Solar Cooking Archive Discussion Forums

Brit from Norway · Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Norway

Wednesday the 28th of March we tried making porridge from rice and water and milk at school. The pupils who took part in the experiment are 10 to 12 years old.
We used two parvati cookers 60 cm diameter.
We had to start early, because the children were to leave for home at a quarter past twelve. The cookers were put out at half past nine, and we had to stop the cooking at five minutes past twelve. (This is Norwegian summer time, so we stopped an hour before the sun was at its highest!). A little salt was added, and the children got a (very small) helping each with sugar and cinnamon. They were really entusiastic and thought it great fun. Many of them said that this solar porridge tasted better than usual rice porridge.

The ambient temperature was 0 degrees Celsius when we started, rising to 15 degrees at 12 o'clock.

Amounts used:
Cooker 1 (for 11 children):
2 dl rice
4 dl water
8 dl milk

cooker 2 (for 7 children):
1 1/2 dl rice
3 dl water
6 dl milk

Put the ingredients in the black pot, provide a greenhouse (plastic bag or salad bowls), place in the cooker and turn and tilt the cooker to catch maximum sunshine.

The reason for using such small loads in the cookers, is that a bigger
load will take a longer time to bring to the boil. We had to finish on time! In this location a load of 2 liters is possible in clear weather, it just takes longer.

You can see one of the cookers we used here:
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Image:60cm_parvati_side_view.JPG

and you can see how to make it at this page:
http://www.angelfire.com/80s/shobhapardeshi/twelvesided.html
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Best wishes to you all! Keep up the good work!

coconino · Joined: 21 Nov 2006 Posts: 77 Location: Sunny Brixton

That�s an excellent way to show children what can be achieved using the sun. We use oats here for porridge and would call your recipe �rice pudding��which I am very fond of�and I feel certain that it will not be long before I�m following your example!

Shawn · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 4

The porridge in March demonstration reminds me of an experiment I tried this winter:

Frozen

I believe the open design of the three-sides-of-a-box cooker allowed the bushes and buildings nearby, even though they were very cold, to help thaw the vegetables. To vegetables at -15C, a +1C bush or a +6C wall looks warm. To explain this to a student, ask them to think of how an ice cube feels when put in a glass of cold water.
I love my HAE pot, with glass lid. Many camping pots are now made of HAE.
To see photos and my recipe:
http://energyteachers.org/ReadArticle.php?id=166