Subject: SOL Cooker 3 of 3

From: [email-masked] (Scott Parks)
Date: 13 May 94 22:06:56 -0800

-=> Note:
Forwarded (from: homepowr) by Scott Parks using timEd.
Originally from Don Kulha (1:125/7.0) to All.
Original dated: May 05 '94, 10:08

Oven Workshops
We had class three hours every afternoon. Although the women 
were busy attending to the great amount of daily work, they 
usually managed to spare three hours. They felt solar cooking 
was important to learn. Since the majority of the women knew 
nothing about carpentry, we started with the basics. We went 
over all of the tools that we were going to use, and explained 
some carpentry fundamentals.
Then we started building. First we divided into groups, and 
built three ovens. When those ovens were done we built three 
more. These went much faster than the first three. The 
greatest pleasure came in building the last two ovens. Each 
woman in the workshop had built two ovens already, and were 
practically experts in the solar oven field. The three of us 
hardly lifted a finger, and before we knew it the last two 
ovens were built.
Then came the fun part. We asked each woman what colors they 
preferred, and we showed up the next week with six gallons of 
paint. We had a big painting party. Each participant painted her 
own oven, and brought it home to finally use.
Solar Oven Success
We left Nueva Esperanza excited that the workshops went so 
well, but slightly apprehensive, wondering if the ovens would 
really get used. Using solar ovens does require a slight change 
of customary cooking habits. We had heard horror stories of 
ovens being used to store clothes and as tables. We also 
encountered many skeptical internationalists who told us the 
ovens would never replace people's normal cooking traditions. 
We were ecstatic to prove them wrong!
A week later we showed up at Nueva Esperanza to do a follow 
up check on the ovens. The visit was definitely encouraging and 
inspiring. Not only were the women using their ovens every 
day, but the ovens cooked with great success, reaching 
temperatures of 300o F.
Solar Cooked Iguana?
We first visited Conchita, who had just taken perfectly cooked 
rice out of her oven. She told us how she cooked beans, 
potatoes and plantains, and was using her oven every day. Next 
we visited Maria Juana, who had also just taken her rice out of 
the oven, after only one hour of cooking. She gave us some 
solar cooked bread she had made the day before. We visited 
each woman, and heard stories of how they cooked beans, 
bread, tea, chicken, pig and even iguana in their solar ovens. 
Morena, who was cooking beans as we talked with her, said 
that she now had much more time. She could put beans in the 
oven in the morning and leave. When she came back at the end 
of the day, they were cooked. She could go to school, and do 
things which she never had time for before. The solar ovens 
were a success.

     Article Courtesy of and Copyright by Home Power Magazine
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     Note: This article is from an early issue; things change.

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