CUISEUR SOLAIRE COOK'N GO

COLLECTIF AFTARKEIA

Aftarkeia is a political and commercial cooperative which missions are to speed solar cooking techniques so they can create a innovative way to work and to sell their products in an a more ethical. With ther fairtrade approach they aim at a better distributing the profits and being able to make a living. They make a point of finding new methods and tools to organize collectively, so they can face the Oil Peak threatening their activities, 

 

Several reasons for this project: natural resources are becoming scarce, climate change is impacting our environment, fighting wasteful lifestyles is becoming crucial, so is using clean and free energy. They believe, like more and more people, that it's time for humankind to change its lifestyle and way of thinking.

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On the morning of our visit, they introduced us to a product they designed from scratch : the Cook'n go solar cooker.

 

There are many occurrences of the use of solar energy for cooking, past or present:

 

- solar dryers

 

- solar ovens, as used by Napoleon during his campaigns, and by the Agnio Ores

priests.

 

- the use of lens to boil water and steam cook, as used by Augustin Marchot

 

- Solar techniques are also well-known in Africa and Asia due to the scarce fossil fuels available.

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Solar energy can produce about 1000 W per square meter, yet only part of it is usable. Solar panels, or the green house effect allow us to raise the temperature thanks to the sun, reaching 90 to 250 degrees.

 

At 65°C, bacterias and micro-organisms die

 

At 75°C, food is pasteurized

 

At 80°C, food starts to cook

 

This is "slow cooking", and it has a lot to offer:

- less energy used

- no fire-related incidents

- preserved vitamins

- food gets dehydrated meaning it can't burn

- no need for costly repairs or technical knowledge

- easy to make a device by yourself

But there also is drawbacks to slow-cooking:

- it relies on the weather conditions

- the food takes longer to cook

 

At the moment, there exist 3 different types of solar cookers:

     Panel cooker                              Box cooker                          Satellite dish cooker

Easy and cheap to make.               Expensive.                            Very expensive

Food for 2/3 people                        5 people                                   small tank

Mobile, light, small.                       Large, heavy.                       Has to be oriented

Low temperature, can't fry         High temperature                 Fast, same temperature Needs to cook 2 times                                                                as an electric oven

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Cook'n go is a panel cooker which requires few water, Aftarkeia provides recipes online. When clouds are around (in the winter for example), the food won't cook as fast, you might have to finish with a oven, but it still saved energy.

The best time to cook is between 9am and 3pm.

You have to be very careful not to tear or open the bag or else you'll loose half the heat gathered. It takes about three weeks to get comfortable with this tool.

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For now, sun power is free. Let's hope it remains that way...