Efficient Cooking

Three topics:

Haybox
Solar Oven
Rocket Stove
plus instructions on how to make each...

"Haybox cooking
(also called retained-heat cooking) is an age-old method that can be used to conserve energy not only during times of crisis, but anytime. Depending on the food item and amount cooked, the use of a haybox or insulated cooker saves between 20% and 80% of the energy normally needed to cook a food...
The principle of retained-heat cooking is simple. In conventional cooking, any heat applied to the pot after it reaches boiling temperature is merely replacing heat lost to the air by the pot. In haybox cooking, food is brought to a boil, simmered for a few minutes depending on the particle size (5 minutes for rice or other grains, 15 minutes for large dry beans or whole potatoes), then put into the haybox to continue cooking. Since the insulated cooker prevents most of the heat in the food from escaping into the environment, no additional energy is needed to complete the cooking process."

read more about hayboxes, solar ovens, and rocket stoves on Lost Valley's site...

We used hayboxes almost every time we prepared a meal at Lost Valley Educational Center in Oregon. They are a must have...

From Holistic Economics:
A haybox is an insulated box that is used for cooking. Traditionally it was a wooden box lined with hay. Basically, the idea behind haybox cookery is. 1) Bring a pot of pre-soaked beans to a boil 2) Remove from heat and place inside haybox 3) Do whatever you want for the next few hours 4) Come back to a perfectly cooked pot of beans (or rice or whatever else you choose to slow cook).

read more about hayboxes and how to make one on Holistic Economics...

another blog on how to build a haybox, Home Matters Most

On Solar Ovens:

Solar ovens, aka solar cookers, use only sunlight as an energy source. They use no fuel, cost nothing to run, and can be made using inexpensive materials. I ate delicious pizza prepared by Frank Michael (of the Farm) on a solar oven at the Sonnenschein festival in Hohenwald Tennessee.

one example of a solar oven

Instructions on how to make your own solar oven on The Farm's site...


Rocket Stoves:
From wikipedia: "this stove operates on about half as much fuel, and produces substantially less smoke. Furthermore, the design of the stove requires small diameter lengths of wood, which can generally be satisfied with small branches. As such, sufficient fuel for cooking tasks can be gathered in less time, without the benefit of tools, and ideally without the destruction of forested areas. Because these qualities improve local air quality, and discourage deforestation, the rocket stove has attracted the attention of a number of Appropriate Technology concerns, which have deployed it in numerous third-world locales."




click here to view more videos on Aprovecho's advanced stove technologies.