the sustainable kitchen

the kerr-cole sustainable living center  
3310 paper mill road  
taylor, arizona 85939 usa

email: kerrcole@frontiernet.net  

what is a sustainable  kitchen?

it is a combination of field equipment that use as little fuel as possible and yet provides many of the conveniences of a regular kitchen including well cooked meals. it will function for months or years under adverse conditions. in sunny areas, the heart of a sustainable  kitchen is the solar cooker.

what makes up a sustainable  kitchen? 

the basic stove is one or more solar cookers with dark pots or canning jars having tight lids, supplemented at night or on cloudy days with small wood fires and a "hay box" to provide retained heat cooking.  it includes some long term method of starting fires, such as flint and steel since a supply of matches may be exhausted. a water pasteurization indicator (wapi), a separate solar cooker for pasteurization, and storage jars for safe water make up the pasteurization unit. in addition, the sustainable  kitchen may include water heaters  as well as food drying capacity. if located in a house, it may include a home food producing garden and long-term planning for planting and maintaining mature, fast-growing firewood trees around the home.

what is a solar cooker?

cooking is done by sunlight falling on dark surfaces and changing to heat.  the heat is trapped around the pot and flows into the food that becomes gently yet thoroughly cooked.  a solar cooker uses free energy delivered to your yard every sunny day. the domestic solar designs are safe due to the materials and design used in construction  coupled with the low operating temperatures. it is clearly safer and cheaper when compared to gas, electric, propane, or kerosene or wood. there is no smoke or pollution using a solar cooker.  there are many different designs of solar cookers, some quite elaborate and quite excessively hot.  safe, inexpensive, simple solar cookers for household use most frequently are one of two basic kinds: solar boxes and solar panels. solar cookers are a convenient way of producing good meals without  heating up the house or buying fuel even when there is no emergency.

solar box cookers are  well insulated boxes usually with one large window flat or almost flat in the top, with an adjustable reflector in the lid. solar cookers with slanted glass windows and multiple reflectors are another form of solar box. in either form, there is a black metal tray inside the cooker.

solar panel cookers are single pot cookers and can also pasteurize by boiling.  they can cook much the same as a sbc but food may need to be stirred or rotated to provide even cooking. they are relatively quick to make, use little material and can be easily stored or transported. solar panel cookers  have four or five flat panels, approximately 13 by 16 inches, are covered with a reflective surface, usually kitchen foil. they are arranged so each panel throws reflected sunlight onto a centrally located dark pot or darkened jar. the dark pot goes on a low rack in a closed baking bag in the center of the bright spot. the combination achieves cooking temperatures.

what kinds of food can a solar cooker prepare?

meat roasts, barbecues, beans, casseroles, bread, cakes, cookies, grains and cereals, vegetables.  a large solar box cooker (sbc) holds up to 4 pots providing the variation we are accustomed to in our meals. it can cook up to 15 pounds at one time and the food tastes good. a solar panel cooker (spc) generally handles one pot or one small baking tray at  a time. an enlarged, especially designed spc hybridized with propane can do pressure canning, pressure medical sterilization or can cook very large quantities needed for emergency feeding stations.  this form of spc can cook on sunlight alone or with an integral propane booster.  it saves significant quantities of propane when the sun is out and in emergencies can produce cooked meals at night or during stormy weather.

what else can solar cookers do?  

one standard sized sbc can pasteurize 3 gallons of water in arizona in half a day of full summer sun...longer and less quantity in the off seasons. the water can be pasteurized in pint or quart canning jars that also provide longer term safe water storage. the canned jars of pasteurized water provide both a pasteurized drinking vessel and safe water and they can be taken from the shelf ready to go.

the sbc can substitute for a boiling water bath in canning acid foods or preparing infant formula usually processed by boiling. a sbc can be made specifically to sterilize baby diapers, clothing for incontinent people and other contaminated materials. for animal lovers, combinations of bulk grains can be cooked and added to favorite foods for dogs or cats providing both low cost food and free processing. during wet or cloudy weather the sbc can be used as a retained heat, "fireless" cooker.  and any form of solar cooker can destroy noxious weed seeds and insects prior to composting.  

how is retained heat cooking connected to solar box cookers?

the same insulated box can be used for both methods, making it doubly useful.

what is retained heat cooking?

