Tuesday 5 May –Insulated Cooker

Several months ago, a friend of ours sent us some information on a concept she had come across. The concept is an Insulated Cooking Basket. She had modified it and then made one for herself and had great results in using it for her own kitchen. She thought perhaps the orphanage could benefit from the use of this basket. She tried explaining it to me and then said she had a book with instructions on how to make it. So a week or so ago I was able to get the book and start investigating the best way for Tumaini to make and use the basket.

I showed Ferdinand the book and the pictures that went along with the instructions. He was very surprised and excited to see how the basket would work. After I explained it to him, he explained it to his wife Happyness. Since she would be the one purchasing the baskets, it was helpful for her to understand fully what was needed. She also was surprised and thrilled with the concept. The concept is that you take a basket, put some kind of insulating material (cotton filler, wadded-up fabric, rice husks, etc) and put in the bottom of the basket. Then you take material and sew it over the insulating material. Next, you put insulating material around the walls of the basket and cover it with material. For the sides, you have to sew spots around the wall to keep the insulating material from moving. After the basket is finished, you sew two pillows with the insulating material in it. A smaller pillow that sits on the top of the pot and then a bigger pillow that sits on top of the entire basket. The idea is to start cooking your food in a pot on the stove for a certain amount of time and then you put the pot in the insulated cooker where it continues to cook without using fuel. In this way, the cooker keeps your food hot and ready whenever you need it and it saves quite a bit of money on fuel costs.

She, Ferdinand and Augustini went to the kitchen and measured the cooking pots' diameter so we could buy the appropriately sized basket for each pot. All of this happened about a week ago and then today, Happyness informed me that she had purchased the three baskets. Since I had ridden my scooter out to Tumaini, I wasn't sure if I could get the baskets and a bag of rice husks on the back of my bike and return to Sweya in one piece. Ferdinand and Abeli, our Maintenance Director, helped to fill a bag with the rice husks and then put the bag in the baskets, which were stacked inside each other, onto the rack on the back of my bike. They used pieces of rubber, which are strips cut from tires, to tie the whole bundle to my bike.

This week I hope to get a good start on making the cooker and hopefully finish it in time to have them use it on Saturday.

Comments

[Leslie]

I never read this blog but wanted to come over here after reading about the cooker to learn the details. That is awesome how much fuel it is saving the orphanage! Wow! The Lord is using you, Beth!