(v) Cooking equipment to improve efficiency
(a)A thermal insulation box and skirt
As soon as the food in a pot reached
boiling point, the pot was removed
into a thermal insulation box made of polystyrene in our Japanese
laboratory. In the Experimental House a box insulated with wool fleece
was used. After 30 minutes, rice or a stew was well cooked. The
temperature change in the pot during rice cooking is shown in the
figure on the right and for the stew in
Fig.3 of the previous section using a dotted line.
This method can be applied for some food which is boiled, in this way
saving energy. A pot surrounded by a metal skirt also increases the
efficiency.
(b)Cooking range
When the wind blew strongly, we could cook Sukiyaki for four
persons
using an electric pan. However, usually we can not expect that much
windmill power to be available. We always try to change disadvantages
into advantages in our experiments. For example, a lot of rain falls in
winter at the site. We can collect and store two tons of rainwater per
day on the hillock. If this water can be dropped 6m to the bottom of
the hillock, we could use 1kw-heater for 140 seconds. A cooking range
may be designed to utilize these energies in a kitchen.
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