using either solar heat, wood fire, or other conventional fuel, food is brought to a boil and simmered for a few minutes in a pot with a tight lid. unless it is already in a sbc, it is moved to a sbc without disturbing the pot lid and letting steam escape. the pot is then surrounded with insulating pads, towels or cushions. in the insulated oven box with the heat sealed in, the food continues to cook for up to 4 hours with no further fuel costs or attention. the specific times needed for common foods are listed in the attached reprint on "retained heat cooking."

this reduces fuel costs or use of gathered fuels when solar cooking is not possible and can be used during the night or on cloudy days. in addition, foods can cook in retained heat cookers while traveling.

how does the small wood fire fit in?

food can be cooked either by conventional fuels or solar energy. if using wood, gathering every little bit of wood takes time and energy that might better be spent on other tasks.  also, wood supplies may run out in a long-standing emergency unless used very conservatively. small wood fires utilize very little wood to do a great deal of work.

how do small wood fires differ from regular camp fires?

a minimum of wood is utilized. four or five 1/2 inch thick sticks four or five inches long at a time are sufficient. the flame is concentrated in one spot directly underneath the pot. pans are placed directly over the flame which is channeled upward toward to center bottom of the pot by an insulation smoke stack. potential fuels include small twigs, lumber ends, pine blocks, twists of newspapers, strips of cardboard, dry corn cobs, pine cones etc.

what is an emergency wood stove?

there are many different designs of small, efficient single pot  wood stoves. they provide lots of air for good combustion and may be insulated around the outside so the hot flame is concentrated on the bottom of the pot. (see the material on small wood stoves.)

how do you use a small wood stove.

select an area safe for fires. this may be out of doors in a bare spot protected from the wind.  if planning for emergency use, a sheltered spot should be located. it may be in a fireplace or a wood heating stove if the door and fire box are large enough to allow stove and pans to be handled.  a well-ventilated garage, hooded window,  or greenhouse can be used for cooking during storms.

in using the gallon can-in-can design, situate the emergency stove firmly in a safe place. place a small amount of crushed newspaper or dry weeds and 2 to 3 small sticks in the firebox. set it alight while holding it slightly slanted to encourage an initial good air flow. as soon as flame is established, set the stove level and place a u-shaped piece of rebar for a grate. place the food pot on top and start cooking. lift off the pot briefly to feed new wood as needed. fire will need to be tended continuously until ready to be packed in the retained heat. when using the �rocket� form of small wood stoves, the pot need not be removed as wood is fed in through the airway at the bottom.

work through the menu. cook the food that will take longest first. when it has been simmered long enough, place it in a soot sack or wrapped in paper into a sbc or other "hay box" taking care not to open the lid. carefully surround it with insulation. when packing a second pot, be careful not to chill the first one.       

how is the flint and steel used to make fire?

in less than a minute, starting with everything stored near the stove, flame can be produced. it takes a piece of flint, tinder and a scratcher, which can be a piece of hacksaw blade filed smooth, a knife, or other similar metal blade.  one good flint obtained through outdoor recreation outlets can be used to start fires for many years. the tinder is any very light, easily inflamed material such as loose cotton or lint from a clothes drier.

pull apart a small fluff of tinder and place it on a nonflammable surface.  brace the bottom of the flint against the surface at the edge of the tinder and firmly scratch the flint downward several times. it should throw a spark 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.  the tinder should burst into flame and burn briefly but long enough to ignite a torn edge of a small roll of paper or very thin piece of wood to use as a "match".

cotton from a single plant will serve for a very long time. some loose cotton is available in cotton balls, some is used to package medicines. test commercial "cotton" and discard whatever will not ignite with a spark. store tinder in a closed container after drying well in a solar oven.

how may the soot be handled to keep the kitchen clean?

use an old cloth, sack or paper bag to wrap each pot before placing it in the retained heat cooker. in addition, have a designated area, either covered with newspapers or with a surface easily cleaned, for setting pots down after food has finished cooking.  before starting to wash sooty pots, rub each pot bottom with ashes and newspaper, or sand and weeds, etc.  or place a pot bottom under a very small dribble of water and scrub. remember only the soot causes staining, the baked on black resin does not need to be scrubbed off until the use of the pot for small wood fires is over.

in a sustainable kitchen in a sunny area, solar cookers are the primary  cookstove with small wood fires and retained heat methods as a secondary sources.

28-aug-98