Ever heard of fireless cooking? That’s right, cooking without fire! Residents of Enkiringiri in Isinya were astounded on learning that one can cook without having to light a fire.
On Thursday,
last week, all roads led to Mrs. Grace Tuukuo’s homestead in Enkigirri. A group of 25 ladies
had gathered eagerly waiting for the day’s lessons.
All year round,
women in Enkigirri are faced with the predicament of lack of firewood. They have
to walk many miles to look for firewood or spend considerable amount of money,
which is hard to come by, to find fuel for their domestic use. As a result, the
mention of a fireless cooker was like music to their ears.
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| the fireless cooker |
The fireless cooker is just a basket woven from reeds and layered with blankets, banana leaves or cloth in the inside. It uses the food’s stored heat to cook it over time. Two cushions are also put on top of the basket covering its mouth completely and this is to ensure no heat escapes from the basket. This is made out of the lining material and should be exactly the width of the basket to seal off the basket leaving no room for heat to escape.
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| The inside of the basket |
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| Black Polythene wraper used to wrap food to prevent heat loss |
The food to cook is first brought to its boiling point using another means; firewood or charcoal, then transfer the food into the fireless cooker. The food continues to cook slowly and steadily due to the insulation inside (from the blankets or banana leaves stuffed in the blankets) preventing any loss of heat from the cooker.
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| Ladies take turns to view the cooker |
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| Ladies checking the fireless cooker as facilitator explains |
This was an eye opener for the ladies who learnt for the first time how this easy- to- adopt technology could save their money, fuel and time.
The fireless cooker
has many advantages which include the following:
It is portable meaning
that it and can be carried around easily. Secondly, a fireless cooker can keep
food warm for up to 8 hours after it has been heated, and this takes away the
need to keep reheating the food after some time. Moreover, watching the stove
is unnecessary as it is impossible to burn the food or cause accidents like
fires. Air pollution from smoke is also
greatly reduced or health problems related to smoke from firewood and charcoal.
This mode of
cooking is sustainable and many development based organizations have been campaigning
for its use. One such institution is Practical Action, a close partner of
ALIN and REAP East Africa.
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