The Fireless Cooker

A simple and effective way to make-do with limited resources is to use limited resources. A fireless cooker is a practical solution to an everyday task: preparing meals. The cooker works by trapping heat with the meal in order to keep cooking it after it has been removed from a heat source.

These cookers can be made with reclaimed materials. An organization called Practical Action has invented and is promoting use of these fireless cookers in Kenya, where indoor pollution within people's homes is an issue!

The fireless cooker is helpful in the following ways: 

• Nutritious food Women can cook nutritious foods that previously required lots of fuel for simmering (such as beans, rice and whole maize).
• Improve children's health The fireless cooker produces no smoke, so there is less risk of children developing respiratory disease.
• Create opportunities for income generation Women no longer have to spend hours cooking, freeing up time to earn money at the market or in the field.
• Reduce fuel consumption by an average 40% Women and children can spend less time foraging for firewood, also reducing the need to resort to potentially toxic fuels.
• Reduce water usage by 25% Water is retained in the food, rather than evaporating, preserving nutrients, flavours and precious drinking water.
• Help preserve local forests and the environment This 'green technology' will help to reduce the demand for scarce natural resources.

Read how to make a fireless cooker here.