Description of the EcoCooker     print

June 19, 2007

Community Use EcoCooker Sizes

Community EcoCookers now come in the following capacities:

  1. 24 litres good for cooking 80 meals;
  2. 72 litres good for cooking 240 meals; and
  3. 120 litres good for cooking 400 meals.

Each EcoCooker has several cooking utensils, in a stack, as follows:

  • The 24-litre EcoCooker has a stack of four stainless steel utensils, each about 6-litre capacity.
  • The 72-litre cooker has three stacks of four vessles (12 vessels altogether). Each vessels is of a size that can be comfortably handled by one person. All vessels are of stainless steel.
  • The 120 litre EcoCooker has nine aluminium vessels, each of about 14-litre capacity, with bucket-type handles so each vessel can be carried into the dining area for direct serving, with no re-handling necessary.

Domestic Use EcoCooker Sizes

Family-sized EcoCookers currently come in two sizes:

  1. The 5-litre EcoCooker stacks four cooking vessels. This is good for a family of four or five.
  2. The 3-litre EcoCooker stacks three cooking vesels, good for a family of two or three.

The stainless steel cooking vessel for the domestic models come in three sizes:

  • Large (2 litres)
  • Medium (1.5 litres)
  • Small (1 litre)

You can use any combination of vessels whose sizes add up to the capacity of your domestic model.

What you can cook in EcoCooker

EcoCooker can be used for your bulk cooking, of dal, rice, vegetables, meat, and all items that can be cooked by steaming or boiling.

The savings

EcoCooker will save for you:

  • three-quarters of the fuel you would otherwise consume,
  • the time you would otherwise spend standing at the stove

Improved Flavours

Because the EcoCooker works with slow heating, some foods (dal and meat in particular) definitely taste better when cooked in the EcoCooker.

Fuels you can use

The EcoCooker will work with any fuel: gas, kerosene, coal, wood or even biogas. Currently it has been fully proven only on gas. We are developing a wood-burning stove which will be a companion to the EcoCooker and will save on the amount of wood consumed compared to cooking on a conventional wood stove.

Safety

  • The EcoCooker is completely safe.
  • Since there is no pressure built up in the cooker, there is no danger of explosion.
  • If you forget to turn off the gas all that will happen is that the water in the base will dry out, and you will waste some fuel.

Description of the Parts (3 and 5 litre models)

  Domestic EcoCooker parts Community EcoCooker parts
describe_1.jpg The aluminum cooking pot base. It is fitted with convenient handles to lift the fully assembled Cooker off the stove. The base. This sits directly on the supporting stand. It has a tap for draining out the water when the heat is switched off.
describe_2.jpg A perforated steam bubble-breaker plate which is placed inside the base. Supporting base plates, one below each vessel stack. When cooking starts, water in the base must be above these plates, in contact with the lowest cooking vessels. When cooking ends, the remaining water must be below these plates (or, in the largest cookers, must be drained out by opening the tap).
describe_3.jpg A stack of stainless steel cooking vessels. These come in a constant diameter, and a choice of three heights. The cooking vessels. These are either ordinary stainless steel cooking utensils with lids (for the 24 and 72 litre EcoCookers), or special aluminium bucket-type vessels (for the 120 litre EcoCooker). A final lid, convex side up, covers each stack.
describe_4.jpg The cooking vessels stack above each other, and fit inside the cooking pot. They have a stainless steel lid on top. The cooking vessels stack above each other, and fit inside the base, on top of the base plates.
describe_5.jpg A cooking pot cover, which goes over the cooking vessels, and fits inside the cooking pot base. An inner cover that fits over the base.
describe_6.jpg An outer cover , which goes over the whole assembly. This provides air-gap insulation.

The outer cover goes over the inner one.
describe_7.jpg Note that the outer cover goes over the cooking pot cover.
describe_8.jpg The final assembly