridge did give one extra option. Aside from the fruit and vegetable salad, there is now the lumpia dish available, but that's it. I don't know why the other dishes can't be made. It just doesn't make sense, to be honest. That aside, I am having fun with the off-the-grid feature. Thanks!

This may seem weird, but ... do you have a counter to prepare the food on? I mean, you've got the salad so I assume so, but I've seen so many times (not necessarily in the sims) where the error was something so obviously simple that the person making it had overlooked it as an option. (like a computer not working because it's not plugged in.)
mikamakimon
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
"Mariefoxprice83;c-17469219" wrote:
I've got a couple of households living off the grid at the moment. The food restrictions are annoying.

I agree, it nearly turned me off playing this way at the start. I guess I've gotten used to it, but I wish there were more options available. Another challenge was the tense moodlet they'd get from using off-the-grid sinks and showers. My sim would always get very tense after dealing with his bladder and hygiene needs in the mornings, lol. One good thing about this is he never autonomously drinks water from the tap! And since he lives near the waterfall, sometimes I'd just let him shower there to avoid getting tense :)
mikamakimon
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago

This may seem weird, but ... do you have a counter to prepare the food on? I mean, you've got the salad so I assume so, but I've seen so many times (not necessarily in the sims) where the error was something so obviously simple that the person making it had overlooked it as an option. (like a computer not working because it's not plugged in.)

Yes, I do have some counter space for prepping meals :)
DragonAge_300905
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
The base game grill called grill wise will work off the grid. I checked with a level 10 cooking skilled sim and I think the grill has the same options as the Sulani BBQ has.

Eta. Between the low cooking options and the tense from the dirty water I don't play off the grid because of those 2.
mikamakimon
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
"DragonAge_300905;c-17469267" wrote:
The base game grill called grill wise will work off the grid. I checked with a level 10 cooking skilled sim and I think the grill has the same options as the Sulani BBQ has.

Eta. Between the low cooking options and the tense from the dirty water I don't play off the grid because of those 2.

Thanks, I will check that when I get back in the game. I did try the grill from Jungle Adventure, and I assumed the other grills will have the same options.

I was almost put off playing off-grid too. But aside from the disappointment over the lack of kitchen and lighting options, I'm really enjoying this. It fits my sim's 'self-sustaining' lifestyle, growing or catching his food for his meals, and even making his own furniture from the wood-working table. Hopefully we'll get more packs or patches in the future to make this a more fleshed-out feature.