[Stoves] VERY small cooking: What is it?

[Paul S. Anderson]

Dear Stovers,

(Part One)
This Subject on "VERY small cooking" is divided into two parts.  One is "What is
it?" and the other is "How to do it."  Although related, the "problem (do people
cook this way?)" and the "solution (stove devices)" each deserve separate
attention.

Definitions:  "cooking" is when something intended for consumption is heated,
and
"VERY small cooking" is when that something is like 2 cups of tea water, or a
half-cup (dry) of rice, or "Zap that piece of pie in the microwave", or toast a
piece of bread.  It is also when the people are so poor and hungry that there is
extremely little to eat.  And when the "cook" is possibly the only person who
will eat (backpacker camper).

Therefore, we are NOT including cooking for the family or using a 5-liter pot or
what is normally considered a meal preparation for several people.

First, we need to determine if "very small cooking" is actually practiced in the
societies for which we are attempting to provide improved cookstoves.

One extreme: the 3-stone fire smolders all day long, and the small teapot or a
single serving of food for simple reheating is placed at the side of the fire,
perhaps in the embers.  This scene favors places where the biomass fuel is
abundant or at least adequate.

The other extreme is to turn on the microwave oven for 40 seconds to heat a cup
of water.  This favors the affluent people for whom small-energy expenses are
not very important.

But what about the other people and the other circumstances?  Early cold-morning
wake-up?  Is there a fire still burning?  How long does it take to get a VERY
small cooking task completed?

Or late in the evening and a member of the family (even a drunken husband?)
comes home and expects hot food.

Or if simply two people are to be fed, and there is not to be a big meal.
Remember that refrigeration is probably not available to store the left-overs,
so prepare only what is to be eaten at that meal.

And in a hot climate, the fire is only wanted for a minimal amount of time.
Ignite, cook, turn off the fire as soon as is reasonable.  This favors the
"multiple stoves" concept where one kitchen has a larger burner for main
cooking, but uses LPG or even electricity for the "short cooking jobs."  Not
everyone who needs an improved cookstove is poor, or certainly not destitute.
Some might have an "electric kettle" to get the "cuppa tea" ready.

Another aspect of very small cooking is the short duration, which also means
that the cook probably is not very far from the cookstove.  If the fire needs
tending carefully for 10 or 15 minutes TOTAL, the cook is probably willing and
able to do so.

If VERY small cooking is not an issue, please tell us.  But if it is an issue in
a culture that you know, please tell us about the needs.   IF very small cooking
is a common practice, DO OUR DESIGNS OF IMPROVED COOKSTOVES cater for these
needs?   (The stove devices are to be discussed in the second part of these
messages.)

Paul
-- 
Paul S. Anderson, Ph.D., Geography professor - Emeritus
Telephone:  USA-309-452-7072 (residence and office)
Internet site:  www.ilstu.edu/~psanders
For my gasifier stoves info, go to:
http://bioenergylists.org/contributors#Paul_Anderson





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