Cooking

The issue is fuel. What kind and how much. The obvious and easiest choice is Propane, but it is one more thing to buy and keep stocked. I just don't see the point of disconnecting from the city if what that really means is having to haul everything I need from the city. Is that really disconnected, or did I just switch the connection to my own truck?

Hydrogen and bio-gas (methane) show the most promise as fuels that can be readily regenerated on-site. Hydrogen can be generated from any source of electricity, preferably some renewable form. It does require special appliance modifications and can be very hazardous (ka-boom!) if not properly handled. Methane is the natural result of the decomposition of manure so it is easily manufactured assuming you have enough farm animals.

You could just use an electric range, but the end-to-end efficiency is very poor. Image using diesel fuel to generate electricity to power the range. About 70% of the heat from the diesel fuel is lost in the generator and only 30% delivered to the cook top. In such a situation it would be far better to burn the diesel fuel directly in an oil fired stove.

If the electricity is from a renewable source, using an electric range makes more sense, but the size of the power system is an issue. An electric range/oven combination will use up to 11,000 watts! This is four times what the rest of the homestead needs. An inverter to power a range would cost several thousand dollars.